A Day at the Capitol

Last week, the Communication Sciences and Disorders department took a field trip Jefferson City, MO, where we participated in Legislative Day at the Capitol. I was pretty excited to go- I couldn’t remember the last time I went on a field trip! Legislative Day is sponsored by MSHA (Missouri Speech-Language and Hearing Association) and it’s basically a day for speech pathology students to let their voices be heard.

Leading up to this day, the senior seminar class wrote letters to our representatives, either asking for support of, or discontinued support of, a particular bill. There are many current bills relating to the health care profession, and many of them affect our field or the individuals we will one day serve. The bill that I asked my representative to support was one that called for familial involvement in treatment plans for the elderly. I know I don’t exactly have many years of experience under my belt, but from the observations that I have made, it is plain to see how much family and good social support can help with a healing/treatment process.

Once we arrived at the Capitol, we were allowed to sit in on a Legislative session. We got to see the representatives talk about certain bills and introduce special guests. It was pretty interesting, yet vastly different from what I was expecting! I assumed it would be a very formal process. What I saw, however, was a room full of very relaxed individuals, texting on their phones and chatting to each other. After the session we hand-delivered our letters to the representatives that we wished to address. Unfortunately, mine was out of the office so I wasn’t able to speak with him.

Overall I thought this was a very good experience. It made me realize just how much political advocacy plays a role in the field of speech-language pathology- something that I hadn’t really thought of before. And I must say, the feeling of missing out on classes to go on a field trip wasn’t too shabby either. 

Senior CSD Majors