Over the past three weeks, we’ve shared BEAT’s strategic plan, including goals for our arts education programming, and clinical research. It’s my turn to talk about our brand new Training & Tools department.
Essentially, the impacts of our Hip Hop arts education programming on our participants’ wellness were too dope to keep a secret! And while Hip Hop heads know full well the life saving power of Hip Hop culture, we weren’t convinced that the same could be said for medical professionals and therapeutic clinicians. That’s where our Trainings & Tools come in.
Last fall, we began seeking accreditations to provide continuing education (CE) courses to teach professionals how to leverage Hip Hop’s proven benefits in educational, clinical, and therapeutic settings.
We are now an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) CE Provider! Our first offering, a 90-minute Beatboxing as Speech and Language Intervention workshop, teaches Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) the many applications of beatboxing in speech therapy sessions. This is just the beginning of our training roster. We will continue our work with SLPs to create additional course offerings for the ASHA community, and will expand our offerings to include CE courses for Music Therapists by 2023.
But this update wouldn’t be complete without news about Alphabeat -- our highly anticipated tool! What originally began as an idea for a mobile App has developed into a robust online video course. Alphabeat is the first speech therapy tool designed to encourage regular, self-directed speech practice by teaching kids how to beatbox. Created in partnership with professional speech therapists and based on peer-reviewed clinical research, Alphabeat helps your child improve their speech, boost their self-confidence, and create a lifelong connection to music with the only instrument they’ll ever need: their voice. We’re set to launch with the 2022 school year. And you thought it was just about boots’n’cats?
We are so psyched to embrace our role as a champion of Hip Hop for all. If you know a clinical practitioner who would be interested in training with us, spread the love!
Stay safe out there, fam,
Lulu
