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Though you don't necessarily need to be board certified, getting the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) certification can increase your professional opportunities and advance your career. Getting board certified by ASHA requires you to complete and maintain a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) in either Audiology or Speech-Language Pathology. For a career as an audiologist, you will want the Audiology CCC. ASHA certification is recognized by the state regulatory agency in almost every U.S. state. You will need to register with ETS in order to take the ASHA Praxis II exam (Subject Assessment in Audiology: 5342). You can find test centers and testing dates by searching online by your ZIP Code, or find international test sites by searching for the country you reside in. The exam will take two hours to complete and is taken entirely on a computer. The exam is a mix of multiple choice and constructed-response questions. For multiple choice questions, it's best to limit your answers to one of the given options and eliminate the answers that you know are incorrect. For constructed-response questions, you'll need to answer the question as accurately and completely as possible. You can take the practice exams online at the ASHA website to get a good feel for the types of questions asked and the general format of the exam. There are five categories: Foundations (12 questions), Prevention and Identification (12 questions), Assessment (48 questions), Intervention (36 questions), and Professional Issues (12 questions). The Foundations section is worth 10% of your grade. It covers acoustics, anatomy, physiology, etiology, psychometrics, counseling principles, and cultural linguistic diversity. The Prevention and Identification section is worth 10% of your grade. It covers education and prevention, as well as screening and risk assessment. The Assessment section is worth 40% of your grade. It covers planning, behavioral evaluation, physiologic evaluation, and other methods of assessment. The Intervention section is worth 30% of your grade. It covers treatment planning, device selection, device verification, symptom management, and rehabilitation. The Professional Issues section is worth 10% of your grade. It covers professional ethics, legal practice, and patient advocacy. You will receive a raw score, which tells you how many questions you answered correctly, as well as a scaled score that adjusts your score according to the difficulty of each question. For audiology, you must earn a minimum scaled score of 170 in order to pass the Praxis exam. It may take up to 16 days after the testing window closes before you receive your score. You will be able to download your scores through the Praxis website by creating a My Praxis account online. To apply for ASHA certification, you must hold both a doctoral degree and a masters degree from universities accredited by the CAA. You will need to complete a four-page application (with one page being completed and signed by your program's director), disclose any ethical problems, send official graduate transcripts, and pay the necessary dues and fees. In addition to your application materials, you will need to pay to become ASHA certified. You will then have to make annual payments to maintain that certification. How much you pay will depend upon your previous professional associations and educational experience. If you are or have been a member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), you may be eligible for a reduced fee of $289. Otherwise, recent graduates (within the last 12 months) must pay $461. Anyone who did not graduate recently and is not affiliated with NSSLHA must pay $455 for certification or $511 for certification and ASHA membership. Once you've completed the application, passed the Praxis exam, and assembled your application packet, you'll need to submit it to ASHA for review. You should send your materials through the mail and address the package to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, P.O. Box 1160, #313, Rockville, MD 20849. After your application has been received, it can take four to six weeks for your materials to be reviewed. During busy periods, it may take up to eight weeks for your application to be fully reviewed. If you're concerned about your application materials, you can contact the ASHA Action Center by calling 800-498-2071.
Consider getting certified by ASHA. Register for the ASHA Praxis Exam. Take the ASHA Praxis Exam. Earn a passing Praxis score. Apply to the ASHA certification board. Pay your dues and fees. Submit your materials. Wait for your results.