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by Diane Paul and Anastasia Raymer
With the increased awareness and concern about individuals with blast-related and other brain injuries, ASHA members need comprehensive knowledge and practical skills to provide optimal services. To assist professionals working in rehabilitation settings, the Joint Committee on Interprofessional Relations Between the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the American Psychological Association's (APA) Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) has developed resources now available to ASHA members.
Speech-language pathology and neuropsychology are two of the professions involved in the assessment and treatment of children and adults with cognitive-communication and language disorders resulting from congenital or acquired brain impairment.
Since its insemination, the committee has produced several documents to assist professionals engaged in brain injury rehabilitation. Policy documents are accessible at ASHA Practice Policy and include:
- 1990 position statement on the value of interdisciplinary practice
- 1995 (updated in 2008) guidelines for interdisciplinary brain injury teams
- 2003 report examining commonalities and variations in education standards for both professions
Also available are two peer-reviewed articles:
- a 2002 article in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation on cognitive rehabilitation
- a 2007 article in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology on theoretical and clinical contributions to the assessment of memory
Anastasia Raymer, chair of the ASHA/American Psychology Association Joint Committee on Interprofessional Relations, is a professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Speech Pathology, and Special Education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Contact her at sraymer@odu.edu. Diane Paul, director of clinical issues in SLP, can be reached at dpaul@asha.org.
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