This year's special issue contains papers presented at the 40th Clinical Aphasiology Conference held in Isle of Palms, South Carolina in May, 2010. The issue contains another excellent mix of articles, demonstrating the depth and breadth of issues covered in clinical aphasiology at the present time. As a venue for the discussion of applied research in aphasia, CAC encourages researchers to explore the ultimate social ramifications of different assessment and treatment protocols, while retaining strong theoretical underpinnings related to both neurological and cognitive factors involved in the impairment.