This study examined factors contributing to Utah's critical shortage of school-based speech-language pathologists. Specifically, this study focused on the following three constructs: (a) stress levels among professionals currently in the field, (b) attrition and the reasons professionals leave their positions, and (c) factors at the university level. Stress among Utah's speech-language pathologists was assessed using the Speech-Language Pathologist Stress Inventory (Fimian, Lieberman, & Fasteneau, 1991). Of the 230 potential participants, 97 completed and returned questionnaires. Results indicated that Utah's school-based speech-language pathologists experience less overall stress than a normative sample of speech-language pathologists throughout the United States; however, Utah's professionals reported significantly greater stress related to caseload, salary, and use of prescription drugs. However, overall stress was not related to caseload size or the number of service delivery sites. In regard to how various aspects of burnout were related, a weak positive relationship was found between years of experience and Time and Workload Management. Overall, Total Stress appeared to be most strongly related to Lack of Professional Supports. Attrition was investigated by distributing an existing survey to the special education directors of Utah's 40 school districts, who reported the status of speech-language pathologists employed in their respective districts. All 40 of the directors responded to the survey. Based on their report, 67 of the speech-language pathologists left their positions during the 2004-2005 school year, representing 14.5% of Utah's school-based speech-language pathologists. The top reasons indicated for speech-language pathologists leaving their positions were (a) moved, (b) children/pregnancy, (c) changed district within state, (d) retired, and (e) left education. Finally, the directors of Utah's three university graduate-level speech-language pathology programs were surveyed to assess factors at the university level that may be contributing to the shortage. All three directors responded to the survey. The mean number of applicants over the three-year period in question was 186 per year, and of these, an average of 111.3 or 60.0% was accepted. From these three combined programs, an average of 67 students graduated each year, and approximately 30 to 40% of these graduates initiated practice in Utah's schools. Data from one of the three programs, Utah State University, indicated that the addition of an outreach program significantly increased their number of graduates.

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Parents of children with developmental disabilities seek out therapy in order to assist their child to reach full potential. In order to help parents understand where their child should be in comparison to a typically developing child, they must be provided with proper resources. While commercially available assessments are available to speech-language pathologists, parents only have access to checklists that provide minimal direction at certain age ranges. The purpose of this literature review is to discuss developmental domains important for the developing child, examine developmental milestone checklists available to parents as well as two commercially available assessments for speech-language pathologists, investigate available research on developmental milestones in the areas of language output, language comprehension, cognition, social-emotional skills, and motor development, and identify ages at which developmental milestones within the identified domains occur in typically developing children. The aim of this project will be to create developmental milestone checklists available for speech-language pathologists to provide to parents. / text

Concussion affects the adolescent population in large numbers, primarily because of the popularity of team sports that are played in middle and high school. This adolescent age group is more susceptible to the adverse effects of concussion due to physiological immaturity, and recovery for this population takes longer than in adults. Speech-language pathologists, who are trained to treat cognitive-communication deficits, are present in the majority of school systems throughout the United States, and could be a useful resource to manage and treat students who incur concussion. However, speech-language pathologists historically have not treated students with concussion, and may not be receiving adequate education regarding concussion in graduate programs. This study sought to ascertain the education, training, and experience regarding concussion of speech-language pathologists in Texas secondary schools. Anonymous survey responses were collected via an Internet survey platform, yielding 49 respondents for the final data pool. The answers provided by these respondents indicate Texas speech-language pathologists are not yet receiving adequate concussion education and training. Respondents reported low confidence levels in several key areas of concussion knowledge, and doubt regarding the speech-language pathologist's role in managing concussion. Recommendations include concussion-targeted graduate school curriculum as an extension of traumatic brain injury curriculum, increased continuing education efforts by ASHA regarding concussion and the speech-language pathologist's role in treating concussion, and further advocacy by ASHA for speech-language pathologists to be part of concussion management teams based in schools. / text

The purpose of this thesis was to administer a survey to obtain information on practicing Speech-Language Pathologists’ (SLPs) knowledge of bilingual issues, while also considering whether any academic background on bilingualism guides SLP’s diagnostic and treatment options. This was done by comparing survey results of practicing SLPs with different academic backgrounds on bilingualism with current Master’s students registered at the Communication Sciences and Disorders Masters’ program at Florida International University (FIU). The survey consisted of 26 questions that examined participant’s history, and bilingual knowledge. Data was collected from 89 surveys. Data analyses showed that students and SLPs with a strong educational background on bilingualism had a tendency to prefer answers that correspond to recent research findings on bilingualism than students and SLPs with no or little educational background on bilingualism. These results suggest that academic background on bilingualism guides assessment interpretations and treatment options of bilingual clients.

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Sensory Food Aversions occur frequently in children who are likely to appear on Speech-Language Pathologist’s (SLP’s) caseloads. The lack of research regarding intervention for Sensory Food Aversions in schools and the assertion of a gap in school-based services for children with feeding disorders was a significant indicator for the need of the study. A quantitative, descriptive, exploratory research design was selected using a self-developed questionnaire in order to exploreschool-based SLP’s perceptions of their knowledge and skills related to Sensory Food Aversions, as well as determine resources available for working with this population. Findings from the study suggest a need for educational training, emphasize the advocacy role of an SLP, and shed light on the challenges/barriers SLPs face in regard to treating Sensory Food Aversions in schools. This study may be useful for SLPs in order to meet the needs of children with Sensory Food Aversions.

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CLP is a complex condition and can have a far-reaching impact on an individual. Collaboration between the school-based SLP and the CLP team will ensure holistic treatment for the child. A paucity of literature exists regarding school-based SLP’s referrals to cleft palate teams. This research describes and explores the referral practices of school-based SLP’s to CLP teams.Learner Outcome(s): Participants will be able to identify and describe the best practices of school-based SLPs making referrals to cleft palate teams Participants will be able to list the potential barriers in providing services and referrals for children with CLP and VPD in school systems Participants will be able to describe the advantages of collaboration between school-based SLPs and CLP teams in the appropriate care of children with CLP and VPD