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Let's applaud the speech language pathologists (SLPs) of the Glendora Unified School District in California for successfully bringing their district into the new millennium 2006 (see The ASHA Leader, July 11, p. 10-11).
It seems, though, that as much as things change, some things just remain the same.
Glendora is another example of the ongoing attempts by SLPs through the years to educate school officials and staff about speech-language services. More importantly, they are effecting changes as a result of information sharing (e.g., job title, qualified staffing.)
So often nothing has resulted, and SLPs have been beset with, "What do you do? We don't know what you do." If it weren't so problematic, it would be a joke. It is not enough to attend meetings and get in-service credit and the like. The idea is to listen, process the information, and implement changes. It is my opinion and experience that there have been numerous attempts by SLPs through the years to share practical information with school officials and start to effect a better understanding and strategies for the speech and language program. These, I feel, have been largely ignored or discarded.
Bob Shapiro
Andover, MA
rubobt@comcast.net
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