By: Sherry Sancibrian, MS, CCC-SLP, Presiding Officer, Speech-Language Pathologist and Audiology Board, and TSHA Public School Advisory Committee Member

We’ve all heard that Santa keeps a list, but did you know that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) also has a list? This list covers the sanctions and penalties that audiologists and speech-language pathologists may incur if they violate the licensure rules. Violations are divided into four classes (A-D), denoting the relative seriousness of the offenses. A range of penalties and sanctions is provided for each class of violation. Class A offenses (the least serious) are assessed penalties ranging from $50 to $500 while Class D offenses (the most serious) may be assessed penalties of $5,000 with the possibility of license revocation. These are some examples of Class A offenses: using “SLP-CF” as the sole indicator of an intern’s credentials; failing to submit a Report of Completed Internship within 30 days after completion; or failing to report to TDLR a change of name, phone number, or employment within 30 days of the change. Examples of Class D offenses include attempting to obtain a license by fraud or misrepresentation and engaging in sexual conduct with a client, assistant, intern, or student. If you’d like to learn more about possible violations and their consequences, you can find the enforcement plan for our license at this link: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/enforcement/slpasanctions.html.