ASHA, LinguiSystems, The Code of Ethics and Stuttering (Episode 173)

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StutterTalk wants to celebrate and remind everyone that Monday, January the 18th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. During today's episode Peter Reitzes and Eric Jackson discuss our thoughts and concerns regarding the LinguiSystems "Outcomes Guaranteed" statement and "Guaranteed Outcomes." We discuss our strong concerns regarding the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's initial response and urge ASHA to look closely at its Code of Ethics. We discuss the financial aspects of this situation and strongly urge ASHA to voluntarily and proactively look into such matters and to launch investigations when necessary. A fuller show summary with links to web pages and documents discussed are available below so that listeners and the public can decide for themselves.


Peter wrote a letter to the Board of Directors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association which is available here at the Stuttering Brain Blog.

During Episode 173 of StutterTalk we review StutterTalk episode 171 in which we discussed LinguiSystems' statement on "Outcomes Guaranteed!" The LinguiSystems products discussed are Easy Does It for Fluency: Preschool/Primary with a guaranteed outcome of "Use easy speech in real-life speaking situations" and Fluency Card Games which boasts a guaranteed outcome of  "Speak confidently." 

Then we discuss the fact that LinguiSystems' Co-owners/Founders, Linda Bowers & Rosemary Huisingh, are both speech-language pathologists and members of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and are therefore bound by the ASHA Code of Ethics. The LinguiSystems website states that LinguiSytems is "the first company to be founded and operated by speech-language pathologists."
 
According to ASHA’s Code of Ethics,“Individuals shall not guarantee the results of any treatment or procedure, directly or by implication...”, “Individuals' statements to the public…shall not contain misrepresentations.”, “Individuals shall not misrepresent…products dispensed...” and “Individuals shall not engage in dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation…”

On the surface it appears that advertisements used by LinguiSystems, a company owned by two ASHA members who are speech-language pathologists, may directly violate ASHA's Code of Ethics in regards to their guaranteed outcomes.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation receive revenue and donations from LinguiSystems. For example, The ASHA Leader runs LinguiSystems advertisements. LinguiSystems is a vendor at ASHA conventions and sells its products at ASHA conventions. LinguiSystems gives tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation and is featured as a"Generous Supporter" on the Foundation's website. StutterTalk has invited several prominent members and representatives of  ASHA to join us on air at StutterTalk to publicly discuss these  issues so that ASHA may share their views and clarify their positions on ethics,advertising and related matters.

StutterTalk reports that Linda Bowers (co-owner of LinguiSystems) is past President and past Board Member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation as can be verified on the Foundation's 990 Forms linked to below.
Other pertinent documents are the American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association's recent 990 Forms:
We also discuss the American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association's recent Audited Financial Statements:
  • ASHA's Audited Financial Statement: 2008
  • ASHA's Audited Financial Statement: 2007
  • ASHA's Audited Financial Statement: 2006
  • ASHA's Audited Financial Statement: 2005
In 2008 ASHA reported having 130, 828 members. In 2008,  it appears that ASHA's program expenses on ethics was $347, 956. This means that ASHA is spending about $2.65 per member a year on ethics...about the price of one latte per member. We expressed that ASHA should strongly consider placing more resources and interest into ethics.

In 2008, as we said, it appears that ASHA's program expenses on ethics was $347, 956. It appears that in 2008, ASHA's program expenses on multicultural affairs was$872, 533 - more than twice the amount of the program expenses for ethics. In our opinion, multicultural affairs are certainly important,but they are not twice as important as ethics.

In ASHA's 2007 990 Form it is reported that ASHA's Executive Director received $269, 998 in compensation and $173,260 in compensation paid to employee benefit plans and deferred compensation plans. In total then, it appears that the Executive Director of ASHA made $443,258 in total compensation, which is more then the 2008 ASHA program expenses on ethics. It is suggested that ASHA's program expenses on ethics may benefit from being higher then the total compensation given to ASHA's Executive Director. 

We urged ASHA to:
  • Look into LinguiSystems and their "Outcomes Guaranteed" and "Guaranteed Outcomes" statements and promotions.
  • Put ethics and ethical considerations before financial considerations, to
  • Initiate ethical investigations on its own and to fully accept its role in enforcing the Code of Ethics, to
  • Carefully screen and take notice of the actions of donors and companies ASHA does business with, and
  • Take its own Code of Ethics seriously.
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This episode was recorded January 16, 2010 and published January 17, 2010.
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Posted by StutterTalk at 1/17/2010 1:58 PM
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: stuttertalk ethics stuttering code of ethics stutter stammer stuttering help stutter talk asha stammering
 
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  • 1/17/2010 9:41 PM MarkB wrote:
    Ah yes, the stuttering industrial complex!
  • 1/24/2010 8:57 AM Lori Melnitsky wrote:
    As a person who stutters and one who has been guaranteed outcomes of fluency numerous times over the years, I applaud your efforts. As an SLP it is an outcome I cannot promise and yes,it is heartbreaking to not tell a parent the magic words of "cure" they so want to hear. The damage that can be done to a person's self esteem, confidence level, and communication skills can be life altering in a negative manner. I am perplexed as to why I am still seeing ads for the promise of fluent speech. It appears unethical to me and should not be appearing by speech pathologists. Why is this happening and aren't the code of ethics provided by ASHA being violated?
    On the positive side, if we as SLPs can be honest with our clients and parents, we can still inspire hope that people can stutter less while accepting their stuttering, improve their communication skills and leave our offices with a sense of empowerment. Ironically, when I stopped seeking the "cure", my fluency vastly improved along with the use of the fluency shaping tools I still use. Thank you for your hard work.
  • 1/24/2010 9:20 PM Patricia Keiling wrote:
    I agree that Stutter Talk's concerns about guaranteed outcomes by LInguisystems be looked at by ASHA.

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