Permanent Telehealth coverage under insurance

Mikayla Healy, Leeanne Nastri, Jessica Ciavarella, Autumn Cipriano

During the COVID-19 federal public health emergency, Congress gave the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) authority to temporarily cover audiology and speech-language-pathology telehealth services. However, the coverage ends once the public health emergency expires. The latest public health emergency extension is effective through October 13, 2022.

Population affected:

All populations can benefit from telehealth services for hearing, speech, language, swallowing, balance and cognition. Those who may benefit most from telehealth services are:

• Clients who live in rural or medically underserved areas

• Clients who are medically compromised and at a greater risk for developing complications from COVID-19 and other contagious infections and diseases

• Clients with less access to transportation to attend in-person services

Possible solution:

Expanded Telehealth Access Act! This act would allow for permanent coverage of the above referenced services provided by an SLP or audiologist under Medicare. Providing telehealth services promotes health equity, which is much needed for progress towards a more diverse and just society.

Potential conflict:

Congress does not include audiologists and SLPs as authorized Medicare providers under federal law. This problem can be solved if Congress included these professionals as authorized Medicare providers. Congress must be aware of this vital addition, so that individuals can continue to receive these services through telehealth. This bill has failed to gather enough support in the past, specifically at the start of the Covid-19 public health emergency. This is why increasing awareness and support is so necessary!

Increasing awareness:

Share the below link online and get others to send in the form to their representatives and members of congress! The more people to send in their message, the more important the issue becomes!

To get involved in advocacy, click the link below to send a message to congress to pass this Act!!

Advocate Here!!

THE USE OF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) DEVICES

Natalee Giacondino, Tori Marino, and Madison Papallo

Faculty and staff who work closely with school-aged children who require AAC devices often times lack in-depth, adequate training in how support their use. It is crucial that the individuals the child encounters on a day-to-day basis know how to troubleshoot and facilitate their student's expression and participation.

Population Affected:

• Children with limited verbal output who require AAC devices

Possible Solution:

• Mandatory training for individuals who work with the student and their AAC device

Potential Conflict:

• Faculty and staff may say that their schedules are busy enough and they do not have time to attend training sessions. However, training sessions can be incorporated into preexisting professional development.

Increasing Awareness:

• Invite administrators and auxiliary staff to AAC events to ensure their is awareness of how to use the devices around the school, not just within the therapy environment.

Get involved!

https://praacticalaac.org/praactical/how-we-do-it-increasing-aac-acceptance-and-making-better-communication-partners-in-our-school/

Hearing Loss

Rachel Ryan, Kylie Katz, Meghan Dalton

Individuals with hearing loss may be seen by a speech-language pathologist in the school or medical setting. It is important to understand what a hearing loss is, how it may affect the individual, and how society can support their needs.

Population Affected:

Any individual that experiences any level of hearing loss. Hearing loss in children may be caused by age, genetics, or damage to the ear affecting structure/function. This population may experience a sudden onset of symptoms or may realize symptoms increase over a long period of time.

Possible Solution:

In any public environment such as work places, schools, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. having a visual aid to allow for conversation or questions between the hearing and deaf community can be beneficial. This could be on an iPad or a tablet stored at each setting which will provide readily available means for conversation, especially if the patient does not have their own cell phone or other way to express communication if they are unable to hear. If high-tech aids are not an option, posters and flyers conveying information would be a great solution as well!

Possible Conflict: Companies, organizations, and people may not understand the prevalence of members in the deaf community that struggle with interactions in daily settings. The CDC provides a statistic that shows 14.9% of children in the US have either low or high frequency hearing loss (CDC, 2022). Due to a lack of understanding, there may be a consequence of a resistance to fund projects such as these to increase accessibility for communication between both communities in daily settings outside of the home.

How to increase awareness:

Potential meetings with staff to educate on the prevalence of people within the deaf community. Also, discussion on training and additional ways to allow for effective communication methods. Metaphors are a great way to help able individuals understand what it may feel like to be in the shoes of someone with a hearing loss. Finding a way to help them relate might make them more willing to help! Lastly, if you know someone with a hearing loss, advocate for them!

How can you get involved?

Walk4Hearing is a nationwide walk event that spotlights hearing health. Walk4Hearing is an event that allows people to meet others in the population, share their experiences, and learn all about hearing technologies! You can learn more about their organization and where the next walk is at walk4hearing.org!

Classroom Inclusion for CHildren with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD)

Johnna Fettinger & Daniel Stouffer

• Population Affected:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is typically diagnosed around two years of age. Autism affects kids' social communication to varying degrees depending on the child. All children with ASD have a degree of struggle with perspective-taking, nonverbal communication, and sustaining interactions with other people.

Children with ASD also engage in repetitive and restrictive behaviors. They may have very narrow and specific interests and may have difficulty coping with sudden changes in routine or sudden transitions. Since kids with ASD communicate in a different way than many of their neurotypical peers, many of them feel lonely and struggle to find social acceptance.

• Possible Solution:

Teachers can foster a more inclusive classroom for children with ASD in a few small ways that can have a major impact. Although this may seem obvious, it is important to give kids with ASD as much of a chance to contribute in class as possible. One way to do this is to have discussions in small groups of dyads, pairing the student with ASD with a neurotypical peer. Not only does this give the child with ASD a chance to express their ideas, but it is also educational for the peer.

• Potential Conflict:

As we previously mentioned, one issue that comes up for kids with ASD when attending general education classrooms is a struggle with sudden transitions. When it's time for them to go to their next class, they often feel stressed and disorientation. To prevent this, one thing the classroom teacher can do to provide reminders before class is over instead of waiting for the bell.

Alternatively, teachers can structure the same activity at the end of class each day so that the student with ASD forms the association. For example, the teacher could incorporate a "Closing Thoughts" section in a PowerPoint or end with a classroom discussion of what was learned that day!

• How to Increase Awareness:

The best way to ensure that children with ASD are being included and provided the best educational experience possible is to be involved in your school system. Make sure that your school is being held accountable and actively providing LRE for all students. You can also educate your children and other parents on this disorder. Making others aware through conversation and providing website links to information is a great way to increase awareness!