Topic maintenance is a skill I’ve seen on many language therapy IEPs in the category of “pragmatic language”, but often it’s a surface-level symptom of something else. When we’re talking about “topic maintenance” we’re often referring to someone’s ability to stay on a topic during a conversational exchange. Yet when we focus only on what…
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EP 68: Why I don’t use language therapy goal banks
I get a lot of questions about how to write language therapy goals… I ALSO get a lot of questions about whether I offer goal banks in any of my courses. I do offer a version of a “goal bank” in Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my course that teaches SLPs a framework for building metalinguistic…
EP 67: Defining Vocabulary: It’s more complicated than you think
When people ask me where they should start in language therapy, I usually say they should start by building vocabulary. That usually results in a couple raised eyebrows and questions…mostly because they aren’t really sure how I’m defining “vocabulary”. That’s why in episode 67, I wanted to talk about what I actually mean when I…
EP 66: Language therapy: Managing info overload and misinformation
Back when I first started practicing, I found language therapy to be super overwhelming. There were so many peer-reviewed articles, books, and seminars, and it was hard to sift through it all and determine how to apply it to therapy. These days, we not only have to sort through lots of quality information…we have to…
EP 65: Rerelease: Burnout, boundaries, and systems
In episode 65 of the Are They 18 Yet?® Podcast, I take a break from the regular content to talk about burnout and boundaries; and specifically how I use systems to help me set healthy boundaries and reduce burnout. Back when I started working as an SLP in 2004, I found there was one area…
EP 64: Are kids ready to work on complex sentences in early elementary school?
In episode 64 of “Are they 18 yet?”®, I share a Q & A from the Language Therapy Advance Foundations members’ group about working on complex sentences with students in early elementary school. Part of the framework I teach focuses on building skills like morphology (e.g., knowledge of word parts like prefixes & suffixes) as…
EP 63: Navigating dyslexia and working memory goals
In episode 63 of “Are they 18 yet?”®, I share a Q & A from the Language Therapy Advance Foundations members’ group about dyslexia diagnosis and treatment, as well as working memory goals. I get a lot of questions about who is qualified to diagnose and treat dyslexia; especially when it comes to the SLP’s…
EP 62: Childhood anxiety and mental health(with Dr. Ambroes Pass-Turner)
There’s been an increase in depression and anxiety in kids in recent years, which is why I wanted to have an expert on the show who’s had years of experience working with childhood trauma and anxiety. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Ambroes Pass-Turner, who has worked in mental health for over 20 years…
EP 61: Building word-retrieval and independent word learning in K-12 kids
I get a ton of questions about how to support kids who have weak word-retrieval, so I wanted to share a powerful technique you can use to address this. When kids have poor word-finding skills, it’s often because they’re not engaging in the internal dialogue needed to pay attention to important features of words and…
EP 60: Traveling with autistic kids (with Dawn Barclay)
When it comes to supporting autistic kids, I’ve come across a lot of resources that help with the home and school environments. But many families aren’t sure how to navigate unexpected and novel situations with their kids; which means travel is often out of the question. That’s why I wanted to interview special needs travel…