Independent Study

An Independent Study is an educational experience designed by you to enhance skills and knowledge in an area relevant to communication sciences and disorders.

An Independent Study provides an opportunity for you to earn ASHA Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for individualized learning experiences. On this page, we’ll cover the following topics:

• How Independent Studies Work
• How to Develop and File an Independent Study Plan
• Types of Independent Studies
• Activities that are not Appropriate for Independent Study Courses

How Independent Studies Work

To start an Independent Study course, develop an educational plan, and then contact an ASHA Approved Continuing Education (CE) Independent Study Provider who will work with you to write measurable learning goals. The CE Provider’s role is to review, monitor, and register your plan with ASHA Continuing Education (ASHA CE).

To earn ASHA CEUs for your Independent Study, you must be eligible to earn ASHA CEUs and pay the annual fee for the CE Registry.

There are many types of Independent Study activities, including the following:

• course design and instruction
• research and publication
• literature review

Regardless of the Independent Study type, all Independent Study activities must adhere to the same Standards for ASHA Approved CE Providers when developing professional courses. For a full description of all Independent Study types, see Types of Independent Study Activities on this page.

How to Develop and File an Independent Study Plan

1. Complete the Independent Study Participant Worksheet [PDF]. This worksheet will help you develop your Independent Study plan and prepare you to meet with the CE Provider. Your learning experience must be related to the sciences as they pertain to audiology; speech-language pathology; speech, language, and hearing sciences; and/or the contemporary practice of audiology and speech-language pathology. The content must (a) surpass the instructional level required for initial ASHA Certification and (b) provide you with new skills and knowledge.
2. Contact ASHA Approved CE Independent Study Provider to oversee and register your Independent Study plan. You can choose a provider that is located in any U.S. state or in any country. The CE Provider must approve your plan before you begin your Independent Study plan activities. ASHA CEUs cannot be awarded retroactively.
3. Obtain the ASHA CE Provider’s approval to monitor your Independent Study. After a discussion and review of your Independent Study Participant Worksheet [PDF], the ASHA CE Administrator will decide whether they will monitor and register your Independent Study plan. CE Providers’ specific procedures and policies vary. Providers may (a) charge participants a fee to monitor the Independent Study activity, (b) limit the number of plans that they will monitor each year, or (c) accept plans only for members or staff in their organization.
4. Finalize and sign the plan. Once you have agreed on a plan, you and the ASHA CE Administrator for the CE Provider should sign and date the Independent Study Participant Worksheet. This can be done with an electronic signature. Each party should keep a copy of the signed form for their records.
5. Create a time log [PDF] of your Independent Study activities. You must keep an accurate record of your time spent on Independent Study activities to determine the number of ASHA CEUs awarded for your coursework. You will give the log to the ASHA CE Administrator when verifying your completion of the Independent Study plan. You may earn up to 2.0 ASHA CEUs (20 hours) for an Independent Study plan. You must complete your coursework within the same calendar year in which you started it. If your Independent Study plan runs into another calendar year, then you’ll need to work with the CE Provider to develop a separate plan for the next year.
6. Complete your Independent Study, and pay the annual ASHA CE Registry fee. To earn ASHA CEUs for your Independent Study, you must pay the annual ASHA CE Registry fee for the year in which you completed your Independent Study.
7. Contact the CE Provider, and submit documentation. Immediately after you complete all of your Independent Study plan activities, it is your responsibility to contact the CE Provider and submit all necessary documentation. The ASHA CE Administrator will verify that you satisfactorily completed your Independent Study plan and met the Standards. The Independent Study Plan cannot be processed if the annual CE Registry fee is not paid.
8. Wait to hear from the CE Provider that they have submitted your completed Independent Study plan to ASHA CE. The Provider will work with ASHA CE to process your plan and award ASHA CEUs so that they appear on your CE transcript. This can take up to 45 days.
9. Check your transcript. Once ASHA CE registers the Independent Study Course and awards ASHA CEUs, they will record the Independent Study on your transcript. Your transcript will reflect the title of your Independent Study, description, the CE Provider, course completion date, and number of ASHA CEUs earned.

Types of Independent Studies

Examples of Independent Study activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Traditional Independent Study. Develop an Independent Study plan encompassing a variety of activities, all contributing to achieving the desired learning outcomes under the direction of an ASHA Approved CE Independent Study Provider (e.g., reading journal articles observing a master clinician; reviewing case files; doing an internship or some other type of hands-on experience). These experiences might culminate with the learner writing a critical review of the experience, including how they will incorporate newly acquired skills and knowledge into practice.

Continuing education activities offered by an organization that is not an ASHA Approved CE Provider. Prior to attending, contact an ASHA Approved CE Independent Study Provider to develop an individualized learning plan. Find a course that meets your identified learning needs. After completing the course, you’ll meet with the CE Provider again to evaluate if you’ve met your individualized learning objectives.

Course design and instruction. Develop and present information of clinical significance to a group of peers, allied professionals, and/or laypersons as a speech, a course, or a presentation.

Research and publication. Design, implement, and report a study relevant to human communication and disorders

Journal and/or study groups. Meet with other communication science professionals to discuss pre-assigned materials relevant to audiology or speech-language pathology. If other members of the group wish to earn ASHA CEUs, you should work with the ASHA Approved CE Provider to register the course as a Group activity type course rather than an Independent Study course. 

Online or video instruction. Review online or video materials not registered for ASHA CEUs, and write a critical review— including ways you’ll incorporate these newly acquired skills or knowledge into practice.

Clinical case studies or record review. Select individuals from clinical service files to analyze and produce a final report that will be reviewed by the ASHA Approved CE Provider and/or a group of peers. This group critiques the assessment, recommendations, intervention plan, counseling, and follow-up procedures. The report could include documentation and/or justification from the literature.

Literature review. Review literature on a specified topic and submit a written summary. Consider including critical comments and a plan for incorporating the acquired information into practice.

Professional visitation. Identify experts or master clinicians and arrange to observe them in their clinical setting. Develop a written report summarizing the experience and describing how the information will impact the delivery of clinical services in the work setting. 

Internship. Commit to a period of time working with colleagues who have special skills that would benefit the learner in their employment setting. 

Other. It is also acceptable to—under the direction of an ASHA Approved CE Independent Study Provider—devise and implement an Independent Study plan that does not fit neatly into any of the above categories. You will need to explain the method of learning on your Independent Study Participant Worksheet [PDF].

Activities that are not Appropriate for Independent Study Courses

Independent Study may not be used in the following situations:

Provider-initiated activities. You cannot use an Independent Study to offer participants ASHA CEUs for a group activity that is already offered by an ASHA Approved CE Provider.

Cooperative CE offerings. ASHA Approved CE Providers should not offer services for activities that should have been conducted as cooperative ASHA CE offerings or as Provider-initiated activities. Organizations that are not ASHA Approved CE Providers but want to offer ASHA CEUs to participants in their continuing education activities should.

• seek a Provider with whom to conduct a cooperative CE offering or
• apply to be an ASHA Approved CE Provider.

Independent Study Activities initiated by the ASHA CE Administrator through their ASHA Approved CE Provider. The ASHA CE Administrator cannot both offer and earn ASHA CEUs for an Independent Study course. ASHA CE Administrators may develop an Independent Study, but they must do so through another ASHA Approved CE Independent Study Provider and ASHA CE Administrator.

Group courses. It is inappropriate to use Independent Study to offer ASHA CEUs for a group of learners. An Independent Study is intended for one individual’s specific learning needs.Even if several participants engage in similar Independent Study plans, each participant must have a separate original plan with learning outcomes specific to what they (as independent students) will be able to demonstrate as a result of the experience. ASHA CE staff will reject (a) plans that appear to be created for groups of learners or (b) plans that are duplicated.

The following activities are not appropriate for ASHA CEUs in Independent Study or in any other type of ASHA CEU course:

• association membership
• committee and/or board meetings
• business meetings
• work experience
• entertainment and recreation
• travel
• other unsupervised study

 Although some may judge these activities as worthwhile learning experiences, they do not meet the criteria established for the CEU by theInternational Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET)—nor do they qualify as activities to be offered for ASHA CEUs.