ASHA Voices

In the years before Jim Henry became an audiologist, he developed hyperacusis, hearing loss, and tinnitus while performing in surf rock bands and working in carpentry.

Following more than 35 years as a research audiologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Henry is now the author of The Tinnitus Book and several others about managing the condition.

In anticipation of Tinnitus Awareness Week, Henry provides a personal account of his experience with tinnitus and discusses approaches to treatment. He reflects on how his career in audiology affected the way he thinks about tinnitus, and he explains some of the condition’s varied forms and effects.

Learn More:

• ASHA Practice Portal: Tinnitus and Hyperacusis
• ASHA Voices: What Tinnitus and mTBI Can Mean for Patients
• Customizing Tinnitus Counseling for Varying Patient Needs
• Video Game Volume Linked to Hearing Loss, Tinnitus Risk

Transcript

SLP Kim Murza visits the podcast with a message of strength.

Murza often speaks on strengths-based service delivery. On the podcast, she shares the form that takes in the schools, and what it means for students and SLPs alike.

Reflecting on her career, she shares the things she knows today that she wishes she knew early in her work in the schools.

Later in the podcast, hear parent, consultant, and advocate Tena Green share what can be gained in the lives of students and society through implementation of a strengths-based perspective.

Learn More

·     School-based SLPs: Here’s a Virtual “Backpack” of School Resources

·     Flip the Script: Maximizing the Positives in Children’s Lives

·     ASHA Voices: Conversations on Milestones and Speech-Language Delays

Transcript

When dealing with a parent’s concern about their child's communication, a pediatric audiologist may face multidisciplinary issues and need to make referrals.

This episode's guests say pediatric audiologists may be the first step in a larger health care journey. They highlight the importance of delivering appropriate services to families at a critical time.

Hear from two pediatric audiologists who work as instructors at LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) programs. We’re dedicating this episode to these multidisciplinary training programs, and their role in preparing pediatric audiologists.

Plus, one LEND instructor in North Carolina shares a personal connection to her work.

Learn More:

• Developing Future Pediatric Audiology Leaders: The LEND Experience
• Georgia Puts Pediatric Hearing Care on Wheels to Address Service Shortages
• Pediatric Audiologists: Partners in Early Diagnosis of Autism

In this panel discussion, guests address how SLPs can empower themselves to effectively provide their services cross-linguistically. The guests share stories of their personal and professional connections to multilingualism, demonstrating the link between language, identity, and their work.

(This conversation was originally published in March 2024.)

Learn More:

• Practice Portal: Multilingual Service Delivery
• Practice Portal: Multilingual Service Providers
• ASHA Voices: Career Origin Stories – Multilingual Service Providers

Transcript

SLP Christina Bradburn once faced the challenge of a caseload exceeding 100 students.

Hear what she learned from that experience and how, today, she empowers herself by putting a spotlight on the needs and successes of her students.

Bradburn also shares three, specific ways school-based SLPs can advocate for themselves to help meet their students’ needs, including:

·     Asking for access to the curriculum

·     Gaining scheduling freedom

·     Rethinking where service delivery takes place

Bradburn also describes being nervous when implementing one of these methods for the first time, and what she learned from the experience.

Learn More:

SLP Focuses on Student Needs to Achieve Workload Relief

Workload-Management Approaches and Resources for School-Based SLPs

SLPs See 25% Increase in Average Number of Autistic Students Served Since 2022

Transcript

SLP Elissa Larkin shares three stories showing how communication strategies--like using communication boards and acknowledging patient competence--help patients access health care.

A research speech-language pathologist and a bioethicist at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Larkin is the mind behind the Communication Champions interprofessional training program, where she leads courses aimed at improving communication access. On the podcast, she shares how you can be a communication access leader for your colleagues where you work.

Learn More:

ASHA's Communication Access Initiative

Why Value-Based Care Can Open Lines of Communication Access

Building AAC Capacity to Foster Communication Inclusion

Transcript

In this second part of our conversation with SLP and health services researcher Jen Oshita, she expands on strategies people with communication disabilities can use to express themselves and more fully participate in their own health care.

Hear why Oshita feels SLPs play a pivotal role in improving health care equity for these patients, and what organizations can do to increase communication access.

Plus, hear from patients and care partners, including personal accounts from Hari Kannan, Vidya Thirumalai, and Lyn Piper.

(This conversation was originally published in January 2024.)

Transcript

SLP Jen Oshita provides strategies SLPs can share with people with communication disabilities to facilitate effective communication in health care. She discusses how communication access in health care interactions can contribute to health disparities, and she addresses barriers to care related to communication, such as rushed appointments with providers or the use of confusing medical jargon.

Throughout this conversation, we’ll hear from patients and care partners as they share their experiences with the health care system, including advocate Matthew LeFluer and health communications strategist Karen Hilyard, who shares strategies as well.

(This conversation was originally published in January 2024.)

Transcript

Hear the personal stories behind Medicaid advocacy, as SLPs share why and how they use their voices to increase reimbursement rates for their peers and secure resources for their clients and patients. From the telephone to the state house, they tell where they go to get their messages heard and how you can do the same.

Also, ASHA’s Caroline Bergner drops by the podcast to discuss a new ASHA resource designed to answer your questions about Medicaid and Medicare.

Learn More:

ASHA Advocacy

Medicare vs Medicaid: A Guide for Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists

ASHA Voices: Student Advocacy and a Win for People Who Stutter

Transcript

When Jennifer La Scala was diagnosed with breast cancer, she came face to face with just how overwhelming, dense, and inaccessible patient education materials can be.

A graduate student at the University of Central Florida, La Scala explains how her personal medical journey inspired her to study health literacy. Her work, and parallel work by University of Central Florida faculty, ultimately led to a collaboration with cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics.

La Scala joins SLP Richard Zraick, of the University of Central Florida and audiologist Sarah Downing of Advanced Bionics to discuss health literacy and access to care, and how providers can improve communication with patients.

Learn More:

ASHA Practice Portal: Communication Access

American Journal of Audiology: Readability of Cochlear Implant Brochures: A Potential Factor in Parent Decision Making

ASHA Voices: How SLPs Can Use Communication Strategies to Improve Health Care Access

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