Why Become A Member?

ArkSHA supports the future of our profession:

This year ArkSHA awarded the first Betty Bass $1000.00 student scholarship to Hadley Dahlem, a student at UCA. We will be able to offer this annual scholarship due to your generous donations in honor of our dear Betty Bass. You can make a donation to this fund when you renew your dues or at any time on our website. You can donate in honor of or in memory of someone if you choose. Current students are the future of our industry, and we are glad we are able to support them when needed.

ArkSHA represents YOU at the capitol:

With many important legislative issues on the table, it is more important than ever to maintain your membership in ArkSHA. Did you know that ArkSHA has lobbyists who work on your behalf? The ArkSHA Board and lobbyists ensure that audiologists and speech-language pathologists have a voice in important issues facing our professions. In 2017, this included participating on Senator Lindsey’s Task Force on Best Practices for Special Education Responsibilities, initiating our state’s official “Roles and Responsibilities of SLPs in the Schools” document, and aligning with the OT and PT associations to advocate for medically necessary funding for therapy services with Medicaid. The ArkSHA Board has been fervently at work in navigating the new prior authorization process for requesting therapy services beyond the 90-minute thresholds. ArkSHA also worked to defeat legislation that would limit patient access to qualified speech-language pathologists providing evaluative and treatment services!

So why does ArkSHA need you? 

To put it bluntly, many decisions are made legislatively regarding the professions of speech pathology and audiology by senators and representatives who have little to no knowledge of what we do. When speaking with legislators on your behalf, often the first question asked is “How many constituents do you represent?”  That means, “How many members are in ArkSHA?” The higher the number; the more votes we represent.  The more votes we represent; the better the response we get from the members of the House and Senate.  It is really that simple.

If you would like to be involved in the ArkSHA Board, serve on a committee, or attend a task force meeting, please send an email to arksha@arksha.org and let me know of your interest! ArkSHA would love to have you!
Our professions are dedicated to giving a voice to those who need it. It would be a shame to let our voices go unheard.