Description

The adoption of graduate student telepractice training programs in speech-language pathology has gradually taken hold over the past decade. The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential need and acceptance of telehealth services as the world has switched to a virtual reality. As a result, CSD graduate telepractice training programs are essential to uphold best clinical practices, tele-ethical responsibilities and telehealth regulatory requirements in providing the highest quality telepractice services that address the welfare of clients. Three well-established graduate student telepractice training programs will be presented along with a discussion of the best practices for speech therapy telepractice delivery and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for future training.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe three different models for graduate student telepractice training (e.g., pedagogy, infrastructure, clinical competencies).

2. Participants will be able to discuss best practices in speech therapy telepractice and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted regulatory requirements and tele-ethics for providing high quality telepractice services

3. Participants will be able to explain the role of and need for graduate level speech therapy telepractice training in developing telepractice clinical competencies as part of graduate student clinical preparation

View CAPCSD's recent podcast on telepractice training programs

Presenters

Judy Walker, Ph.D., CCC-SLP 
University of Maine 

Judy Walker, Ph.D CCC-SLP is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the University of Maine, Speech Therapy Telepractice Program in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine. Her academic and research interests include speech therapy telepractice, neurolinguistics, and cognitive neuroscience. Dr. Walker established the Speech Therapy Telepractice Program whose mission encompasses graduate student telepractice clinical training while providing speech therapy telepractice services to children and adults throughout Maine and at an international school in Fiji. She consults with numerous academic programs and agencies who are interested in starting a telepractice program. Her research focuses on improving the quality of life of people with aphasia and their caregivers through participation in synchronous telepractice groups. She is also a Co-PI on an interdisciplinary grant from the University of Maine, Research Reinvestment Fund which addresses expanding telehealth to support developmental and behavioral health service needs of children in rural Maine schools and early education.

Disclosures:
Financial: Employee at University of Maine, Honorarium for webinar from CAPCSD
Non-Financial: None

Joneen Lowman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
University of Kentucky

Joneen Lowman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at the University of Kentucky. She is the Director of the Center for Telehealth Education, Research and Outreach, and the interprofessional graduate certificate in telehealth. Her research, publications, and teaching focus on school-age language disorders and telehealth. Dr. Lowman is Project Director of LinKS, a federal grant to train graduate CSD students in the use of telehealth. She is co-PI on a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to evaluate a parent behavioral training program for use with families with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Nationally, she is the Chair of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association SIG 18: Telepractice Coordinating Committee. At the state level, she is Vice President for Higher Education on the Kentucky Speech-Language-Hearing Association Executive Board.

Disclosures:
Financial: Employee at University of Kentucky, Honorarium for webinar from CAPCSD
Non-Financial: None

K. Todd Houston, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT 
The University of Akron 

K. Todd Houston, PhD, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, is a Professor, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), and a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist (Cert. AVT). He is currently a member of the faculty in the School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at the University of Akron (Akron, OH) and also serves as an SLP and LSLS Cert. AVT for the Cochlear Implant Program at Akron Children’s Hospital.

For more than 20 years, his professional focus has been serving young children with hearing loss and their families who are learning to listen and acquire spoken language as well as providing aural rehabilitation to adults with hearing loss. For the past fifteen years, Dr. Houston has incorporated telepractice into his service delivery and continues to provide direct services each week, both in-person and through telepractice, to young children with hearing loss and their families.

He has authored/edited three recent books through Plural Publishing: Telepractice In Speech-Language Pathology (2014), Assessing Listening and Spoken Language in Children with Hearing Loss (with Dr. Tamala Bradham, 2015), and Telerpactice In Audiology (with Dr. Emma Rushbrooke, 2016). Dr. Houston continues to publish research articles, book chapters, and other editorials focused on a range of related clinical topics. He also is a sought-after speaker and presenter throughout the United States and internationally.

Dr. Houston also is a co-founder of the 3C Digital Media Network and host of the podcast, The Listening Brain and co-host of the podcast, Telepractice Today.

Disclosures:
Financial: Employee at  The University of Akron, Honorarium for webinar from CAPCSD
Non-Financial: None

Time Ordered Agenda
7:00 - 7:30pm: Introductions and overview of university programs
7:30 - 7:50pm: Telepractice knowledge and skills
7:50 - 8:05pm: Telepractice clinical experiences
8:05 - 8:20pm: Tele-supervision
8:30 - 8:30pm: Q&A

Continuing Education 

This course is offered for .15 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Related area).