Clinical Hours:

 

Clinical Observation Hours:

 

The Department requires that you complete 25 observation hours and have them recorded on the Departmental computer. Observation hours completed at an external undergraduate or graduate program must also be documented and recorded. This is your responsibility. Your observations must be of evaluation and/or treatment of communication disorders which fall within the ASHA 2001 Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology. Please see Appendix G for a copy of the ASHA 2001 Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology.

 

If you enter the program with incomplete or no observation hours, under most circumstances,  you will be assigned CMD 461 ‑ The Clinical Practice of Speech‑Language Pathology and Audiology. Among other things, this course requires the completion of 25 hours of observation. Observations completed within the program at the undergraduate or graduate level in other SCSU CMD courses may be counted toward the 25 hour total provided they are accepted by the instructor of CMD 461, or by either the program or clinical director. Upon successful completion of the course you will receive a signed document attesting to the completion of the observation requirement. A copy of this document will be placed in your file. However, you must complete the Departmental “Observation/Contact Time Submission Form,” to have your hours recorded on the Departmental computer. Please see Appendix H For a copy of the form.

 

Please be advised that although the program provides for the accomplishment of observa­tion hours you are responsible for completing the required observations and assuring that they have been recorded on the Department computer.

 

Clinical Practicum Hours for Speech-Language Pathology:

 

In order to fulfill certification, licensing, and graduation requirements, you must complete 375 clinical contact practicum hours within the course of your academic and clinical program (400 hours total including 25 clinical observation hours). Three hun­dred and twenty five (325) hours of the 400 hours must be completed in clinical practicum at the graduate level. A maximum of 75 hours including observation hours may be accepted from undergraduate practica at the discretion of the CMD program.

 

To meet Departmental and teacher certification requirements, of the 325 graduate clinical hours required for speech‑language pathology, a minimum of 100 hours must be completed in a school setting.

 

To meet Departmental requirements clinical contact time must be recorded for each of the  below listed service categories which have been derived from the ASHA 2001 Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology and the ASHA Knowledge and Skills Acquisition (KASA) form. Please see Appendix A for a copy of the ASHA Knowledge and Skills Acquisition (KASA) form.

 

Although ASHA does not require a specified number of clinical hours in each of the below listed categories, the Department requires that you accumulate some contact time in child and adult evaluation and treatment in each of the  nine service categories listed. You may also accumulate time in Counseling and in Emerging Areas of Practice. No Departmental requirements pertain to these two categories.

 

1.               Articulation                             

2.                              Fluency

3.                              Voice and Resonance*1       

4.                              Receptive and Expressive

Language Disorders*2          

5.                              Hearing*3

6.                              Swallowing Disorders*4        

7.                              Cognitive Aspects of

Communication*5

8.                              Social Aspects of

Communication*6                  

9.                              Other Communication

Modalities*7

 

*1     Including: respiration and phonation.

*2      Including: phonology; morphology; syntax; semantics and pragmatics in speaking, listening, reading, and manual modalities.

*3      Including: auditory training; speechreading; speech and language intervention secondary to hearing loss; visual inspection, listening checks and battery checks of amplification devices; audiometric screening; evaluation and treatment in central auditory processing disorders. Please be advised: it may be that not all of the Departmentally required hours obtained in audiology will be able to be applied to the accumulation of the 375 hours required by ASHA. Only those audiology hours which fall under the ASHA Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology may be applied to ASHA hours accumulation.

*4     Including: oral, esophageal, and related functions, including: oral function for feeding, and orofacial myofunction.

*5     Including: attention; memory; sequencing; problem solving; and executive functions.

*6     Including: challenging behavior; ineffective social skills; and lack of communication opportunities.

*7     Including: oral, manual, augmentative, and alternative communication techniques and assistive technologies.

Under certain circumstances Departmental time requirements for the numbered service categories listed above may be modified by the program director or clinic director, or be met by the completion of approved alternative clinical activities. However, if certain of your required clinical times have been modified or supplanted by alternative clinical activities these alternative clinical activities do not replace clinical contact time. You are still responsible for completing all 375 required ASHA clinical contact hours. To have these non-contact/modification hours recorded you must submit the Non-Contact/Modification Time Submission Form. Please see Appendix H for a copy of the form.

 

You are responsible for completing clinical hours and for assuring that the clinical hours are appropriately recorded on the Departmental computer. Each time hours are submitted, a Clinical Hours Tracking Packet  will be sent to you and a copy placed in your file. You are responsible for reviewing the packet and calling any errors to the attention of the program director for rectification.

 

Reporting Clinical Hours:

 

You are responsible for obtaining supervisor documentation of all clinical hours through signature and ASHA account number. You should keep track of all clinical hours completed during a semester.  At the end of the term, when hours are to be submitted, you must fill out and submit the Departmental Observation/Contact Time Submission Form for Speech-Language Pathology. This form must be filled out exactly according to the form directions. Submit the original, photo copies are not acceptable. The form must be submitted with no corrections, white-outs, mark‑overs or strikeouts. Cells must be filled out completely on each line used. Do not use ditto marks or arrows to fill in cells. Incorrect forms will be returned to you. Please see Appendix H for a copy of the De­partmental Observation/Contact Time Submission Form and the Clinical Clock Hours Summary and the accompanying directions for each.

 

The Department and ASHA require specificity regarding the types of clinical activity for which clinical hours may be assigned. Clinical hours may be assigned only if there is direct contact with the client or the client’s family in assessment, management, and/or counseling. If you are observing, recording data or serving as an aide, and not providing a direct client contact service, clinical hours may not be assigned. In team treatment or diag­nostics, direct client contact hours are the only hours which may be assigned and then only in the amounts actually obtained in contact. For example, in a diagnostic session, if one student evaluates the client and another interviews the parents, both students may receive hours credit for the time spent providing the service. However, if one student works with the client for 30 minutes and another student works with the client for the next 45 minutes, each student receives credit for the time he/she actually provided services - that is, 30 and 45 minutes, not 75 minutes.­

 

If you fail to complete the required number of hours in the appropriate Departmental distribution, you will not be permitted to graduate and will not receive Departmental endorsement for certifica­tions and licensure.

 

Repeating Practica To Accumulate Clinical Hours:

 

With permission of your program director and/or the CCD director, you may repeat a practicum course in order to accumulate needed hours in a specified category to meet ASHA and Departmental requirements. You will be responsible for all practicum requirements but will be graded on a pass/fail basis. The practicum course will appear on your transcript but will not be part of your planned program of graduate studies. Please be advised that repeating a practicum to accumulate hours is not the same as repeating the practicum for academic reasons.

 

Undergraduate Hours In Speech‑Language Pathology:

 

If you have completed clinical hours in an undergraduate program and wish to have them counted as part of your ASHA total hours, you must report them to the Graduate Program Advisor using the Departmental Observation/Contact Time Submission Form (Appendix H). One minor difference in the instructions for filling out the form must be noted: supervisor(s) name, signature, and ASHA account number verifying hours completed must accompany your undergraduate hours submission. The supervisor(s) signature does not have to be on the Departmental form but must be found within documentation you submit to verify your undergraduate hours. The printed name of the supervisor(s) must appear on the form as well as the supervisor’s ASHA account number.

 

ASHA allows 75 hours of your total 400 supervised clinical experience hours to be obtained at the undergraduate level at the discretion of the graduate program. To meet Departmental requirements these 75 undergraduate hours may include any observation hours you wish to submit. Please be reminded that 25 hours of observation must be completed prior to graduation from the program.