TSHA Eligibility Guidelines Where are We Now
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Transcript TSHA Eligibility Guidelines Where are We Now
Christy Weddington, M.S. CCC-SLP
TSHA Co-Chair for TOT Committee
Templates to Guidelines
The TOT Committee has changed the name of
Templates to “Guidelines”
The eligibility templates were originally developed
to be a ‘template’ for districts to use to determine
eligibility for communication disorders
As manuals developed and evolved for each
template, the term ‘guidelines’ was more appropriate
to describe the purpose of the manuals
Purpose of Guidelines
To help guide districts to accurately identify children
with communication disorders according to federal
and state regulations as well as best practices
To provide consistency across the state, between
districts, and within districts
To help districts that are over-identified in Speech by
TEA
Guidelines
Developed
Generic Manual
Articulation
CLD Articulation Companion
Voice
Fluency
Language Only
Language with Learning Disabilities
Language with Mental Retardation & Autism
Manuals in Progress
Development of CLD Language Companion
Split MR & AU into two separate companion manuals to
language
Update all manuals to align with Generic Manual format
All manuals are going through Professional Editing
Generic, Articulation, and Language with LD are completed
Challenges Faced
Legal changes with IDEA and State Commissioner’s Rules
Concerns that people would misuse or misinterpret the
manuals without proper training
University graduates don’t have the training as they enter
the public school workforce
Districts are not willing to pay participants to attend face
to face trainings due to budget crisis and current economy
Volunteer’s time
Trainings
Trainings continue to be provided at Region Service
Centers, TSHA Convention, and Individual Districts
across Texas
However, face to face trainings are rapidly decreasing
and TSHA is looking at alternative ways to provide
training
TOT is in process of collaborating with ESC’s to
develop online training webinars and access to
manuals
Concerns Reported
Too many SLPs are using the standard scores (77) and
percentile ranks (7th) as ‘cut off’ scores for determining a
disorder
SLPs need to look at the ‘big picture’ when determining a
disorder that includes other sources of information or
additional assessment in areas of concern according to the
guidelines and federal law!
Confusion among other professionals between the
Language Only manual looking at 1 ½ standard
deviations as a concern and Language with Learning
Disabilities looking at 1 SD
Manual Reminders
Manuals were developed to ‘guide’ districts in
determining eligibility. Districts still have the ‘legal
right’ to set their own guidelines.
TEA has not and will not ‘approve’ these guidelines.
However, the TSHA/TCASE Joint Committee works
closely with TEA to provide information about the
manuals and their positive impact on schools
More to come!
The TOT Committee is committed to providing
online trainings and electronic copies of the manuals
to SLPs in Texas
As the laws change and best practices improve, the
manuals will continue to be updated
New Task Force has been created to help districts
over-identified in speech
Training in manuals will be provided & data collected
Links & Contacts
The Generic Manual is available on the TSHA website at
www.txsha.org
Click on School Issues & Eligibility Guidelines
Lead Trainers & Trainers are also listed for each region and
manual
Jan Lougeay – VP for Research and Development
[email protected]
Christy Weddington – TOT Committee Co-Chair
[email protected]
Questions/Comments