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ASHA Content Area 1: the ethics PDH and the topics ASHA lists

ASHA's certification maintenance requirements, effective January 1, 2026, include 1 PDH in ethics within your 30 PDHs. Here is what ASHA says, and the suggested topics on its list.

The requirement

ASHA says certificate holders "are required to earn and report at least 30 PDHs during each 3-year certification maintenance interval." The activities "must include the following content areas": Content Area 1, "1 PDH in ethics", and Content Area 2, 2 PDHs. ASHA marks these requirements "Effective: January 1, 2026". It also says: "If you are in the 2023–2025 interval and have not yet met the maintenance requirement, you may complete the PDHs under either the current standard or the new standard." Check ASHA's pages for your interval.

Who decides what counts

ASHA says the CFCC "has created a list of approved professional development content that meets requirements. The list of suggested course content serves as a guide, but it is not all-inclusive. The learner determines if a professional development activity falls within acceptable topic areas and applies to their professional interactions and practice setting."

Some of the topics on ASHA's list

  • "Codes of ethics, interpretation, application"
  • "Confidentiality, conflicts of interest, competition, competence, boundary issues"
  • "Ethics and patient/student care"
  • "Ethical decision-making; models and methods of ethical decision-making"
  • "Interprofessional collaboration and ethics"
  • "Managing your practice in an ethical way; ethics and practice management (HIPAA, etc.)"
  • "Understanding codes of ethics; preventing ethical violations; reporting violations, whistle-blowing"
  • "Values, character, morals and ethics"

ASHA's page has the full list.

One hour, counted once

ASHA's PDH page says: "If a professional development activity addresses both Content Area 1 and Content Area 2, certificate holders may divide the total clock time between those two content areas; however, the same clock time may not be counted twice."

Plan your hours

Our free ASHA certification maintenance hours planner shows what is left of your 30 PDHs and the two content areas, and has a printable PDH log.

Special Learning is not an ASHA Approved CE Provider, and our courses are not ASHA CEUs. If you choose a recorded course, Compassionate Mandated Reporting Across Disciplines runs 110 minutes and costs $39, paid once; after you pass its quiz, its certificate shows Special Learning as the sponsoring organization, your name, the course title, the dates and the hours. You decide whether its content fits ASHA's Scope of Practice for you. We do not claim it meets Content Area 1 or Content Area 2. Read what ASHA says about courses from other providers.

Common questions

How many ethics hours does ASHA require?

ASHA's requirements, effective January 1, 2026, include Content Area 1: 1 PDH in ethics, as part of the at least 30 PDHs in each 3-year certification maintenance interval.

Does ASHA approve which ethics courses count?

ASHA says its list of suggested course content serves as a guide but is not all-inclusive, and the learner determines if an activity falls within acceptable topic areas and applies to their professional interactions and practice setting.

Can one course count for both content areas?

ASHA says that if an activity addresses both Content Area 1 and Content Area 2, you may divide its total clock time between them, but the same clock time may not be counted twice.

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