In 1969, Florida became the first state to license speech-language pathologists and audiologists, which reshaped the entire profession. But the fight for licensure started years earlier, fueled by fraud, unqualified practitioners, and the dawning realization that ASHA had no legal authority to protect the public or the profession. This episode dives into the drama, resistance, and grassroots organizing that led clinicians in Florida to say: “If we don’t regulate ourselves, someone else will.”

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Sources:

Malone, R. (1999). The first 75 years: An oral history of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.