ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRWEB) June 19, 2018
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has received a Power of A Gold Award from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) for its work helping countries in Latin America and the Caribbean educate and train local professionals to provide services for communication disorders.
The Power of A awards program recognizes a select number of organizations annually that “distinguish themselves with innovative, effective and broad-reaching programs and activities that positively impact America and the world.” The Gold Award that ASHA received is given in the “Power To Make A Better World” category of ASAE’s awards program.
ASHA conducts its award-winning work with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization. In 2014, ASHA received an official status from PAHO, and the organizations have collaborated ever since.
Members of an ASHA-PAHO Ad Hoc Committee collaborate with key in-country stakeholders in strengthening the knowledge and building the capacity of professionals and institutions to address communication disorders in the areas of speech, language, swallowing, hearing, and rehabilitation. So far, the ASHA-PAHO collaboration has conducted technical support in five countries—Honduras, El Salvador, Guyana, Paraguay, and Belize.
“We are very grateful and honored to have our work with PAHO recognized by ASAE,” ASHA President Elise Davis-McFarland, PhD, CCC-SLP, said. “Our Power of A award will always serve as a source of inspiration for us to continue such efforts, which are extremely important. Our collaboration with PAHO has allowed us to not only help develop sustainable professional resources for addressing communication disorders but also provide many people, hopefully, with improved qualities of life.”
About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 198,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems, including swallowing disorders. http://www.asha.org
View all ASHA press releases at http://www.asha.org/about/news.