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Abstract: Approve “Position Statement on Access to Communication Services and Supports: Concerns Regarding the Application of Restrictive ‘Eligibility’ Policies”
RESOLVED, That a position statement prepared by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities entitled “Position Statement on Access to Communication Services and Supports: Concerns Regarding the Application of Restrictive ‘Eligibility’ Policies,” be approved as policy of ASHA; and further
RESOLVED, That the “Position Statement on Access to Communication Services and Supports: Concerns Regarding the Application of Restrictive ‘Eligibility’ Policies” be published in the next annual supplement to The ASHA Leader, be posted on the ASHA professional Web site, be made available upon request from the ASHA Action Center and Fax-on-Demand, be included in the next revision of the ASHA Desk Reference, and that the availability of the position statement be published in The ASHA Leader.
RATIONALE: This position statement represents the work of the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC). The NJC was asked by staff from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, to address the issue of eligibility criteria for communication services and supports covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Eligibility policies and practices across the country often preclude children and adults with severe disabilities from accessing needed communication services and supports. The NJC position statement was developed to fill a void and to ensure that speech-language pathologists and allied and related professionals have a definitive statement that promotes access to needed communication services and supports for all children and adults with severe disabilities in accord with federal statutes and state law, regulation, and policy.
Current policy documents are in high demand by ASHA members and other members of the NJC for several reasons. Speech-language pathologists and related professionals in clinical practice and in administrative positions seek national practice policies on which to base their clinical services, staff development, or competency assessment programs. This policy statement also reflects the NJC commitment to set policies of value to professionals from multiple disciplines. The statement can be used in advocacy with payers and with other professionals and consumers as needed.
OUTCOME(S): Increased awareness on the part of ASHA members, other professionals represented by the NJC, family members, consumers, payers, and policy makers about the official NJC position on access to communication services and supports for persons with severe disabilities.
BUDGET IMPACT: Funds for the publication and dissemination of this position statement are already included in the ASHA operating budget.
PROGRAMMATIC IMPACT: Approval of this position statement will demonstrate ASHA’s support of the collaborative efforts of the NJC and of the view that eligibility for communication services and supports should be based on individual communication needs and not on a priori restrictive criteria. ASHA would join with other NJC members that have already approved the position statement: American Association for Mental Retardation; Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Communicative Disabilities and Deafness; Rehabilitation and Engineering Society of North America; and The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps.
If the resolution is not passed, ASHA will not demonstrate support of this position statement related to access to communication services and supports and will have no alternative position to refer to for persons with severe disabilities.
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