Many SLPs want to dedicate themselves to evidence-based practices but can’t find the time!
updated 1/2023 Did you know the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s (ASHA) website offers Speech Language Pathologists online support for evidence-based practices? They are called “evidence maps” which are searchable online tools on ASHA’s website that assist SLPs in making evidence-based decisions! This is a great support for busy SLP’s who don’t have time to read all the journal articles on every subject in their practice. Evidence maps synthesize and summarize the research for you! ASHA even conducts searches and vets all studies before including them in an evidence map!
Let’s take a quick walk-through ASHA’s evidence maps.
- First, sign into your ASHA account at American Speech Language Hearing Association.
- Click on “research” in the upper right-hand corner.
- Next, Click on “evidence maps.”
4. That will bring you to the search page for evidence maps. Enter your search criteria. What do you want to research? I’m doing a search on social communication therapy approaches with preschool-aged children. I can also refine my search results on this page so I will check “autism” since my student has an autism diagnosis.
5. After refining the search criteria, 27 titles and links for relevant articles are displayed! Wow, a few minutes into my search and I have 27 possible articles to review! I peruse the first few titles. The top title is of interest to me since my student with autism is in an inclusive classroom. (Looking for more informatIon on interventions in an inclusive classroom? Check out this blog post on pretend play!) Click on this title and I have multiple options for reviewing this article.
6. I love that I was also able to download the pdf for this study! I can read it later when I have more time! Another option is to only read the “conclusions.” I really love that ASHA has reviewed and vetted the studies for me too. It gives me so much more confidence in the article! Here’s the top article I found! I’m ready to start an evidence-based intervention in the 4K classroom!
Integrating theory into practice and finding research that supports our interventions no longer needs to be a time-consuming task. Next time you are looking for evidence-based practices, try ASHA’s evidence maps and revel in your research-based practice!
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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I had no idea this existed! Thanks so much for writing about this. I have always struggled with HOW to find quality research quickly, so I’m super excited to delve into this resource. Thanks again!
Aersta,
You are not the only one that didn’t know about them! Thanks for stopping by!
Donna
I never knew this existed! Thank you so much for the great info Donna!
I didn’t either until I stumbled upon them in a google search. Now, I love using the evidence maps whenever I have a research-based question about interventions.