Welcome to the Charles E. and Geneva S. Scott Scottish Rite Communication Disorders Clinic.  Our goal is to provide you with the highest quality treatment.  To help us reach this goal, we would like for you to have the following information:

• The Communication Disorders Clinic offers state-of-the-art services to our clients.

• We are a university training program.  Most services are provided by a student clinician under the guidance of a clinical educator who is a licensed, certified speech-language pathologist or audiologist.

• The Clinic follows the University calendar for treatment appointments and is in session when classes are being held.  Audiology Clinic runs year round and special clinic hours may vary.

• Appointment times are limited by the clinical educator and student clinician schedules.  Every effort is made to make appointment times as convenient for the client as possible.

• It is important that you come to your appointment on time to receive maximum benefit from treatment.

• Clients are expected to attend scheduled appointments, and to notify the Clinic as soon as possible when absence is unavoidable.  If you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify your clinician as soon as possible.  You also may call the Clinic Office at (828) 262-2185 to leave a message.  Clinic office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday.  After these hours, you may leave a message on the voice mail.  Failure to comply will be considered a “no-show.”

• “No-shows” and excessive absences may result in discharge from therapy.

• Please do not attend therapy if you have a fever or if you have an infectious illness.  Please remember to call and cancel.

• Most clients will be assigned a gate card and may park in the lot next to Edwin Duncan Hall, in the adjacent lot at Raley Hall or in the lot at the Annex Building.  The card is numbered and must be returned when you are discharged from treatment.

• In order to park in the ASU parking lots, you must have a Special Programs permit for your car.  The permit is good for the semester.  Pick up a registration form from the Clinic Office.  Take the form to the Traffic Office where you will get the Special Programs permit.  The Traffic Office is located in the Rivers Street parking deck facility.

• Parents are required to escort children into the building, unless the child drives himself or herself to the session or unless prior written arrangements are made with the clinical educator in charge of the case.  The child should sit in the waiting room with the permission of the Clinic staff or the parent should deliver the child to the clinician for treatment.  Parents must pick the children up immediately upon the completion of the therapy session.  Children will not be allowed to wait for parents outside the building or to remain in the building unattended.  Failure to comply with these rules may result in dismissal from treatment.

• If a client has a known problem requiring specific medical intervention methodology or treatment, the parent or caregiver must be present during all interactions with the client.  Although Clinic personnel are trained in the provision of basic life support within the definition of North Carolina’s Good Samaritan Act, medical intervention procedures which are not within the scope of practice of a speech-language pathologist or audiologist cannot be performed by Clinic personnel.

• The Clinic reserves the right to exclude from or limit services to any client who engages in behavior that substantially disrupts a program or poses a risk of injury to other clients or staff.

• Appalachian State University is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the individual identifiable health information relevant to a client is considered protected health information. 

• Client records are confidential and may not be released to anyone without your written signature.  Be sure to periodically update the list of individuals needing reports mailed to them as needed.

• Inactive files are stored in the Clinic for a period of five years.  When there has been no contact with a client for five years, the file is transferred to the University Archives (where it is held for an additional ten years or until the client is 24 years of age, whichever is the longest).

   

• Sessions may be observed by a client’s parents, spouse, clinical educators, or students in the Communication Disorders Program.  Observations are confidential and information concerning a client may not be discussed with others who are not part of the client’s diagnostic or treatment team.  Others wishing to observe must check with the clinical educator in charge of the case.  Outside individuals must have written authorization from the client or client’s guardian to observe.

• Fees are charged for all services provided by the Clinic.  Fees are subject to a sliding fee scale.  To qualify for reduced fees you must complete the Financial Inquiry Form.  The accounts clerk will then determine the fee and either meet with you or call you to discuss it.

• At the end of each semester and after each diagnostic evaluation, clients are asked to evaluate the services received at the Clinic.  Your feedback helps us to improve our services.

• Clients have the right to file a complaint against the Clinic or the Communication Disorders Program through the Council of Academic Accreditation of the American Speech Language Hearing Association.  The complaint process can be found by clicking here.