Student Speak - September 2012

Hello from your NSA!

Dear Students,

Welcome to what I hope will be an amazing, inspiring and
rewarding year!

My name is Melanie Moore and I am honoured to have been elected to serve a second term as your National Student Representative (NSA). CASLPA recognizes the vital role students play in their association and as such they make student feedback a priority. As the NSA, I am your representative on the board of directors and my role is to make sure your voice is heard. I am delighted to have the opportunity to represent you and will try to make this year a spectacular one for all of us!

In order to make sure students are receiving timely, useful information — without being swamped with e-mail overkill — we've decided to try something new this year… Welcome to Student Speak! This e-newsletter will be distributed every other month and will address your needs and interests. Student Speak is brief, but will be packed with relevant information and important dates just for students.

Also new this year is our updated CASLPA Student Handbook. With clickable links and helpful tidbits, this handbook will help answer all your questions about being a CASLPA student member, how to get the most out of your membership and where to go if you need more information.

Of course, at any time, if you have CASLPA-related questions, suggestions or just want to chat, feel free to contact me! You can find me on Facebook in the C ASLPA Student Members group, on Twitter or via email at studentrep@caslpa.ca.

Have a fantastic fall term; I look forward to hearing from you!

All the best,
Melanie Moore
CASLPA National Student Advisor
MSc cand. (Speech-Language Pathology) 2013
Dalhousie University

Scholarships & Awards: The Breakdown

As a CASLPA student member, exciting funding opportunities are only an application away! Here’s a quick overview of what you can apply for:

Scholarships
CASLPA has four scholarship categories with 21 individual scholarships awarded annually. Scholarship applicants are evaluated on: clinical practicum, an essay, level of academic work, references and volunteer involvement. The deadline for all scholarship applications is October 15, 2012. To learn more about our scholarship program, click here!

Awards
CASLPA has three awards specifically for student members:

Student Excellence Award
This award is presented to one CASLPA student member in each of the speech-language pathology and audiology training programs in Canada. The winners receive a complimentary CASLPA conference registration. The application deadline is December 10, 2012. Click here for more information.

Isabel Richard Student Paper Awards (Below Doctoral & Doctoral)
The Isabel Richard Student Paper Awards recognize the best papers written by CASLPA student members on a specific topic related to the professions. Undergraduate student members in an S-LP or audiology program and doctoral student members in any program are eligible to apply. Essays must be 1,000-1,500 words for students below the doctoral level and 1,500-2,500 words for doctoral level students. Here are the 2013 Isabel Richard Paper Award topics:

The benefits of practicing in rural and remote communities: for students considering practicum placements, for professionals and for the rural communities they serve.
Classroom-based intervention. How speech-language pathologists and audiologists can partner with educators in the classroom.
What should the speech-language pathologist’s role be as a team member in the diagnosis and intervention of Autism Spectrum Disorders? (i.e., the S-LPs role when a child is receiving Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) / Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA))

The application deadline is December 1, 2012. Please click here for more information.

Demystifying CASLPA Certification

As a CASLPA student member you’ve undoubtedly heard about certification but, what exactly is certification and why is it important? How does holding clinical certification differ from holding a provincial license or registration?

Great questions! But, before delving into the specifics, let’s first look at the differences between CASLPA and the regulatory bodies.

Regulatory Bodies
In a nutshell, the regulatory bodies aim to protect the public by enforcing a minimum standard of practice. Regulatory bodies currently exist in seven provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. In these provinces, licensing and registration is mandatory.

CASLPA
CASLPA, on the other hand, exists to serve our members and to promote professional excellence. While clinical certification is not mandatory, it is an important step in the career development of speech-language pathologists and audiologists practicing in Canada. Clinical certification means you are committed to achieving and maintaining the highest professional standard.

Our certification program has two components: the clinical certification exam and the continuing education program. You maintain clinical certification by keeping your CASLPA membership current and by acquiring continuing education equivalents (CEEs). Don’t worry, it’s really not complicated; actually, it’s fun! Acquiring CEEs means learning about interesting topics perhaps not covered in school. They allow you to delve deeper into subjects in a way that a 2-3 year university program just doesn’t have time to cover. CEEs are your chance to expand your knowledge base and keep you at the forefront of your profession.

When you applied for your program, there were minimum requirements for GPA and volunteer hours that you had to meet; however, to have been accepted you likely had grades much higher than the cut-off and far more volunteer hours than the minimum. When you graduate and are looking for a job, the competition will be just as fierce. You will have to find ways to set yourself apart from the crowd. CASLPA Clinical Certification is an excellent way to show potential employers that you are the type of employee who goes the extra mile.

Be the best you can be! Learn how CASLPA Clinical Certification is an important step in your career path, click here.

OASIS Conference

OASIS Conference 2012:
The Future of the Field
Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Organization of Alberta Students in Speech (OASIS) is holding a one-day conference featuring presentations by experts in assistive technology from the ICAN Centre, stuttering from ISTAR, neonatal swallowing and feeding, animal-assisted therapy, neuroplasticity and transgendered voice. There will be opportunities to talk to current students and receive tips on applying to the program. Registration is $30.

For more information or to register for the conference, please email uaspeech@ualberta.ca. CASLPA President, Judy Meintzer, will be in attendance – if you’re attending, be sure to say hello!