Presented by

DR. APARNA NANDURKAR (L11030167)
56TH ISHACON, 14th FEB 2025 , PATNA

 

Distinguished Chief Guest Member Secretary, RCI Shri Vikash Trivedi ji
Chairperson, Organising Committee Mr. Sanjay Kumar,
President of Speech and Hearing Association, Bihar Dr. A. K. Sinha
Members of the Organising Committee
Fellow-office bearers of ISHA
Invited speakers
My teachers, mentors, colleagues and students

Warm greetings to each one of you!

 

At the outset, I would like to thank the members of ISHA who showed confidence in me and elected me as the President of this esteemed association. It is a great honour to accept the post and assume this prestigious office for the current year. I am committed to serve to the best of my ability.

Taking responsibility as the President of an association with a legacy of more than 50 years is undoubtedly a memorable and proud moment. The past presidents and EC members of ISHA have nurtured this organization, struggled hard during its growing years and have now positioned it favourably at the national and global level. I am inspired to carry forward the vision envisaged by them and hope to initiate substantial actions to take the legacy forward. Taking over the office from Dr. Prakash Boominathan, who has put forth innovative ideas, initiated some novel projects and shown immense commitment is indeed stepping into very big shoes.

Today, I would like to talk about how we can foster collaborations to advance our profession and to effectively move towards the future.  Collaboration, a cooperative way in which two or more entities work together towards a shared goal, is key to progress and success, especially in organizations.  Here I want to highlight community-oriented collaboration.  

Community-oriented collaboration focuses on creating a sense of community and shared purpose within the organization and is particularly beneficial in organizations with shared values, such as ours. Of course, even in a community, there are certain things that need to be worked upon collectively, while certain things must be worked upon by each individual member to contribute to the collective goal or shared purpose.

So, what is this shared purpose? The Vision statement of ISHA, which is the shared goal for its members, states that “ISHA envisages professional excellence in Speech Language and Hearing services, safeguarding professional ethics and the interest people with Speech Language and Hearing disorders and safeguarding interests of professionals”. Let us talk about how effective collaboration can be achieved towards realising this vision, which clearly outlines three major goals.

First goal: Achieving Professional excellence in speech-language and hearing services:
Excellence is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skilful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.  - Aristotle
Excellence is reflected in the way we as professionals commit ourselves to establish best practices and continuously hone our clinical skills to serve those with speech, language and hearing disorders. It is reflected in the way in which we dedicate ourselves to caring and advocating for the ones we serve. Standard of care, the benchmark that determines whether professional obligations to patients have been met, necessitates uniformity in the use of diagnostic labels, protocols and tools used for screening, assessment, management and reporting.  A step towards this has been taken by ISHA recently by developing the nomenclature document related to Speech, Language, Swallowing,

Hearing and Balance disorders, in alignment with RPwD Act 2016, and in line with national and international perspectives.  I urge members to use this document as a step towards best practices in assessment and labelling of speech, language, swallowing, hearing and balance disorders.

In the same context, ISHA has taken another step towards framing professional standards in service delivery by developing guidelines for accreditation of speech, language, swallowing, hearing and balance clinics in India. This document is intended to assess the clinics both in terms of quantitative and qualitative metrics. I urge members to volunteer for this process and get their clinic accredited under ISHA, taking a step forward in safeguarding the interests of people with speech, language and hearing disorders.

We must be proactive in seeking excellence. Let us commit to making excellence a daily habit.

Second goal: Safeguarding professional ethics:
Professional ethics encompass the personal and professional standards of behavior expected of professionals and its core principles include integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, accountability, professional competence, and professional behaviour. Code of ethics is necessary to establish a framework for professional responsibility, to promote a high standard of practice, to define expected and unaccepted behavior, and to decide on a course of action. As speech and hearing professionals, we have ethical obligations not only towards the people we serve but also towards our fellow professionals. Let us all strive to safeguard professional ethics at an individual level, in whichever setting we may be placed. 

Third goal: Safeguarding the interests of professionals:
As professionals, our interests must be safeguarded. Our profession should be protected, promoted, and preserved. Our concerns must be addressed.  Our profession should survive against all odds, and it must grow and flourish. However, in recent times two major issues come forth in this context and these are a) encroachment by others into our boundaries and b) threats posed due to technological developments and outbursts.

Over the last few years, the issue of encroachment by other unqualified, underqualified or quack personnel has been discussed often across various platforms. Issues such as misleading nomenclature while advertising posts, inappropriate recruitment rules, appointment of diploma holders in ASLP positions are just a few that have been faced repeatedly over the last few years.  Representations are made by members to ISHA, and ISHA has been successful in some instances to get favourable decisions.

I firmly believe that apart from the statutory or legal route, it is up to each one of us to safeguard our own interests. Creating awareness, working towards advocacy, ensuring best clinical practices, engaging in ethical practices, upholding standard of care are some key ways in which we can overpower and throw out our encroachers, who are much less qualified than us!

A big threat is being posed to human beings in general with the advent of Artificial Intelligence. The vast application of AI and its use in practically every aspect of the profession including early identification, enhancing accuracy of assessments, advancements in diagnostic tools and therapeutic and prognostic applications, expert systems for counselling, automatic generation of reports, hearing devices, etc. is raising a serious question: “Am I going to be redundant or obsolete?”  Well, it is too early to conclude anything. Recently published research on AI in audiology reports that the deployment of AI promises to (1) improve the capabilities of audiologists, (2) reduce the burden of routine tasks, and (3) deliver personalized patient care. Despite the promise of AI, its integration into audiology also raises several challenges such as data privacy concerns, the need for large datasets for training algorithms, potential biases in AI models, and the requirement of rigorous validation before clinical implementation. Furthermore, many of us audiologists still lack awareness of the potential applications of AI in our field. Let us get further oriented to realize the full potential of AI in our field before making any conclusions.

Friends, even after being an ASLP for 35 years, I find that lack of awareness of the profession among medical professionals, fellow healthcare professionals and the public is still a serious issue. There are institutions and specific regions in the country where the awareness may be good, where ASLPs have created a place for themselves amidst all the existing difficulties; but at large, even in metro cities, till today there are instances of late identification, wrong recommendations, “wait and watch” policy and lack of referrals to ASLPs when necessary. ISHA has been promoting advocacy by supporting and strengthening speech and hearing week during which various activities are conducted to increase awareness about different aspects of the profession and about persons with speech and hearing disorders. Let us all collaborate aggressively but systematically to spread awareness across the various sections of the society.  I believe we can meticulously exploit our social media presence towards creating more awareness about speech and hearing disorders and advocacy for the profession.

I am proud that ISHA has made long strides in the past decade or so, despite challenges such as the pandemic. The various ECs of ISHA have always been mindful about what matters most to the members and taken steps to address their challenges and concerns. I appeal to all life members of ISHA to participate more enthusiastically and proactively in joining ISHA in the various endeavours.  Any organization or association is only as strong as its members. I hope members, especially those who have been office bearers in ISHA state branches and gained valuable experiences there, are motivated to spread their wings and move to the national association to make significant contributions.  Active participation by members from across the country will help ISHA to further elevate its presence nationally and boost the confidence of its members. The contribution and support from each member are critical in taking ISHA higher on the national and global map, while ISHA continues to continue to educate, engage, and empower its members through advocacy events, continuing education opportunities, consistent communication, and collaboration.

On behalf of ISHA as well as on my personal behalf, I would like to thank the Organizing committee for holding this conference in this historic city of Patna.

As I conclude, let me reiterate that it is a privilege to serve as ISHA President. I seek the blessings of the Almighty to enable me to render sincere service to the Association and look forward to guidance from my predecessors, support from EC members, confidence of ISHA members and the grant of time from my family.

Thank you.
Jai Hind