California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)
Department of Speech-Language Pathology
ASHA Clinic Clock Hour Accumulation Clarification – Standard IV-C
Standard IV-C: for ASHA certification, states:
“The applicant for certification in speech-language pathology must complete a minimum for 400
clock hours of supervised clinical experience in the practice of speech-language pathology.
Twenty-five hours must be spent in clinical observation, and 375 hours must be spent in direct
client/patient contact.”
Further, ASHA specifies in its implementation language that:
“Only direct contact with the client or the client's family in assessment, management, and/or
counseling can be counted toward practicum”
It has come to the Department’s attention, that in some instances, students have been recording non-direct contact
activities, such as time spent in didactic, meeting with supervisors, or discussing the client with other professionals,
under the columns of “Staffing” and/or “Related” on the Department’s clock hour forms.
In clarification of the meaning of direct contact activities, the following are examples of hours that count towards
direct contact for ASHA certification:
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Activities in which a clinician provides services to a client or group of clients. These must be activities within the
scope of an SLP. Examples include assessment, intervention, screening, counseling, education. This does not
include observation of others providing these services. Classroom settings with push-in models of service provision
in which you are co-teaching/co-treating with another SLP are direct contact, as long as you are actively involved.
Activities in which services are provided to the client’s family member/caregiver/guardian, with or without the client
physically present, such as family education and/or family counseling. This includes review of assessment and
treatment results with these stakeholders, either individually or during team meetings, such as IEPs. If you attend
an IEP or other similar meeting for individuals on your caseload, and the client and/or family
member/caregiver/guardian is present, you are able to count these hours as direct contact.
Communication with the client and/or family member/ caregiver/guardian via email or telephone.
Activities that DO NOT count as direct contact towards ASHA certification include:
 Speaking or consulting with other professionals regarding the client, without the client and/or family
member/caregiver/guardian present (i.e., discussing the client with a teacher, supervisor, etc.)
 Time spent in on-campus didactics discussing clients
 Collaborating with other professionals, without the client and/or family member/caregiver/guardian present
 Time spent preparing materials, writing reports, planning for assessment or intervention, and so forth.
Administrative duties without the client and/or family member/caregiver/guardian present, while important, are
NOT direct contact
 Observation of treatment or assessment sessions
 Team meetings/IEPs held with a client or family member present, but not for a client on the student’s caseload
The Department has removed “Staffing” and “Related” columns from its current forms to prevent any further
confusion. For students who have hours listed in these areas, you do not need to go back and change previous forms.
However, when you are asked to summarize the clock hours obtained throughout your program, if hours recorded
in these columns are not direct contact (as described above), they must NOT be transferred to your final clock
hour summary form and therefore would not count towards your final totals for ASHA certification.
Further, effective Spring 2014, all students should use the revised INDIVIDUAL CLINIC CLOCK HOURS form for
recording clinical hours in all settings (both on and off campus). Students graduating Spring 2014 and Summer 2014
(and all future semesters), should use the revised CSULB CLOCK HOUR SUMMARY form to total clinical hours at the
end of their graduate program.