Quick Facts
About ASHA
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 234,000 members, certificate holders, and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology assistants; and students.
Members: 234,000
President: Tena L. McNamara
Chief Executive Officer: Vicki R. Deal-Williams
Headquarters: Rockville, Maryland
Founded: 1925
Designations: Honors, Fellow
Publications:
- The ASHA Leader
- American Journal of Audiology
- American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
- Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
- Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
Annual Convention: ASHA Convention
Speech & Language Disorders
Speech disorders occur when a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with their voice. Language disorders occur when a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language) or sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings completely (expressive language).
Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems.
Quick Facts:
- Nearly 1 in 12 U.S. children ages 3-17 has had a disorder related to voice, speech, language, or swallowing (source)
- Nearly half of U.S. children ages 3-17 with a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder have not received intervention services in the past year. (source)
- 3 million+ Americans stutter. (source)
- Approximately 9.4 million adults report having a problem using their voice that lasted one week or longer. (source)
- Approximately 2 million Americans suffer from aphasia. (source)
Hearing Loss & Disorders
Hearing loss is determined by three categories:
Audiologists are healthcare professionals who provide patient-centered care in the prevention, identification, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment of hearing, balance, and other auditory disorders for people of all ages.
Quick Facts:
- Approximately 37.5 million Americans report having some trouble hearing. (source)
- More than half (51%) of all adults report having hearing problems, but only 11% have sought treatment. (source)
- An estimated 12.5 of children in the U.S. ages 6 to 19 show evidence of noise-induced hearing loss. (source)
- Approximately 26 million Americans, ages 20–69, have a hearing loss. (source)
- The risk of dementia may be up to five times greater and the risk of falling three times greater among people with untreated hearing loss. (source)
