2026 SLP Virtual Back-To-School Conference
Executive Functioning: The Missing Link to Student Success
Practical Strategies for School Based SLPs
3 Days - 4 Experts
August 11th, 12th, & 13th
5:00-6:30 PM CST Daily
As the new school year begins, executive functioning has become one of the most important and fastest growing areas of need for the students we serve. Difficulties with planning, attention, self regulation, organization, and working memory affect communication, literacy, classroom participation, and academic success. Yet many speech language pathologists received little formal training in executive functioning and are left wondering exactly where they fit within intervention.
That's why on August 11th, 12th, and 13th we're bringing together four nationally recognized experts to provide practical, evidence based strategies you can immediately apply in your schools. Together, these sessions will help you better understand executive functioning, integrate it into meaningful intervention, and collaborate more effectively with educators so students can successfully apply these skills where they matter most.
Click below to register for each individual session. Or!
Join SLP Impact to attend all presentations for a 20% discount and get access to the recordings.
That's not all. An annual membership includes:
Tuesday, August 11th, 2026
3-4:30 PST, 4-5:30 MST, 5-6:30 CST, 6-7:30 EST
How to Improve Executive Function through Task-Oriented Movement Activities
Kelly Vess M.A., CCC-SLP - Author & Host of the Preschool SLP Podcast
Kelly Vess, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, a nationally recognized speaker, and author of Speech Sound Disorders: Comprehensive Evaluation and Treatment, published by Thieme. She is also the author of 32 Strategies That Create Lifelong Change for Children with Autism, a practical guide used by clinicians and educators nationwide.
With more than two decades of public school experience, Kelly translates motor learning, AAC implementation science, and literacy-language research into structured intervention systems that produce measurable gains in children’s speech clarity, language complexity, and functional communication. She hosts The Preschool SLP Podcast and is the founder of the Research to Practice SLP, which aims to bridge research into Monday-morning practice through evidence-based materials and education
Students are expected to sit still, stay organized, pay attention, remember directions, and participate in increasingly complex literacy tasks throughout the school day. Yet executive functioning skills develop through action, experience, and purposeful engagement. This course explores how movement based activities can strengthen executive functioning while simultaneously targeting speech, language, and literacy goals. By connecting communication, cognition, and movement, clinicians can create intervention that feels natural, engaging, and highly relevant to classroom success.
Join Kelly Vess, MA, CCC-SLP, clinical instructor, author, and founder of Sparkle in School, as she shares practical strategies for embedding communication targets into meaningful movement activities. You will learn how to use multimodal cueing, create educationally rich task oriented activities, and support expressive language, narrative development, and executive functioning all at the same time.
Wednesday, August 11th, 2026
3-4:30 PST, 4-5:30 MST, 5-6:30 CST, 6-7:30 EST
Executive Functioning for School-Age Kids: It’s More Than Being Organized
Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan, Ed.D., M.S., CCC-SLP
Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan is the founder and owner/operator of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on empowering therapists and educators to design interventions that support language, literacy, and executive functioning. She has a doctorate in Special Education and Director of Special Education and Assistive Technology credentials from Illinois State University, as well as a master’s and bachelor’s from Illinois State University in speech-language pathology. She spent 14 years in the school systems and has held various roles in leadership and higher education teaching and mentoring clinicians. She is the host of the De Facto Leaders podcast, where she shares evidence-based practices, her own experiences, and guest interviews on topics relating to education and healthcare reform. She currently holds a management role with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
When students struggle with executive functioning, the signs are often easy to spot: missed assignments, poor follow through, disorganization, and difficulty staying focused. What is harder to see are the underlying cognitive processes driving those challenges. Too often, interventions focus on planners, checklists, and reminders without addressing the deeper skills that support self-regulation, planning, memory, and goal directed behavior. This session provides a practical framework for understanding executive functioning from the inside out so that intervention efforts lead to meaningful change.
Join Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan, Ed.D., M.S., CCC-SLP, host of the De Facto Leaders podcast, as she breaks down the five key executive functioning skill areas that drive success in school and beyond. Through real world examples and evidence based strategies, Dr. Dudek-Brannan will help you move beyond surface level supports and develop interventions that generalize across settings.
Thursday, August 13th, 2026
3-4:30 PST, 4-5:30 MST, 5-6:30 CST, 6-7:30 EST
Confident Communication in Challenging IEP Meetings
Victoria Bondurant M.S., CCC-SLP & Joseph Walsh M.S., MED CCC-SLP
Victoria Bondurant is a speech-language pathologist at The Howard School in Atlanta, GA where she has worked for 10 years in the high school. This year, she is also serving as Lead English Teacher and Humanities Department Chair on top of her SLP duties. Her professional interests include incorporating executive functioning and language into the classroom, developing strong readers & writers, and assistive technology.
Joseph Walsh is a speech-language pathologist at The Howard School in Atlanta, GA, where he has worked for 13 years in all three divisions (LS, MS, HS). His professional interests include incorporating executive functioning and language support into the classrooms, especially math.
Executive functioning goals are often addressed in therapy rooms, but executive functioning challenges rarely occur there. Difficulties with self-regulation, task completion, working memory, and organization show up during instruction, assignments, transitions, and classroom routines. If students are expected to use these skills in academic settings, it makes sense that intervention should happen there too. This session explores how SLPs can move beyond isolated intervention and partner with educators to support executive functioning where it matters most.
Join Joseph Walsh, MS, MEd, CCC-SLP, and Victoria Bondurant, MS, CCC-SLP, from The Howard School in Atlanta, as they make the case for a collaborative push in model. Through practical examples and classroom based strategies, they demonstrate how SLPs can support self-regulation, execution, processing speed, and working memory while working alongside teachers. You will also gain ideas for writing goals, justifying services, and building educator buy in.
Register for the Whole Conference and Get a Free Gift and Access to the SLP Impact Community for a Year
Your Free E-Book For Attending the Whole Conference!
8 Executive Function Skills Every SLP Should Recognize
Help students more effectively by learning to identify the executive function skill behind their challenges. This practical guide walks you through the eight core executive function skills, what they look like in therapy and the classroom, and simple strategies you can begin using immediately.
Included in this bonus ebook:
- A quick executive function screening checklist to identify areas of difficulty
- Easy-to-understand explanations of the eight core executive function skills
- Real-world examples of how each skill presents in school and therapy
- Practical intervention ideas and classroom supports for every executive function skill
- A simple decision-making guide to help you determine where to begin interventio
Are you a student? Attend the Whole Conference at a 50% Discount!
Simply contact us and include your name, university email, and name of your university. We will send you a code to get you registered.
What is the Best Conference You Can Attend?
How About the Conference You Helped Design
This fantastic line-up and the materials we put together are the direct result of you (YES YOU!) sharing what your needs are and what information would make your life easier. Answer these 3 questions to let us know what to focus on in our fall back to school conference and new year's conference.