Issue

Within public schools, the number of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students continues to rise, with more than 400 languages reported in U.S. schools (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). As of 2021, students speaking a language other than English comprised slightly more than 20% of students enrolled in Texas schools (Center for Educational Statistics, 2024). 

Many of you are a month or two into your first semester as a graduate student. Congratulations! Getting into graduate school is a major achievement, and you are entering a wonderful time of learning and growth. As any recent graduate will tell you, it goes by faster than you think it will. As you get settled, you might start to realize that you are surrounded by similarly amazing people who all will be completing rigorous[JL1]  coursework and similarly enriching clinical experiences.

In a rural town, a non-speaking student by the name of “Joy” was unable to communicate her wants and needs with peers or communicate while participating in instructional activities, often leading to moments of frustration for her. Joy and her parents had never been introduced to Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) prior to her speech-language pathologist (SLP) starting at Joy’s school as a teletherapist. 

The Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (TSHF) is currently accepting applications for the 2025 research, service, education, and scholarship awards. The application deadline is December 8. Awards will be presented at the 69th Annual Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Convention, to be held May 1-3, 2025, in San Antonio.  

Cafe TSHA is an initiative of the TSHA Publications Board. Levity Lounge is a walk on the lighter side. Tips for Tx offers clever hacks to up your therapy game. Tech Bytes covers new and noteworthy technology finds. Student Swap provides student-focused ideas and inspiration. Wellness Corner emphasizes self-care for service providers. We encourage you to submit your ideas to publications@txsha.org for consideration for publication in future issues. 

Howdy, TSHA. Time has really flown these past four years, and I can’t believe that it’s time for my final Communicologist submission as the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Vice President of Audiology . I still remember so clearly the day I found out I had been elected. It was in the spring of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was sitting through yet another stress-laden virtual meeting about modifying clinical practices to foster safety in the face of the unknown.