How to Capitalize on Professional Collaboration in CAS Treatment

Collaboration with other professionals regarding kids on our caseload may fall to the bottom of our “to do” list. Many factors contribute to the procrastination: we don’t feel like we have the time, resources, etc., but the bottom line is that collaboration takes work. However, this work potentially improves professional practice and health-care outcomes.⁶

Regardless of your setting, other professionals are likely working with your client with CAS. It’s important to frame our thinking to see this likelihood and use it as an opportunity for our clients to practice communication skills differently. We can and should capitalize on collaboration.

Benefits of Collaboration

I am an outpatient speech-language pathologist. I work in a quiet room and get a high degree of access to the parent or caregiver, but I don’t get to see my patients interact with peers, function in a classroom or in the community. By collaborating with professionals in other settings, I gain access to these aspects of the child’s world. We can also glean arguably the most important information from the parent/caregiver about a child’s communication out in the community and at home.

If we break away from the “silo mentality” (the mindset that prevents sharing resources or information with professionals outside our own walls or departments), we can allow for sharing and alignment, and ultimately better clinical outcomes. We as SLPs want to work towards establishing ways to collaborate, create a unified vision, and achieve common goals.

Creating Successful Partnerships

While not all collaboration is “good”, for collaboration to be effective, it needs to be disciplined.³ Collaboration between professionals should also be based on results.³ Consider the following when establishing professional collaboration:

• Setup collaborative relationships from the onset of therapy
• Identify the “common ground” regarding everyone’s goals
• Involve the family through all phases of assessment/treatment – consider parent collaboration as happening on a continuum and not as a singular event¹

Once the relationships and communication channels are open, use the following techniques to guide collaborative treatment:

• Interview the family/caregivers/other professionals to identify important people, places, food preferences, activities, etc. that have special meaning to the child to include in targeted vocabulary.
• Use forms of technology to make collaboration easier for you: email, audio notes, Google Drive, Trello (Be aware that methods like email can be misinterpreted because they lack tone.)
• Don’t make assumptions about your reality, stick to the facts!⁴
• Create a community of practice:
  • Work with people who share a passion
  • Learn how to do things better by interacting with each other
  • Share resources

Don’t lose sight of the unifying goal – our goal is the child’s communication! Just like each child with CAS is unique, each collaborative relationship is also unique. Effective collaboration can lead to positive change in a child’s overall communication and create a community of shared resources.