American Speech–Language–Hearing Association
The American Speech–Language–Hearing Association is a professional association for speech–language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists in the United States and internationally. The association reported over 234,000 members and affiliates in its 2023 report.
The association's national office is located at 2200 Research Boulevard, Rockville, Maryland. The organization also has an office on Capitol Hill.
As of January 2022, Vicki R. Deal-Williams serves as the association's chief executive officer.
History
ASHA was founded in 1925 as the American Academy of Speech Correction in the home of Lee Edward Travis in Iowa City, Iowa.The charter members were Margaret Gray Blanton, Smiley Blanton, Richard Carmen Borden, Frederick Warner Brown, Mary A Brownell, Alvin Clayton Busse, Pauline Beatrice Camp, Jane Dorsey, Eudora Porter Estabrook, Mabel Farrington Gifford, Max Aaron Goldstein, Ruth Green, Laura Heilman, Elmer Lawton Kenyon, Mabel V Lacey, Elizabeth Dickinson McDowell, Thyrza Nichols, Samuel Dowse Robbins, Sara Mae Stinchfield (Hawk), Jane Bliss Taylor, Charles Kenneth Thomas, Lee Edward Travis, Lavilla Amelia Ward, Sina Fladeland Waterhouse, and Robert William West.
In 1927, they changed their name to American Society for the Study of Disorders of Speech, in 1934 to the American Speech Correction Association, in 1947 to the American Speech and Hearing Association.
The current name was adopted in 1978.