TSHA 2025 Highlighted Speakers 

Kia Johnson, PhD, CCC-SLP,  UT Austin
Celebrating the Present, Shaping the Future

Kia Noelle Johnson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is Director of The University of Texas at Austin’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research – Atlanta Satellite, a clinical research institute with the mission to change the world for people who stutter. Dr. Johnson is an ASHA board-certified and state-licensed speech-language pathologist and expert in stuttering with a focus on culturally diverse communities. 

Dr. Johnson is a recognized leader in the provision and facilitation of seminars and training workshops on DEI, implicit bias, and cultural responsiveness in clinical and professional settings.  She has voluntarily served the professions as a member of the ASHA Board of Directors, National Advisor to the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, a member of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing Board of Directors as the Immediate Past Chair, and a former Texas state representative to the ASHA SLP Advisory Council. She currently serves on the ASHA Board of Ethics and Scientific and Professional Education Board as well as the NIH-National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council.

Lisa Audet, PhD, CCC-SLP,  Kent State
Natural Language Acquisition/Gestalt Language Processing

Lisa Audet has 40 years of clinical, teaching, and research experience. She has been on faculty at Kent State University for 25 years where she is the director of the Neurodiversity Research Initiative. Her areas of expertise include child language development and disorders, assistive technology and AAC, and autism across the lifespan. 

Erik Raj, PhD, CCC-SLP, Monmouth University
Telepractice and Digital Play: Leveraging Technology for Better Outcomes

Dr. Erik X. Raj holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a practicing speech-language pathologist who collaborates with children and adults experiencing various communication challenges. He currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, where he also directs the Meaningful Digital Experiences Research Lab.

Dr. Raj regularly presents interactive workshops, both nationally and internationally, demonstrating how speech-language pathologists can integrate digital technologies to engage and educate clients. In addition to creating dozens of speech therapy-related mobile apps and video games, he consults with numerous educational technology companies on research and development to advance innovative tools for speech and language therapy.

He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and most recently completed the Games for Teaching and Workplace Learning Microcredential from California State University, Fullerton.

Mary Sandage, PhD, CCC-SLP, Auburn University
Advanced Topics in Behavioral Assessment and Management of Upper Airway Disorders

Dr. Sandage, Lanier Endowed Professor at Auburn University in the Dept. of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, earned her masters in speech-language pathology at The University of Iowa and her PhD in Exercise Science at Auburn University. She is internationally recognized for her work in the clinical assessment and treatment of upper airway disorders and has over 30 years of clinical experience evaluating and treating chronic refractory cough, inducible laryngeal obstruction, and exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction. Over the course of her long career as a clinical educator, she has mentored hundreds of graduate clinicians, many of whom currently work at premier voice & upper airway clinics. She has published and presented extensively. Her scholarship merges the disciplines of voice and muscle physiology for a more holistic study of laryngeal and upper airway physiology. Dr. Sandage has served on the ASHA Special Interest Group 3 Voice & Upper Airway Disorders coordinating committee three times and finished 9 years of editing service with the ASHA journals. She was in the inaugural class of PAVA Recognized Vocologists.