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ASHA President, Alex Johnson, testified at a May 23 hearing of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) in Washington, DC, which sought comments with respect to the federal disability and rehabilitation research agenda. President Johnson stated that more treatment efficacy and effectiveness studies related to indirect and direct intervention procedures are needed to help determine the most appropriate speech-language pathology and audiology services for children and adults with communication disorders.
ASHA’s comments on the federal disability and rehabilitation research agenda identified specific ways to improve future research for individuals with communication disabilities, including the areas of early intervention for speech, language, and hearing disabilities, as well as literacy, and service delivery in schools and various health care settings.
The ICDR, authorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, promotes coordination and cooperation among federal departments and agencies conducting disability and rehabilitation research programs. The goal of the Committee is to identify, assess, and seek to coordinate all federal programs, activities, projects, and plans with respect to the conduct of research related to rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. The ICDR panel was chaired by Steven Tingus, Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) at the U.S. Department of Education.
For more information on the ICDR, please visit its Web site at http://www.icdr.us or contact Catherine D. Clarke, ASHA's Director of Education and Regulatory Advocacy, via e-mail at cclarke@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4159.
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