About Special Interest Group 3, Voice and Upper Airway Disorders

Mission Statement

Special Interest Group 3 is concerned with the interdisciplinary study of the human voice and its manifestations across the life span, drawing on the richness of the body of knowledge existing both within and outside the field of speech-language pathology. The mission of SIG 3 is to provide leadership and advocacy for issues in voice, upper airway, and gender-related communication, to help ensure that delivery of service is provided by qualified individuals, and to acquaint clinicians and consumers with new developments. Issues, trends, and advances will be addressed from four perspectives (professional, clinical, educational, and scientific) and will encompass the following: voice perception; voice anatomy and physiology throughout the life span; the continuum of voice production from disordered through superior performance; biological aspects of laryngeal function as the lower airway protector and upper airway disorders; and vocal adaptations desired for gender identification. Focus will include optimal voice and upper airway function as well as pathophysiology of disorders and their assessment, management and treatment.

Goals

To create a higher profile for the area of voice within ASHA and allied fields with a variety of perspectives on voice
To broaden educational opportunities by stimulating new programs, developing programs for the Annual ASHA Convention, and increasing awareness of voice education opportunities through a regular newsletter calendar
To provide voice program strands at the ASHA Annual Convention
To support the development of credentialing in voice to protect consumers and to help identify the range of people with special expertise in the area of voice (e.g., speech-language pathologists, voice scientists, vocal coaches, studio teachers, and drama coaches)
To disseminate timely information concerning research, clinical activities, meetings and educational opportunities related to voice
To establish a clinical network through development of a membership directory, newsletter, listing of meetings and programming at the Annual Convention, and state groups or study sections
To identify a pool of speakers/resources/information relevant to voice, and to make that information accessible to interested parties through a directory, newsletter, or ASHA hotline (voice mail)

Affiliate Benefits and SIG Programs

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups is the online peer-reviewed scholarly review journal of the SIGs. SIG 3 offers new self-study CE activities through Perspectives each year.

Continuing Education

Earn ASHA continuing education (CEUs) through

Self-study of Perspectives and pay the lowest processing fee to take the learning assessments
SIG sponsored Master Classes and one-hour sessions at the annual ASHA Convention.

Networking

SIG 3 Affiliates have access to exclusive discussion forums/groups, which provide the opportunity to interact with other SIG Affiliates who share interest in voice and upper airway disorders. Use ASHA's Member Directory to search for individuals by SIG affiliation. In addition, SIG 3 Affiliates can meet in person and online at an ASHA and SIG 3 sponsored events; typically each SIG hosts an Affiliates meeting at Convention and sponsors a virtual open house.

Representation Within ASHA

The SIG 3 Coordinator represents the Voice Special Interest Group within the ASHA Board of Special Interest Group Coordinators.
The Coordinating Committee responds to ASHA requests for input regarding policy, guidelines, committees, and other issues.
Affiliates have the opportunity to provide input to the SIG leadership and ASHA.

Past Recipients of the Lecture in Upper Airway Voice and Swallowing Science

Since its inception in 2005, the Lecture in Upper Airway Voice and Swallowing Science (formerly the PENTAX Medical Lecture in Upper Airway Science) was a prestigious invited lectureship at the Annual ASHA Convention.The highly anticipated event recognized a scientist who provided rich depth and breadth to our knowledge of the upper airway as it applied to the complementary fields of voice and swallowing.Previous lectures were characterized by the prestige of the presenters and the scholarly content of the presentations. The Lecture itself was recognized as the premier upper airway science lecture at the Convention.This lecture was developed in conjunction with leaders of Special Interest Group (SIG) 3, Voice and Upper Airway Disorders and SIG 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. The annual lecture series was discontinued in 2019. Following is a list of past recipients.

2018 – Robert Hillman, "What Happens When Patients Leave the Clinic? Assessing & Treating Voice Disorders Using Wearable Technology"
2017 – Sponsorship Transition Year; No Lecture
2016 – Dr. Lorraine Ramig
2015 – Dr. Dimitar Deliyski
2014 – Dr. Ilona Schmalfuss
2013 – Dr. Bonnie Martin-Harris
2012 – Dr. Ingo Titze
2011 – Dr. Peter Belafsky
2010 – Dr. Susan Thibeault
2009 – Dr. Richard Zraick
2008 – Dr. Nadine Connor
2007 – Dr. Jeri Miller
2006 – Dr. Jamie Koufman
2005 – Dr. Christy Ludlow

Additional Resources

CAPE-V

The Consensus-Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) was developed by ASHA Special Interest Group 3, Voice and Voice Disorders. It is a clinical and research tool developed to promote a standardized approach to evaluating and documenting auditory-perceptual judgments of voice quality.

The CAPE-V is available for use and/or license through ASHA. Please feel free to download and use this instrument form (CAPE-V procedures and form [PDF]).

Please cite the instrument as Kempster, G. B., Gerratt, B. R., Verdolini Abbott, K., Barkmeier-Kraemer, J., Hillman, R.E. (2009). Consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice: Development of a standardized clinical protocol. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

For information about its validity, please see Establishing Validity of the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V), by Zraick, et. al.

A training "simulation" tool was developed by Dr. Nadine Connor at the University of Wisconsin.

Please note: The scores are not considered a "gold standard" for auditory perceptual training purposes.

Voice Resources on the Web

Coordinating Committee Members

2022–2024 Coordinator: Aaron M. Johnson, New York University School of Medicine
2022–2026 Associate Coordinator: Katherine Monaghan McConville, University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine
2021–2024 Editor: Robin A. Samlan, University of Arizona
2023–2025 Professional Development Manager: Emily Charlotte Wilson, University of Washington
2022–2024 Member-at-Large: Maia N. Braden, UW Health
2022–2024 Member-at-Large: Miriam R. Van Mersbergen, University of Memphis, Institute for Intelligent Systems/University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Ex Officio: Ann-Mari Pierotti, Associate Director, Clinical Issues in Speech-Language Pathology, ASHA