Professional Issues Class Post 4: Join all the SIGs!

The assignment:  As noted a few times, ASHA offers Special Interest Groups.  Review those on the ASHA web site. Suppose a kind soul were to pay for you to join one.  Which might you join and why?  Or might you say to the kind soul, use your funds for something else - I'm more of a generalist right now.  If the latter is your choice, why do you feel that way?

ASHA offers 18 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and as a student, I can join these SIGs for the bargain price of only $10, versus $35.    Then why haven’t I jumped on it like a set of NWT Hanna Andersson Christmas dresses for $2.29 at Goodwill?

 

Because I can’t decide!   Maybe I am the generalist described above.    This field is so broad…from the NICU to hospice, from figurative language to lisps, from schools to hospitals, from accent reduction to transgender voice issues, from tracheostomies to cochlear implants…we have the potential to work ANYWHERE and with just about ANYONE! 

For someone with the kind of ADHD that makes them shut down in the face “where do I start?” then you can see how this is a problem for me.   Looking at the list and trying to choose one is like looking at this room and trying to figure out where to start cleaning:

Most likely, if I *had* to pick one, it would be SIG 1,Language Learning and Education, because it seems to be the most general, and if I end up working with children, the most applicable.   But I also have a special interest in SIG12, Augmentative and Alternative Communication.   I love the idea of using technology to give a voice to someone who was previously nonverbal.  One day I hope to travel the world and spend some time as an ex-pat working in another country, so SIG 17, Global Issues inCommunication Sciences and Related Disorders might be a good fit for me.   Then of course there is SIG 16, School-BasedIssues, since I will likely work in a school.   But what if I decide to work part-time at a hospital or SNF, which means I should join SIG 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (Dysphagia) and SIG15, Gerontology and SIG 2, Neurophysiology and Neurogenic Speech and LanguageDisorders! 

 

...and money!

So I do nothing. 

Or rather, I will just take the stance of Generalist until that kind soul hands over a credit card to hook a girl up.