The 2026 ASHA Convention, to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana from November 19–21, will mark the beginning of a new century for ASHA. We are excited to invite you to be part of this historic moment by submitting your work in response to the Call for Papers. Your engagement in the ASHA Convention, through the sharing of ideas, research, innovations, and best practices, is deeply valued by your fellow colleagues.
At its core, the ASHA Convention is about peer-to-peer learning: by members, for members. In addition to contributing your expertise, attending the Convention offers rich opportunities to expand your own knowledge and skills. You can engage in meaningful discussions, exchange perspectives, and build connections with colleagues who share similar professional interests—all experiences that will support ongoing career development and advancement.
We also want to offer a brief behind-the-scenes look at how the Convention’s educational program is developed. The Convention Co-Chairs, representing the disciplines of audiology and speech and language pathology, work closely with the 58 topic chairs and two local hosts to plan and deliver the ASHA Convention education program, while a team of ASHA staff focuses on planning the overall event logistics. Each of the 58 topic chairs leads a committee of 10–50 members across 33 topic areas, ensuring high-quality educational content that reflects the breadth and depth of our respective professions.
Each submission is reviewed by three committee members, who provide scores and written feedback. Using this input, topic chairs select oral seminars, technical sessions (both in-person and virtual), and poster presentations (both in-person and virtual) that represent the strongest submissions and the full scope of each topic area. Committees also identify priority topics and speakers for invited presentations, further strengthening and rounding out the program.
For 2026, several updates have been made to topic areas. The former topic area Academic and Clinical Models of Education has been divided into two distinct topic areas: Academic Models of Education and Clinical Education, Supervision, and Precepting. In addition, Counseling, Trauma-Informed, and Contextualized Care has moved from the SLP content area to General Interest to more intentionally include Audiology. Lastly, Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity has been revised to Systemic Action: Transforming Systems and Policies for Justice to better reflect the committee’s purpose and intent.
We hope you are as excited as we are about the 2026 Convention theme, “Momentum: Where Vision Meets Action,” and we look forward to forging ahead together through innovation, research, and best practices across our fields.
Sincerely,
Erin Donlin, CCC-A
Audiology Co-Chair
Anu Subramanian, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathology Co-Chair