Why connecting with middle and high school students increases motivation and participation? Hey there, fellow SLPs! In this episode, Hallie chats with speech-language pathologists Matt and Margarita to share their innovative strategies for engaging teen learners. Hear about innovative ways to weave student interests into therapy sessions, from comic books to current tech articles, and how personal stories of our own goals can normalize the growth process. Plus, we're tackling the common fears of stepping into a new age group and how forming meaningful connections can lead to a rewarding journ ..read more

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie Sherman shares a powerful tool for improving therapy practices: Tar Heel Reader. Get ready to unlock a world of free, accessible books that will enhance literacy, comprehension, articulation, expressive language, and social skills. Learn how to make learning fun, increase vocabulary, and captivate your kids with custom stories. You won't want to miss this episode, which is jam-packed with new therapeutic advice and real-life examples! Here’s what we learned: How students can use Tar Heel Reader to become authors, empowering them to craft and publish ..read more

In the latest episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie Sherman serves up a steamy brew of fresh ideas to rejuvenate your speech-language therapy sessions.  Saying goodbye to the yawns and hello to sessions that are as enjoyable as they are educational. Hallie provides practical examples of how to adapt popular board games to meet various speech and language goals. From "Twisted Scrabble" to "Modified Monopoly," and from "Guess Who?" with a twist to an adapted "Operation," each game is a doorway to learning that feels less like therapy and more like play! Here’s what we learned: How to repurpo ..read more

Do you find AAC overwhelming? You aren’t alone!  No need to worry though, because in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Cici Fritts and Candace Hayden. They are experts in all things technology and AAC for our speech students and they are here to help you understand how to best help your students with their communication through AAC.  Topics covered in this episode include: How Cici and Candace help educate others on AAC use in speech How to embrace AAC if there are no AAC experts on your team Ways to work with parents who just want their kids to talk How to partner ..read more

Do you struggle sometimes talking to parents and navigating the whole IEP process with parents? If so, you are going to love today’s guest on SLP Coffee Talk! I sat down with Wendy Taylor to talk all about how you can better help parents when it comes to IEPs.  Topics covered in this episode include: The biggest challenges parents face in the IEP process How to present information to parents so that they actually understand  Communication tips and tricks to help make the IEP process go smoother The best way to present your findings to parents and how to handle disagreements Resour ..read more

Are you familiar with trauma-informed care?  In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Rachel Archambault, the PTSD SLP, to talk all about trauma-informed care for our speech students. You don’t have to be a trauma detective to support your students who have experienced trauma, you just have to offer them a safe space, and Rachel is telling us exactly how to do it.  Topics covered in this episode include: What trauma-informed care is and why it’s important How we can help our students who have gone through trauma  Ways to make your students feel safe in speech thera ..read more

Let’s talk about one of my favorite tools to use in my speech room- videos!  Videos are motivating, require zero prep, and can easily adapt to any goal. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing how you can use this versatile resource to target vocabulary goals.  Topics covered in this episode include: My favorite videos and resources to work on vocabulary with speech students How to use these videos effectively in your speech sessions  Why I love using wordless videos to work on vocabulary  Why modeling is so important for helping students grasp their tier 2 words ..read more

Do your students love technology like mine do? If so, you’re going to love today’s guest on SLP Coffee Talk! I sat down with Gareth Walkom from withVR. He’s here to share what he does with VR and how it can benefit our speech therapy students! Topics covered in this episode include: The real-life challenges that this tool can help your students overcome How VR can help your students get valuable practice in a safe space How you can customize this VR tool to suit your students’ needs Real-life stories of students who benefited from using VR in speech  Other ways you can utilize this tec ..read more

Looking for ways to get your students more involved, more engaged, and seeing more results? You have to try interest-based therapy!  Many of us struggle with keeping our students engaged and motivated- especially our older ones. So instead of fighting the fight and trying to get them to engage in the activities you choose,  how about we flip the script and focus more on their interests? I’m sharing how you can do it in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk!  Topics covered in this episode include: What interest-based therapy is and why it works- particularly with older students How ..read more

Looking for tips on doing diagnostic assessments on students who speak different languages? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Puja and Prabhu to talk about diagnostic assessments of students speaking South Asian languages. They’re sharing tools and tips for us to better serve our students who speak these languages.  Topics covered in this episode include: The challenges SLPs face when diagnosing students who speak these languages How to properly test these students  Why interpreters are so important during assessments Some different helpful tools for conducting t ..read more