CEA Tutorial Section 3: Resources

This section describes a variety of resources available on ASHA's website to help you plan courses that meet the needs of SLPs and audiologists. It also explains the difference between professional certification and a CE "certificate" program.

In this section:

• What course content is within the scope of practice for SLPs or audiologists?
• What are the differences between scope of practice statements, position statements, and preferred practice documents?
• Has the CEB addressed any position statements as they relate to courses offered for ASHA CEUs?
• What is interprofessional education, and should I consider developing courses for IPE?
• What is the difference between professional certification and a certificate program?
• Is there any guidance for developing programs that offer "certification" in a particular technique or procedure?
• What is evidence-based continuing education?
• What current topics and issues are important to SLPs and audiologists?
• Is there a way to access current and past issues of ASHA's journals?
• Are there additional resources through ASHA?
• How do I find out what other CE Administrators are doing to develop course content?

What course content is within the scope of practice for SLPs or audiologists?

ASHA's website has a page for speech-language pathologists and audiologists. On each of these webpages, you can find a section called “ASHA Practice Policy.” These sections list the code of ethics, scope of practice, and preferred practice pattern documents.

What are the differences between scope of practice statements, position statements, and preferred practice documents?

The image illustrates these categories of policy statements for professional practice from broad to narrow in scope and general to detailed in content, within the context of the ASHA Code of Ethics.

The categories can be define as:

• Scope of Practice Statement: A list of professional activities that define the range of services offered within the profession of speech-language pathology
• Preferred Practice Patterns: Statements that define generally applicable characteristics of activities directed toward individual patients/clients and that address structural requisites of the practice, processes to be carried out, and expected outcomes
• Position Statements: Statements that specify ASHA's policy and stance on a matter that is important not only to the membership but also to outside agencies or groups
• Practice Guidelines: A recommended set of procedures for a specific area of practice, based on research findings and current practice—these procedures detail the knowledge, skills, and/or competencies needed to perform the procedures effectively

For more information, please read the Preferred Practice Patterns for the Profession of Speech-Language Pathology and Preferred Practice Patterns for the Profession of Audiology.

Has the CEB addressed any position statements as they relate to courses offered for ASHA CEUs?

The CEB has addressed the position statement on auditory integration training and its impact on courses offered for ASHA CEUs.

The Auditory Integration Training Position Statement was adopted by the Legislative Council in 2004. It states that "AIT, a method proposed for treating a variety of auditory and nonauditory disorders, [is] experimental in nature and [has] not yet met scientific standards as a mainstream treatment."

It also states that "well-designed, institutionally approved, research protocols designed to assess the efficacy of AIT are encouraged." The CEB offers the following guidelines to ASHA Approved CE Providers:

• ASHA will accept, register, and grant ASHA CEUs for presentations that address research in AIT on the condition that Providers print a disclaimer in marketing materials and read a disclaimer at the beginning of each presentation stating ASHA's position that AIT has not been shown to meet scientific standards for efficacy that would currently justify its usage. Submit an abstract of the AIT research presentation with your course registration materials.
• ASHA will not accept, register, or grant ASHA CEUs for courses that promote, encourage, or demonstrate how to practice AIT.

On August 6, 2018, the ASHA Board of Directors approved two position statements: one on Facilitated Communication (FC) and another on the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM).

ASHA's position is that Facilitated Communication (FC) should not be used because there is no scientific evidence of its validity, and extensive evidence that the "facilitator" is authoring messages. Furthermore, there is extensive evidence of harms related to the use of FC.

ASHA's position is that Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) is not recommended because of prompt dependency, and the lack of scientific validity. RPM is another facilitator-dependent technique with many similarities to FC.

The CEB offers the following guidelines to ASHA Approved CE Providers:

• ASHA Continuing Education (CE) will not accept, register, or grant ASHA CEUs for courses that promote, encourage, or demonstrate how to practice FC or RPM. 
• Courses that report on research findings in FC or RPM may be eligible for ASHA CEUs; however, please talk to your Provider Manager about those courses or sessions prior to advertising them for ASHA CEUs.

What is interprofessional education, and should I consider developing courses for IPE?

According to the World Health Organization, interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Read more about ASHA's IPE activities and collaborations here: Interprofessional Education/Interprofessional Practice (IPE/IPP).

What is the difference between professional certification and a certificate program?

According to the National Organization for Competency Assurance "professional certification is the voluntary process by which a non-governmental entity grants a time-limited recognition and use of a credential to an individual after verifying that they have met predetermined and standardized criteria.* ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence is a professional certification.

A certificate program is a training program on a specialized topic for which participants receive certification after completing the course and passing an assessment instrument. Note: This is not to be confused with the commonly used "certificate of attendance" given at the completion of many continuing education courses to validate attendance.

Find more information about certification versus certificate programs on our website.

Is there any guidance for developing programs that offer "certification" in a particular technique or procedure?

Certificate programs are a growing segment of the continuing education marketplace. As mentioned above, these programs generally recognize a relatively narrow scope of specialized knowledge used in performing duties or tasks required by a certain profession or occupation. Before developing and marketing a training program that offers a certificate or a certification in a particular technique or procedure, answer the following questions:

• Is there an educational need for the program?
• How will the program content be validated by experts?
• What will be used as the learning assessment to award the certificate?
• What organizations recognize the certificate?
• How will the value and acceptance of the certificate program be accurately communicated?

If you offer a certificate program and register it for ASHA CEUs, all promotional materials should clearly communicate that, although ASHA CEUs may be offered, ASHA does not endorse any course content, specific products, certificate programs, or clinical procedures.

What is evidence-based continuing education?

Continuing education events are the primary source where professionals obtain information about current theory, methods, and practice. Therefore, the CEB encourages ASHA Approved CE Providers, course presenters, and planners to infuse current, high-quality evidence into continuing education course content.

In evidence-based continuing education sessions, the presenter

• provides the best available, current evidence to support a particular practice or guideline
• provides a citation for each component on the slides or handouts
• provides information on the slides that is directly linked to the references (a reference list as a final slide or provided to the audience is not sufficient)

In addition, one must keep in mind that instructors are selected because of their expertise and/or experience in a particular area. Therefore, just as in EBP, presenters of EB CE offerings combine their expertise and experience with the best available, current evidence to guide the presentation. For more information see Recommendations for Infusing Evidence Into Continuing Education Course Content.

What current topics and issues are important to SLPs and audiologists?

ASHA's Practice Portal contains information on clinical topics, professional issues, and other relevant information. The Practice Portal is updated as topics are developed. Another great resource is ASHA Continuing Education’s Intersections, which is a quarterly publication created for ASHA Approved CE Providers. ASHA's community is also a good place to see what SLPs and audiologists are talking about right this minute!

Is there a way to access current and past issues of ASHA's journals?

With the latest installment to the ASHA journals online archive, members have free, unlimited online access to more than 60 years of archives, including 675 issues in 169 volumes of:

• American Journal of Audiology
• American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
• Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
• Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools

Are there additional resources through ASHA?

Yes, if you join a Special Interest Group (SIG), you will have access to Perspectives, exclusive online periodicals for the SIGs that provide a wealth of information on those subjects of most concern to you. By joining one SIG, you gain access to Perspectives for all 20 SIGs —that's 200 new articles annually and more than 2,500 archived articles. Here is a sampling of SIG Perspectives articles

CEA Carmen asks: How do I find out what other CE Administrators are doing to develop course content?

You can read comments and questions from other ASHA CE Administrators through the ASHA Community. Sign in and select My Communities to find CE Providers. The CE Provider Workshop that takes place in conjunction with the ASHA Convention also provides an opportunity for you to network with other CE Providers. Look for further information on the workshop under ASHA CE Communication on the ASHA CE Provider homepage.

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