President’s Message: Strategic Documents, Advocacy Update, and HearTECH Expo—February 2020

Message from Catherine Palmer, PhD | February 2020

Academy Publishes Two New Strategic Documents

At the January 23, 2020, board meeting, the board approved two strategic documents contributing to our overall audiology body of knowledge. These are now published on the Academy website here and will be published in Audiology Today and the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology (JAAA) in various formats in the near future.

• Clinical Guidance Document: Assessment of Hearing in Infants and Young Children 
• Clinical Consensus Document: Audiological Services for Musicians and Music Industry Personnel 

Advocacy in Review and Legislative Updates

• Building on the Academy President’s videos, the Advocacy Year in Review is available to highlight activities over the last year.
• Academy Senior Director of Government Relations Susan Pilch also did a webinar that offers the prospectus for this year ahead. The archive version of the webinar is available at no charge.
• The Government Relations Committee (GRC) and staff also have planned a highly valuable and interactive session in the Future Hub. Come to the Thursday 1:30 session in the Future Hub to engage in communication exercises to hone skills and messaging for successful advocacy.
• Legislation is being introduced in numerous states to adopt the Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact. The Academy is helping efforts to counter opposition to the licensure compact, and do not hesitate to reach out to Academy staff if assistance is needed in your state.

AAA 2020 + HearTECH Expo in New Orleans

• Check out the presentations, learning, and interactive fun in the HearTECH Expo…specifically, the Future Hub schedule and plan to attend these thought-provoking and informative sessions relevant to audiology practice today and in the future.
• Special Accommodations: The Academy is committed to providing the utmost service to our conference attendees, while working closely with the New Orleans Convention Center and all of our vendors, to provide reasonable services to accommodate our attendees while in attendance at AAA 2020 + HearTECH Expo. This year, we have added complimentary options for auditory accommodations that will help make the most of your conference experience.