Successfully separate language differences caused by second language influence from true disorder. Learn about language structures that are affected by bilingualism as well as normal developmental patterns, cross-linguistic patterns, and atypical errors.

By understanding how language structures vary and can influence one another, SLPs can make a more informed decision when determining whether a bilingual child is presenting with a language difference or a language disorder.

Identify if a child should qualify, how much support they need, and how to determine what goals to write.

We all know that our standardized testing doesn’t always give us all the information we need. We also know that a truly accurate evaluation has both a standardizedl and non-standardized component. Dynamic Assessment covers all of our bases!  In this course learn how to easily deep-dive into areas of concern and find out if the student is successful when supported. For true concerns, understand how much support a student needs to be successful, what that support looks like, and how to write appropriate measurable goals to get them there.

Effectively use storybooks to both reduce therapy planning time and align targets with classroom objectives. While storybooks have been used as part of therapy for many years, current studies have found numerous benefits from the use of broader literacy-based intervention techniques.  Shared reading positively affects:

• Oral language skills
• Pragmatic skills
• Maintenance of joint attention
• Increasing vocabulary (Semantic)
• Increasing the understanding of word relationships and complex sentence structures (Syntactic)

Learn about all of the great reasons research has given us to use books to support speech and language development.  We share the beloved literacy-based intervention activities from our book, which include activities for use before, during, and after shared reading.  The activities address a wide range of speech and language goals.  We provide templates that allow participants to develop their own kits for their favorite books with minimal effort.  Kids love stories.  This workshop combines the power of stories with a refined set of tools and templates that will drive speech, language, and narrative development.

Make your speech therapy soar by understanding what unintelligible really means. Packed with video examples and therapy materials, this presentation will arm you with ways to better define your students and give you intervention strategies to best match their specific deficit.

This presentation follows a pilot study where children from two caseloads were better diagnosed using strict criteria for the types of errors they were producing. Therapy techniques per disorder class were applied resulting in an increase in intelligibility for each group. This course includes reproducible decision trees and reference charts to aid in the better diagnosing of speech sound disorders.

Successfully navigate contentious situations when confronted with an ethical dilemma.  Learn about the origin of ethics, how professions address ethical issues, and dissect intriguing case studies supplied by speech pathologists.

Challenging behaviors can impede progress in speech therapy. We will discuss the evaluation of behaviors that impact communication development and provide research-based intervention strategies to guide speech-language pathologists in developing effective treatment plans. We will include case studies of clinical interventions that improve communication in children with behavioral needs.

Working with interpreters is becoming more common, and is often a necessity, when providing services to culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Gain important skills needed to train qualified interpreters. Skills include appropriate vocabulary and cultural considerations necessary for effective communication with parents regarding disabilities, services, and rights.

We present 90-minute, half day (3 hour), and full day (6 hour) presentations. We can join or lead your staff development days or present as part of your conferences. Really anything that works for your needs.

The number of topics depends on the number of hours and the needs of the attendees. As an example, a popular 3-hour course includes Difference or Disorder: Speech and Difference or Disorder: Language. Full days can usually accommodate three topics and are usually organized around a theme such as Evaluations, Intervention, Articulation and Phonology, or Language Disorders.

Here are some popular full day workshops that we give:

Intervention: Curriculum-based Intervention, Literacy-based Intervention, Success with Speech Sound Disorders

Evaluation: Difference or Disorder: Speech and Difference or Disorder: Language, Dynamic Assessment, Evaluating Children from Diverse Backgrounds

Specific topics that include evaluation and intervention:

Articulation and Phonology: Difference or Disorder: Speech, Success with Speech Sound Disorders, Maximizing Treatment Effects with VPI and Cleft Lip and Palate

Receptive and Expressive Language: Difference or Disorder: Language, Literacy-based Intervention, The Power of Receptive Language

We give hands-on workshops to small teams and have also presented to audiences of 600+ at state and national conventions. Anyone in your organization that can benefit from the information we share is invited. For webinar presentations, if attendance exceeds 500 we charge a one-time technology fee be able to provide enough “seats” for your team and ensure a reliable presentation.

We primarily speak to speech-language pathologists. However, with such a high need for great resources on cultural diversity and bilingualism, general education teachers, special education teachers, diagnosticians, and school psychologists are frequently in attendance. Everyone benefits from topics on diversity, equity and inclusion. Early education teachers love the presentations on curriculum-based and literacy-based intervention. Diagnosticians and school psychologists benefit greatly from evaluation workshops.

We suggest that you invite anyone to come that is interested. For the full-day presentations, they can attend the portion that is most applicable to them.