SLP Coffee Talk

Whenever you have a new speech student, it’s always a guess to know what speech sounds you will need to work on and the approach that will work best for each person.    That’s why it can be so critical to have a large amount of techniques and approaches in your speech sound toolbox.    Today, we’re going to have a fun conversation that will help you build your speech sound toolbox. Listen in for m...

This year has been such a rollercoaster ride in the field of education and speech pathology. Many are still doing virtual sessions and haven’t gone back to in-office visits yet.    One particular sub-set group that has been impacted by virtual learning is students on the autism spectrum. In today’s episode, I am chatting with my guest Nikki Robertson about how we can best support students with aut...

Have you ever seen another SLP that looks like they are so calm and confident, and you think to yourself, why can’t I be like that?    Yes, you can love your job again!     In this episode, our guest, Jessi Andricks, focuses on helping SLPs reduce burnout and stress through evidence-based stress management tools and techniques.     Several years into her SLP career, Jessi became so burnt out that...

In school, we focus so much on the academic learning part of the process for our students. However, an important piece that we should also remember is social thinking.    As SLPs, how can you support your students with their social skills and behaviors? In this episode, I am so excited to bring you solutions for just that through my interview with Ryan Hendrix.    Ryan is a senior therapist at Soc...

In our field, it's natural for Occupational Therapists (OT) and SLPs to overlap each other in the goal to help our kids. But how can we initiate collaboration in a fun and effective way?   Cait spent most of her career as a social worker but has since found her calling as a COTA five years ago.  She takes pride and loves every minute of play with her students as she helps them with their visu...

Have you ever wanted to get the view from a general education teacher on how SLPs and other special service providers in the school can support them? Me too. It’s always a good idea to bring the two groups together so you can work as a team.    In this episode, we are lucky enough to get a fresh perspective from my first guest that is NOT an SLP or special educator, Gretchen Bridgers from Always a...

We are now in the heart of the 2020-2021 school year. While some schools are back in session in person, many of you are still doing virtual sessions with your speech students. Either way, it can be helpful to have a full arsenal of resources that you can use face to face or virtually.    In today’s solo episode, I share a few of my favorite websites to use with my students in both distance learnin...

I have been lucky enough to work as an SLP with older elementary age (grades 5 and 6) students for many years now. Much of the work I have done with speechtimefun.com was developed while working with these amazing older students.    In this episode that is a part of the 2nd Annual SLP Connect Podconference, we chat about older speech students, unique challenges that they face, and strategies you c...

Do you get intimidated by working with speech sound disorder (SSD) clients? Don’t worry! Speech sound disorders don’t have to be scary. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m happy to chat with Amy Graham who has loads of strategies and tools to share for working with your students with speech sound disorders.    Amy Graham is a speech-language pathologist and owner of Graham Speech Therapy, a pr...

Sometimes push-in therapy makes me feel like a teaching assistant. How about you? What roadblocks do you experience when doing push-in therapy? Is it really worth trying?   In this episode, I get to chat with my “push-in therapy go-to person” Felice Clark.  Felice, aka The Dabbling Speechie, has a Master’s degree in speech pathology and audiology and has been an SLP for 13 years.   Felice sheds li...

The last six months of COVID have been a real rollercoaster ride, right? Most of us have needed to adapt our lives and work to fit the requirements of a school shutdown or remote work. We quickly learned how to use teletherapy to meet with our speech students and still be as effective as possible.    So, what does the industry research say about teletherapy and the trends we have seen because of C...

Are you interested in the field of speech pathology and the options of becoming a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant or a traveling SLP? Have you ever wanted to write a book but aren’t sure how to fit that goal into your already busy career as an SLP?   If you are looking into either area, then you will really enjoy my conversation with my guest in this episode - Jayah Washington. Jayah has a wea...

It can feel completely intimidating to start out a new career as an SLP after graduation. Since it’s been quite a while since I was a brand-new SLP,  I thought it would be great to hear from a group of ladies who are just getting started in their journey.    Join us for a group chat wit h Erin Hurst, Bianca Rego, Shelby Ford, and Emily Cobun and learn how each lady navigated the transition from gr...

Do you ever feel like you are struggling to find ways to motivate your students? We all have our “go-to” reward systems, such as the treasure chest or token bag. But, what if you could find ways to intrinsically motivate your speech students - especially students who are on the autism spectrum?   I'm so excited to chat with my guest in this episode - Jessie Ginsburg.  Jessie inspires a new wa...

Many of your SLP students will struggle with auditory challenges and hearing loss that impact their ability to communicate.    For these students, you will need to make accommodations in your therapy sessions for those challenges to help them make progress.    Luckily my guest in this episode, Fara Augustover, has a specialty in auditory oral therapy for individuals with hearing loss, auditory pro...

There’s SO MUCH curriculum for students to master in class, and it is imperative that speech sessions continue that learning when possible.  When I was introduced to the work of Cathy Alexander, I was blown away by her knowledge of grade-level curriculum, and I’m sure you will be too.    Cathy Alexander has been a speech pathologist for over 25 years working in public schools and private pediatric...

In a time when we are all doing fewer in-person therapy sessions and more virtual visits online, it can be difficult to find fun ways to work with our students. One great resource that I have enjoyed are FREE virtual field trips.    In this quick episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m excited to be your guide through the world of virtual field trips. I share with you some of my personal favorites and how...

Do you feel like your therapy sessions need a little more fun? Do you struggle to find ways to interact with your students with more complex communication concerns? If so, you may want to consider how to incorporate the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication in your therapy sessions.    In today’s episode, I chat with Rachel Madel - a Los Angeles-based speech-language pathologist who is...

Often, we think that we always need to be adapting our therapy sessions to use the latest and most innovative techniques. However, there is definitely a place for tried-and-true approaches that have been working well for many years. One of those approaches is the Cycles approach.    If you aren’t familiar with this approach, then you will love my conversation today with Dr. Dawn Moore.    Dawn is...

Do you wonder how you can simplify your speech therapy sessions and minimize the tools and materials you need to have?    Our guest in this episode, Ashley Rossi, is here to show us how she keeps things simple by using books as her main therapy material. Ashley is the creator of the blog Sweet Southern Speech where she shares ideas for literacy-based therapy along with so many other great resource...

When your students are exposed to new language and come across a word they don't know, that's when you need to employ strategies. You've tried context clues, synonyms, and antonyms. Picking random words to drill won't help either. What other strategies can you teach them? What else can you do?   In this episode, let's focus on prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Learn how...

Do you struggle to create lessons for your students with more challenging behaviors? It can be hard to follow a typical plan when the needs of each student are unique. What works for one might not work for the other.  In this episode, I’m excited to chat with Sasha Long of The Autism Helper to learn why we should embrace a level of uncertainty in our instruction. Sasha is a sport certified behavio...

If you are an SLP, then you know ALLLLL about the letter R. It is typically one of the last sounds to be mastered by children, and it is a common reason that students are referred for sessions with an SLP.    So, if you feel like you know everything there is to know about teaching this letter sound, then this is the episode for you. My guest, Lindsey Hockel, is a licensed SLP practicing in a priva...

As an SLP working in a public school, we often see students who are struggling with language processing disorders. It’s common to feel like you need to jump into an intervention plan and work to fix every skill that the student is struggling with. However, this may not be the best course of action for helping the student.  In this episode, I am chatting with Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan who helps pedia...

Do you find handling older speech students challenging? How do you utilize their textbooks and how do you get them to buy-in? In this episode, we are going to answer questions about working with older speech students with my guest, Gabby Schecter from Language & Lattes.  Since graduating in 2011, Gabby has spent her career working with students in 6th-8th grade.  She is constantly learning abo...