SLP Coffee Talk

Whether we like it or not, a lot of older speech students don’t necessarily like to come to speech...    It is super common for older speech students to not be enthusiastic about coming to see us, so this is why it is so important to build rapport with our students.   We want our students to feel like they are in a warm and comfortable environment because then they are willing to take more risks,...

It can be a challenge to find materials that are both at a lower reading level and include age-appropriate language skills and concepts.   These materials are so important to find and use though because there is evidence that shows that when we work on age-appropriate language skills with our students, we can boost their reading.   If we bring in materials that are too challenging for them, too si...

Working with older speech students is a challenge. We try our best, but we aren't superheroes, right?   It is a lot different than working with younger students, and sometimes we make mistakes.   In this episode, I am talking all about mistakes that SLPs tend to make when working with older students.   I am sharing the mistakes that I have either made myself or the ones that other SLPs that I...

How do you keep your older students motivated?   This can be a real challenge, so I am talking all about it in this episode!   I am covering three main reasons why older students aren’t motivated in the first place, and then I am getting into what you can do to change that.   This is the first episode in a whole series that I am working on about working with older speech students. I know you are g...

There are so many CFs joining the field, and there are also so many brand new SLPs that just finished their CFs!   This is such an exciting time for all of you. I remember being there myself, and I have learned so much since then.   I have had my fair share of lessons and made so many mistakes, so I am sharing the five tips that I have for brand new CFs in this episode.   I know that they will hel...

How do you help your students with their social skills?   My guest, Kimberly Delude, and I are talking all about social skills and how to work on social skills through books in this episode. She is the perfect person to be talking to about this because she actually wrote her own books to help promote language growth and social skills.   Kimberly Delude is a Speech Pathologist in public schools. By...

I know many of you in the schools are working with students that are also seeing children in private practices or outside therapy. There are also a lot of you that want to recommend students to outside therapy because they might not have qualified for school-based therapy.   A lot of questions come up about these types of situations which is why I am so grateful to be joined by Lexi Smith in this...

Do you bring a strong multicultural mindset to your classroom?   This is so important because it allows us to create greater connections with the many different families and clients that we work with.    My guest, Sofia Almeida, is joining us to talk all about working with bilingual students and English language learners. She is also giving tips to monolingual speech therapists!   Sofia Almeida is...

Do you understand your role in supporting children who are D/Deaf and hard of hearing?   If not, we are talking all about this with my guest, Sydney Bassard, from The Listening SLP in this episode!   Sydney is a pediatric speech-language pathologist with a clinical focus in working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing and literacy. She's passionate about early detection and interven...

What does executive functioning have to do with speech-language pathology?   SLPs are able to work on many skills under the executive function umbrella including task initiation, focus, time management, working memory, task completion, organization, self-regulation, and more.    Although it is a newer topic in our field, we are able to work with students with executive functioning challenges to ac...

Do you know how SLPs fit into the dyslexia intervention process?   In this episode, I am talking to Jeannette Washington about dyslexia and what an SLPs role is in treating children with dyslexia.   Jeannette Washington, M.Ed. has worked as both a Speech Language Pathologist and Software Engineer. Her experience working largely with dyslexic learners has earned her recognition in The Washington Po...

Do you use YouTube in speech therapy? I hope you do!   YouTube videos can be so motivating for our students and there are SO many goals that we can address while using them.   I was interviewed by Deborah Brooks from the SLPs Wine and Cheese podcast to talk all about this topic, and I loved our conversation so much that I asked her if I can have the recording to put on SLP Coffee Talk! That is wha...

Is there really a direct connection between difficulty with speech and learning to read?   There sure is, and Angie Neal is joining me in this episode to talk about this connection. We are also getting into why we need to be aware of this as SLPs, and how to help our students with literacy.   Angie Neal is the SLP Contact for the South Carolina State Department of Education, an adjunct instructor...

I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this on the podcast yet...   I am talking all about using commercials in speech in today’s episode with a focus on using them to work on inferencing.   Working on inferencing is definitely one of my favorite topics and goals to work on because it allows me to show my students that they can actually be successful!   This is such a hard and tricky skill, so I t...

How do you manage the behavior of your speech students?   Lauren LaCour Haines from Busy Bee Speech is joining me in this episode to talk all about behavior when it comes to speech and language!   Lauren LaCour Haines is a graduate of Louisiana State University and has been a school-based speech-language pathologist in the Baton Rouge area for several years.  She serves as an SLP and the lead spec...

Are you ready to hear about how you can use video games to help your students with their goals?   Dr. Erik X. Raj is joining me in this episode to talk about using video games to keep older students excited to practice their goals and objectives, and evolve as communicators.   Dr. Erik X. Raj holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a...

Are you sick and tired of professional development that isn't relevant to you in the field being a school-based SLP or an SLP that works with school-aged children?    I’ve been there, and that is why I created the Speech Retreat conference which provides amazing professional development and practical and relevant information for school-based SLPs!   I decided to record an episode about the Sp...

Do you have students on your caseload that struggle with their vocabulary?   In this episode, I am discussing how I help my students strengthen their vocabulary.    I like to do this by focusing on strategies instead of specific words because I believe that they don't need to learn specific vocabulary words. They need to learn what to do when an unknown word comes their way.    I am giving yo...

Some days or weeks are harder than others, and that is just the honest truth! Luckily, there are so many ways we can refocus and stay positive as SLPs.   Marie Muratalla is joining me in this episode to talk about using improv as a way to stay positive and feel gratitude in the crazy SLP world we live in!   Marie is a preschool SLP who has found a balance between work & life through the power...

Do you incorporate the curriculum in your sessions?   I get asked this all the time!   In this episode, I am sharing a trick with you that I like to do that makes me feel like I am incorporating the curriculum into my sessions.   This is a shorter episode, but I think you are going to get a lot of value out of hearing how I use curriculum maps to bring in some of the same concepts that our student...

Do you work with younger kiddos and their parents?   My guest, Amanda Gerson, and I are talking about early intervention and the importance of parent involvement.   Amanda (Karas) Gerson, M.S., CCC-SLP, TSSLD is a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist with a passion for working with children, families and professionals.   She really breaks down how to manage sessions with younger children and how...

Do you need help with goal selection, writing and management?   My guest, Maureen Wilson, and I are going over this in today’s episode and giving out some valuable tips to benefit you and your students.   Maureen has been a school based SLP for 10 years.  She authors the blog, The Speech Bubble SLP. Maureen has a TpT store of the same name where she creates comprehensive resources to empower and e...

Do you struggle with staying patient, calm and confident with the preschool population?   Younger students can definitely be a challenge!   I am excited to be talking about this on today’s episode with my guest, Anna Dalziel.   Anna Dalziel, MSc. SLP, R,SLP, is a Speech-Language Pathologist who works primarily with 3-6 year olds with severe speech and language delays. Anna loves play based therapy...

Do you need some advice on how to effectively provide important information to parents?   Some parents have a hard time understanding or helping their children. Luckily, we are able to bridge that gap as SLPs, but it can be difficult sometimes!   I am excited to be talking about this on today’s episode with my guest, Andi Putt.   Andi is a pediatric SLP who specializes in autism assessment and int...

How would you feel if you were being tested everyday?   You would feel so much pressure! That is how our students would feel if we were always testing them especially because they are testing so often in the classroom.    In this episode, I am talking all about why we should not always be testing our students and why we should be teaching them instead.   This is a shorter episode, but I really thi...