As I write this column, I am sitting on an airplane at 41,000 feet returning to
Miami from San Antonio. I lived in San Antonio for almost six years in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. To say that the city has changed is a gross understatement. It has grown in all directions and is now a bustling city rather than an overgrown “cow-town” with a bunch of military bases. The needs of the citizens of San Antonio have changed through the years, and the city has changed according to those needs. I was reflecting on my time in Texas and my first endeavors to become involved with TSHA. My first platform presentation was at a TSHA meeting in Fort Worth adjacent to Carswell Air
Force Base. The Association had to have obtained a really good deal on the hotel because we were in the takeoff flight path of B-52 bomber aircraft. This was in the day when a stop watch timed all the presenters, and it was one paper after another. But the time-keeper had to stop the watch each time a B-52 took off because the room filled with an unbelievable roar that literally shook the chandeliers and rattled the windows and chairs.
That was also a day when state associations had the primary mission of educating the members. Legislative activity was virtually unheard of because licensure in many states had not yet come about. Just as the needs of the citizens in many cities have changed, so have the needs of state association members and state associations themselves.
The advent of licensure introduced an entirely new world for clinical professionals
– that of scope of practice statements, position papers, policy statements, and legislation. Unscrupulous business owners and some practitioners were learning the
“rules of the game” quite well and manipulating the reimbursement system for the sake

of personal advantage. Some professional groups began the effort to exert their will and influence over other professional groups. And legislative bodies were becoming increasingly protective of consumers who were also their voting constituents. Ah, the times did indeed change, and national and state professional associations either changed with them or faced tremendous unrest and dissention. An example of not changing in a timely way is ASHA. As audiology was growing and moving down a different path from speech-language pathology, ASHA leadership in the early to mid
1980’s insisted that we were still one profession. The implication was that what was good for speech pathology was good for audiology. But as the state of the science changed for both professions, the original commonality of their needs grew to be increasingly different from one another. Finally, a group of audiologists decided that they could not live under the edict of “we are one profession” any longer, and they broke away to form the American Academy of Audiology. Since that time, ASHA has come to full realization that audiology and speechlanguage pathology are not “one profession” although we have common roots and continue to have some overlapping professional needs. But the majority of professional issues are quite distinct ranging from academic program curricula through scope of practice definitions.
In many ways, FLASHA recognized the separate needs of the two disciplines and reorganized itself in the early 19 90’s to establish board positions specifically designated for professional affairs in audiology and speech-language pathology, respectively. Although that responded to one set of factors, it did not resolve situations and outside influences arising in other sectors.

The years 1994-1996 were landmark years in changing the mission and function of FLASHA forever. A legislative proposal called “Joint Ventures” suddenly appeared in the legislature that would have put almost every private practitioner in speech-language pathology out of business.
FLASHA’s purpose in life changed from providing continuing education to serving as the principle advocate and voice for the professions in
Tallahassee. The next major effort came in the form of advocacy on behalf of schoolbased speech-language pathologists to the Florida Department of Education.
Proposals came forth to hire B.A. level speech pathologists in the schools and give them full rights to practice as a master’s level individual would. Other proposals came forward to loosen the rules on SLP assistants in the schools. FLASHA has been a strong, vocal advocate for maintaining the master’s degree as the standard for public school SLPs. Periodic “skirmishes” occurred from time to time as other professional organizations attempted to influence our practice act to redefine our scope of practice or, through our law, increase their own scope of practice. From 1996 through 2000
FLASHA was one of the major players in the eventual passage of universal newborn hearing screening. In fact, when the governor took an official neutral stance on the issue and the Department of Health could not advocate for the law, FLASHA members became the primary advocates. Governor Bush signed the legislation in law in June 2,
2000. And FLASHA continues to be the primary advocate at the state level for reimbursement with third party payers, both public and private. This list is far from being complete for all the activities and advocacies performed by this organization. For example, other activities have included surveying public school SLPs to coordinate efforts toward salary supplements, providing continuing education opportunities on both

professional and administrative subjects, professional educational sessions for students in the area of documentation and coding, and legislative advocacy for revising our practice act. We have eyes and ears in Tallahassee to monitor all that happens lest legislation comes up that affects our professions. We have an extremely professional association office to serve the members. And we have a web site that is evolving into a wonderful resource for both members and consumers.
So, you ask – this history lesson is very nice, but what’s the point? The point is that FLASHA is not some nebulous entity way up there in the sky. Each one of us is
FLASHA. Professionals who do nothing but lobby were not the primary ones to carry the torch for universal newborn hearing screening, nor for maintaining SLPs standards in the schools, nor for influencing third party payers when inappropriate restrictions are imposed on reimbursement. Yes, we have a lobbyist, but her main role is to be our eyes and ears, to advocate for our causes to the extent that she can, and to provide opportunities for membership advocacy. We, the members, are the ones who have kept SLPs in private practice and out of the reach of Joint Ventures, obtained passage of universal newborn hearing screening legislation, maintained appropriate education standards for fully credentialed SLPs in the schools, and who are working to update our practice act to ensure continued opportunities to work and practice our professions.
The question arises again and again, “Why should I join FLASHA? What’s in it for me?” The answer is all of the above and then some. At a Council for State
Association Presidents meeting a couple of years ago, the president of the California association stood before the entire audience to proclaim that the spring convention program for FLASHA was the best one he had ever seen short of the ASHA convention

program. FLASHA provides many opportunities for education and to work and practice in Florida. And these opportunities are not just for SLPs, they have been for audiologists as well and with equal vigor. “What’s in it for me?” one may ask. In some ways that is the wrong question. Our motto is “Shared Vision,” and that came from the idea that we, the many, have a common vision of high standards, appropriate job opportunities, appropriate scope of practice, and a forceful, influential voice for the professions. The only way that we will continue to have success is if “we, the many” continue to come together with our financial resources (dues), our interest, our participation, and our support. When I thought about the topic of this column, I wanted to write about leadership. In a way, I just did. A leader is not only someone who is in an elected office. A leader is one who sets the example by getting involved, belonging to a group with a purpose and a cause, and by supporting that cause financially. All that
FLASHA has done and all that FLASHA will do comes with a monetary price. The dues that you pay and the registration at convention and conferences are our primary sources of income to allow this group to have a voice and exert a positive influence.
“Why should I be a member of FLASHA?” In order to provide our support to an organization and a cause that, in turn, will reap tremendous benefit to every professional in Florida.`