Speak Easy

By L. Hodgkinson, J. Stanisic, P. Switzer, S. Gibdodon and K. English

Are you concerned with communication? If so, are you aware of the latest member of your communication team?

In the late 1980s, a progressive community college program was established in Orillia, Ontario, to meet growing needs in the fields of speech, language and audiology. Georgian College, in consultation with the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (OSLA) and the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA), introduced the sole post-diploma Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) Program in North America.

Program applicants possess a community college diploma or a university degree with emphasis on social sciences and/or human services.

Students are enroled in an intensive, 12-month program comprising eight months of theoretical and practical study, complemented by a four-month, community-based internship. Areas of study include audiology and aural rehabilitation, articulation and phonology, augmentative and alternative communication, language development, literacy, fluency, voice and acquired speech and language disorders. Upon completion of the CDA program, graduates obtain a post-diploma and are eligible for membership in the CDA Alumni.

Communicative Disorders Assistants form a dynamic team with registered Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) and Audiologists to provide clinical services to the community. Assessment and diagnosis must be conducted by a registered SLP and/or Audiologist, who establishes a therapy program which then can be carried out by the CDA, under the supervision of the assessing therapist.

CDAs implement intervention programs with a variety of populations from paediatrics to geriatrics, and in a variety of settings from day care to long-term care. You may find us at school boards, acute care hospitals, treatment centres, long-term care facilities, community health units,
private agencies and audiology clinics. Here, we work in the areas of augmentative and alternative communication, articulation, phonology, language, fluency and aural rehabilitation.

As supportive personnel of the ’90s, CDAs work directly and indirectly with individuals requiring the above services, together with caregivers, SLPs and Audiologists, to achieve their communication goals. It is as a team that Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists "help us
help you"!

For more information about Communicative Disorders Assistants, phone Cheryl Booker, President of CDA Executive Committee, at: (416) 252-6471, ext. 303. Or contact: Georgian College, P.O. Box 2316, 825 Memorial Ave., Orillia, ON, L3V 6S2; tel.: (705) 325-2705.

(L. Hodgkinson, J. Stanisic, P. Switzer, S. Gibdon and K. English are members of the Kawartha CDA Chapter in Peterborough, Ontario.)