Inside SLP is a limited series podcast that reveals how our profession came to be and why it functions the way it does. Most clinicians work inside a system they were never taught to see, shaped by decades of history, policy, economics, and unspoken assumptions. This show offers lightbulb moments that bring clarity to the structures beneath our everyday work and opens space for thoughtful, grounded understanding of the field we share.
What happens when a profession outgrows the structures designed to represent it?
Megan traces the evolution of ASHA’s governance from its 150-member Legislative Council to today’s smaller Board of Directors, and compares that history with APTA’s still-active House of Delegates. Along the way, she talks with former ASHA Legislative Council member Sherry Sancibrian and APTA House Speaker Bill McGeehy about representation, elections, efficiency, and the messy reality of trying to govern a large profession.
The episode also turns the lens on grassroots organizing and social media, including Megan’s own experience becoming an informal voice for thousands of SLPs. If large representative bodies can become painfully slow, but small governing bodies can’t possibly hold the full complexity of a profession, what might representative governance look like now?
Thank you to this episode's guests:
Sherry Sancibrian, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, F-ASHA
Bill McGehee, PT, PhD
Sources:
Rodgers, T. (2020). Reframed Thinking on ASHA Governance (https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.FTP.25112020.10/full/).
Moore, M. (2007). New Governance Structure Adopted: Legislative Council Also Approves Preferred Practice Patterns in Audiology (https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.AN1.12062007.1).
ASHA Archives: Early Conventions (https://ashaarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/conventions/earlyconventions)
ASHA, 2013: Ad Hoc Committee on Committee, Board and Council Structure Review. Final Report: Review and Evaluation of ASHA’s Current Committee, Board, and Council Structures and Processes and Recommendations for Enhancing These Structures and Processes
Malone, R. (1999). The first 75 years: An oral history of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
October 2022 ASHA Board of Directors Report (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KJIi7C207wbIP2ZTJxhkiJGoj1b77OAI/view?usp=sharing)
February 2023 ASHA Board of Directors Report (https://drive.google.com/file/d/15EL0k10P31PSsNT5kP8aeYqJ86RfWMIp/view?usp=sharing)
July 2023 ASHA Board of Directors Report (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KJIi7C207wbIP2ZTJxhkiJGoj1b77OAI/view?usp=sharing)
Physical therapy: APTA House of Delegates (https://www.apta.org/apta-and-you/leadership-and-governance/house-of-delegates)
Occupational therapy: AOTA Representative Assembly (https://www.aota.org/community/volunteer-groups/representative-assembly-ra)
Nursing: ANA Membership Assembly (https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/leadership-and-governance/membership-assembly/)
Psychology: APA Council of Representatives (https://www.apa.org/about/governance/council)
Medicine: AMA House of Delegates (https://www.ama-assn.org/house-delegates)
Dentistry: ADA House of Delegates (https://www.ada.org/about/governance/house-of-delegates)
Physician associates: AAPA House of Delegates (https://www.aapa.org/governance/house-of-delegates/)
Respiratory therapy: AARC House of Delegates (https://www.aarc.org/about-us/leadership-governance/house-of-delegates/)
Nutrition and dietetics: AND House of Delegates (https://www.eatrightpro.org/leadership/governance/house-of-delegates)
Connect:
Contact Megan: therapyinsights.com/insideslp (https://therapyinsights.com/insideslp)
PACT Survey: pactsurvey.com (https://pactsurvey.com/)
22 Sept 2026
23: What Happened to “Within”?
What does it actually mean to “work within the system”? Megan traces the history of member voice and decision-making within ASHA, from Richard Adler’s 1990 address to the Legislative Council to the governance changes that eventually eliminated it. Along the way, she asks what happens when a profession gets better at questioning authority without necessarily building better ways to disagree, deliberate, and act together. What would it take to build a profession that can hear disagreement without needing to eliminate it?
Sources:
Moore, M. (2007). Step by Step, ASHA Begins Governance Change (https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.AN4.12092007.16).
ASHA Archives: Early Conventions (https://ashaarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/conventions/earlyconventions)
Malone, R. (1999). The first 75 years: An oral history of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Connect:
Contact Megan: therapyinsights.com/insideslp (https://therapyinsights.com/insideslp)
PACT Survey: pactsurvey.com (https://pactsurvey.com/)
18 Sept 2026
Who Gets to Decide?
In this episode of Inside SLP, Megan looks beyond speech-language pathology to ask how professions decide where authority should live. From AOTA’s decision to separate certification from its professional association to decades of antitrust challenges involving ASHA and other professions, this episode explores what happens when certification, advocacy, accreditation, and professional representation overlap. Who gets to speak for a profession? What makes that authority legitimate? And what mechanisms exist to challenge it when practitioners want something different?
Sources:
Bogus v. American Speech & Hearing Association, 582 F.2d 277 (3d Cir. 1978).
National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. v. American Occupational Therapy Association, 24 F. Supp. 2d 494 (D. Md. 1998).
Palazzi et al. v. National Court Reporters Association, No. 2:25-cv-00077 (D.N.J. filed Jan. 3, 2025).
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
19 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
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