This episode addresses an important dilemma: Am I on the right therapy track with my young children, and am I coaching their caregivers correctly? Rachel addresses these issues through 7 critical developmental skills and organizes them in a format and framework for you to increase your confidence and effectiveness with children and their caregivers ..read more

This episode explores the need for orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) information and practical application for clinicians and our university programs. Dr. Reed, a university professor, established the world’s first university-based clinic for those with OMDs. She shares OMD info and trends as well as her 20-year efforts to generate awareness of this important and much-needed area ..read more

The use of myofunctional evaluation and therapeutic strategies can be invaluable in the remediation of many speech sounds, such as, /l/, /s/, /z/, and /r/. In addition, the sounds are more likely to remediate if the tongue rests in the correct position. We’ll focus on students who can produce the targeted sounds in words, etc. but have difficulty generalizing them into spontaneous speech ..read more

Have you ever wanted to use music in your therapy but were unsure how? Learn simple, direct, and fun methods from Rachel Arntson. She shares strategies to use music to improve imitation, receptive and expressive language, speech sound productions, sound blending, and more. Music is a “magical” tool to build social interaction and is a fun way to incorporate the home practice of targeted skills ..read more

Research states that speech use drives language use through phonological memory and motor planning. However, those with Down syndrome are often encouraged to use nonverbal strategies (sign language, AAC, etc.) ahead of their speech abilities. Is this the best and most beneficial? This course investigates the research, rationale, and several alternatives. Practical therapy strategies will be shared ..read more

This course defines ambiguous loss and how it can impact caregiver-child interactions. Ms. Searcy specifies how to assist families during stressful times and events, including the difficulties of communication disorders and delays. She covers the stressful details that caregivers can experience and how, if not addressed, it can negatively impact positive interactions and learning for the child ..read more

Developmental language disorder (DLD) has gone by many names. Why does the name matter, especially when it doesn’t match the terminology used in schools (e.g., IDEA) or medical settings (e.g., ICD)? In this course, we will explore how and why you should share the term DLD with families and other team members ..read more

Guest: Teresa Farnham, MA, CCC-SLP - We have explicitly known for over 3 decades that parents influence their child’s language development—especially vocabulary—with the quantity and quality of their input and interactions. In the 1980s, Hart & Risley conducted a remarkable research project examining the differences in preschool children's verbal environments. You’ll learn the pertinent and practical results that you can apply ..read more

Guest: Jacqueline Towson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP - This course outlines practical strategies to implement during shared interactive book reading.  Embedding techniques will be shared to facilitate language and emergent literacy skills with young children with language impairments, developmental disabilities, or those considered at-risk. Considerations for book selection, preparation, setting, and environment will be discussed ..read more

Guest: Holly L. Storkel, Ph.D., CCC-SLP - This course presents a variety of practical methods to enhance and systematically guide treatment success for children with speech sound disorders. For example, did you know that selecting complex sounds as your treatment target can accelerate speech sound learning? Or, that there are better ways to contrast sounds than conventional minimal pair treatment? All of this and more will be explained in detail ..read more