Speech Pathologists & Audiologists in Louisiana Schools, Inc.
P.O. Box 12177
Lake Charles, LA 70612


 

  New ASHA Continuing Education Requirements
(applies to ASHA CCC holders ONLY)

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is implementing new requirements for continuing education (CE). Continuing education activities will be required in order to maintain the Certificate of Clinical Competence.

You will be required to demonstrate every 3 years that you have participated in 30 contact hours of continuing professional development during your designated 3﷓year maintenance interval.

*The SPALS Conference each year provides 10 hours of Continuing Education and will be sufficient for meeting this requirement over three years.

Dates of implementation and descriptions of acceptable CE activities are provided below.

Effective for Audiologists: January 1, 2003 (applies to all certificate holders, regardless of the date of initial certification)

Effective for SLPs: January 1, 2005 (refer to table below for phase-in schedule)

DATE OF INITIAL CERTIFICATION CE    CYCLE BEGINS    CE CYCLE ENDS
initially certified before January 1, 1980  January 1, 2005  December 31, 2007
initially certified between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1989  January 1, 2006  December 31, 2008
initially certified after January 1, 1990  January 1, 2007  December 31, 2009

All individuals will have a three year period to complete the process for renewal of certification.

Descriptions of Acceptable CE Activities

Continued professional development may be demonstrated through participation in one or more of the following four options:

30 contact hours through Employer-sponsored in-service* or other continuing education activities** that contribute to professional development; and/or
3 CEUs from ASHA-approved continuing education (CE) providers; and/or
3 CEUs from International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) approved providers; and/or
2 semester hours (3 quarter hours) from a college or university that holds regional accreditation or accreditation from an equivalent nationally recognized or governmental accreditation authority.

* Examples of employer-sponsored in-service activities are special education workshops dealing with autism, IEP procedures, IDEA, formal training sessions on equipment used in the evaluation or treatment of your clients; and/or professional activities dealing with literacy, autism, professional ethics, diversity issues, or workload issues.

** Examples of other continuing education activities are state association workshops (e.g. SPALS Conference), seminars offered through other professional associations, and/or formal on-line, non-credit courses offered through a university.

REAL LIFE APPLICATION: What Does This Mean for Me?

We in Louisiana are very fortunate because the ASHA model of Continuing Education is very similar to the one utilized by LaBESPA. The difference is that LaBESPA requires 10 hours of Continuing Education per year and requires yearly reporting; ASHA requires 30 hours over three years. This means that you must keep your records of participation for three years, rather than one.

At the end of your three year cycle, you must submit a form documenting your participation in Continuing Education Activities with your renewal notice. IF you are chosen for auditing, you must submit your “Certificate of Participation” for the various events.

You are not required to join the AHSA CEU Registry, though they will maintain your records of ASHA CEUs, giving you automatic proof of participation if you are audited. Otherwise you are responsible for maintaining your own records.

For further information, contact ASHA at 1-800-498-2071 or send an e-mail to certification@asha.org or visit http://professional.asha.org/certification/maintenance.cfm


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