3 minute read
AR-NBASLH, Empowering Arkansas!
by Angela Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP, info@AR–NBASLH.org
As a newly formed chapter, the Arkansas Affiliate of the National Black Association for Speech- Language and Hearing (ARNBASLH) has hit the ground running with a variety of networking, educational and donationbased activities since the group’s inauguration.
Founded in February 2022, AR-NBASLH has remained focused on a mission to:
1. promote and support the quality of service delivery to Back individuals with communication disorders;
2. provide financial support for the training of Black students pursuing speech-language and hearing professions in Arkansas; and
3. support Black speech-language and hearing professionals in the state.
The Association is actively working to fulfill its mission through a range of initiatives, past and future, such as:
• Summer 2022: AR-NBASLH collaborated with the University of Central Arkansas Communication Sciences and Disorders program to hold its first inperson orientation and recruitment networking event. Attendees participated in focus groups to provide the Association with feedback on goals, collaborative opportunities and events.
• Fall 2022: Board members of the AR-NBASLH presented “Expanding Racial Diversity in Communication Sciences and Disorders” at the 2022 Arkansas SpeechLanguage and Hearing Association annual convention. Presenters included ARNBASLH President, Angela Anderson, AR-NBASLH Vice President, Dr. Portia Carr and AR-NBASLH Mentor, Dr. Andi Toliver-Smith. The presentation included strategies to recruit and retain students/professionals from racially diverse backgrounds in Communication Sciences and Disorders, **with an emphasis on progression from cultural competence to cultural humility and cultural responsiveness.
• Winter 2022: AR-NBASLH student members collaborated with the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to collect donations of school supplies for middle school students in urban districts.
• Winter 2022: AR-NBASLH Mentor, Dr. Andi Toliver Smith, was accompanied by two second-year graduate students (AR-NBASLH Student Community Outreach Coordinator JaVonnica Smith of University of Arkansas Medical Sciences and Destiny Harris of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) to speak to a business education class at Little Rock Central High School. Afterwards, several students wrote essays to share that they’d never heard of speech-language pathology, and are now interested in the profession.
• Spring 2023: AR-NBASLH is sponsoring its first student award, The Fresh Start Award. The Fresh Start Award recognizes a graduate student member of ARNBASLH. The award supplies financial support towards clinically relevant materials or licensing fees.
• Spring 2023 and ongoing: Dr. Andi Toliver-Smith leads/will lead a monthly BIPOC check-in meeting at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The meetings are/will be a safe place for BIPOC students to talk about graduate school experiences, racism within the culture, the needs of BIPOC students in CSD, current trends and topics in CSD, and UAMS audiology and speech-language pathology support for BIPOC students. AR-NBASLH will continue to advocate for the needs of the Black community of Arkansas by organizing events and initiatives that promote culturally responsive practices and raise awareness of the complex needs and challenges for Black individuals with communication disorders. Looking ahead, ARNBASLH has more exciting plans for the future, including expanding its outreach efforts and providing resources and support to Black speech, language and hearing professionals in Arkansas. We invite you to follow AR-NBASLH on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
