ASHA Communication & Stakeholder Engagement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An SLP suspects a colleague is providing inaccurate information to families about treatment outcomes. According to ASHA's Code of Ethics, the SLP should:
- Ignore the concern to maintain workplace harmony
- Immediately alert the media
- Address the concern directly with the colleague, and escalate to a supervisor or ASHA if unresolved (Correct answer)
- Start contradicting the colleague in front of families
Correct answer: Address the concern directly with the colleague, and escalate to a supervisor or ASHA if unresolved
ASHA's Code of Ethics requires practitioners to address ethical concerns through appropriate channels, starting with direct communication.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes active listening during a parent consultation?
- Preparing your response while the parent speaks
- Maintaining eye contact, nodding, and paraphrasing what the parent said (Correct answer)
- Interrupting to correct factual misunderstandings immediately
- Taking notes without making eye contact throughout the meeting
Correct answer: Maintaining eye contact, nodding, and paraphrasing what the parent said
Active listening involves attending fully to the speaker using verbal and nonverbal feedback, and paraphrasing to confirm understanding.
Question 3: A pediatric SLP is working with a child whose parents have conflicting views on therapy goals. What is the most appropriate approach?
- Choose the goals preferred by the mother since she attends more sessions
- Facilitate a joint meeting to align on shared priorities while respecting both perspectives (Correct answer)
- Avoid goal-setting discussions until parents agree independently
- Proceed with standardized goals and exclude parent input
Correct answer: Facilitate a joint meeting to align on shared priorities while respecting both perspectives
Family-centered practice requires facilitating collaborative consensus-building that respects all caregivers' perspectives.
Question 4: When giving feedback to a graduate student clinician after a session, which approach is most effective?
- Provide only positive feedback to build confidence
- Offer specific, balanced feedback with examples from the observed session and clear guidance for improvement (Correct answer)
- Wait until the end of the semester to compile all feedback
- Focus exclusively on errors to prevent future mistakes
Correct answer: Offer specific, balanced feedback with examples from the observed session and clear guidance for improvement
Effective clinical supervision uses specific, balanced, timely feedback tied to observable behaviors and actionable improvement strategies.
Question 5: An SLP is conducting a telepractice session with a client in a rural area. Which communication consideration is UNIQUE to this service delivery model?
- Clients in rural areas have lower therapy goals
- Technical difficulties should be ignored to maintain session flow
- Ensuring the client has a local emergency contact and confirming technology literacy before sessions (Correct answer)
- Informed consent is not required for telepractice
Correct answer: Ensuring the client has a local emergency contact and confirming technology literacy before sessions
Telepractice requires additional preparation, including emergency protocols and verifying the client's ability to use the technology effectively.
Question 6: A parent asks an SLP for a prognosis guarantee for their child's stuttering treatment. The BEST response is to:
- Provide a guaranteed timeline to reassure the family
- Explain that prognosis depends on multiple factors and share what evidence says about expected outcomes (Correct answer)
- Refuse to discuss prognosis at all
- Tell the parent to consult the internet for outcome data
Correct answer: Explain that prognosis depends on multiple factors and share what evidence says about expected outcomes
Honest, evidence-based communication about prognosis—without making guarantees—is required by ASHA's ethical standards.
Question 7: Which behavior MOST demonstrates effective interprofessional communication on a hospital care team?
- Deferring all communication decisions to the team leader
- Using discipline-specific jargon to establish expertise
- Clearly articulating the SLP's clinical findings and recommendations in language accessible to all team members (Correct answer)
- Limiting contributions to written documentation only
Correct answer: Clearly articulating the SLP's clinical findings and recommendations in language accessible to all team members
Effective interprofessional communication requires SLPs to share expertise clearly, using language that is accessible across disciplines.
ASHA Communication & Stakeholder Engagement 3
An SLP suspects a colleague is providing inaccurate information to families about treatment outcomes.
According to ASHA's Code of Ethics, the SLP should: