Do you struggle to figure out where to go with your older speech students? If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have heard me talk about how language comprehension is such an integral part of learning and reading. In order to be successful readers, our students need good decoding skills. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing why I use Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine what to do with my older speech therapy students. They have to be able to engage with the text, think about it,...
Aug 29, 2022•15 min•Ep. 135
Are you familiar with neurodiversity-affirming teaching methods? Every day, I see so many questions from other SLPs on this topic, so today on SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Katja Piscitelli to talk about these methods so that you can get all of your questions answered and start the year off confident with autistic students on your caseload. Katja Piscitelli is a speech therapist, dog mom, and Disney lover. She supports autistic students and their families through neurodiversity-affirming, chi...
Aug 22, 2022•15 min•Ep. 134
Are you ready to cut your planning time down drastically? In this week’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I am sharing how you can plan your speech therapy sessions in minutes. Yes, you read that right! Not weeks, not hours—minutes. This is my framework for planning my speech therapy sessions in minutes, and sometimes even seconds. Planning for each individual student on your caseload would take hours, which no one wants to do. If you have been following me for a while, you know that no matter what g...
Aug 15, 2022•20 min•Ep. 133
Are you ready for a brand new school year? I know many of us are still in summer mode right now but there are also many that are headed back to school, so in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing my best tips for setting yourself up for success this year. I hope that you had some time to relax and reenergize this summer. It is so important that you are able to rest so that you can start refreshed and ready to go come fall. I have found that the more I do during the first week of school, t...
Aug 08, 2022•21 min•Ep. 132
How do you decide what goals to work on during therapy sessions? I am often asked about what goals to work on based on the results of the standardized tests that we are given. However, I actually don’t like to base my goals on those results. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I am sharing how I actually decide on goals for my speech therapy students. We all know that we have to generate an IEP and deal with the higher-ups and funding so we do need those standardized tests to justify our service...
Aug 01, 2022•14 min•Ep. 131
Selective mutism is a topic that I know many SLPs have lots of questions about, and I haven’t had the right answers. Luckily, in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I have special guest Joleen Fernald on to talk about everything you need to know about selective mutism. Joleen R. Fernald, Ph.D., CCC-SLP was awarded Board Specialty Recognition in Child Language from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dr. Fernald follows Greenspan and Wieder’s model, DIRFloortime®, when working with chi...
Jul 25, 2022•31 min•Ep. 130
Wondering what you need for your CFY? With back-to-school time quickly approaching for some, I wanted to chat on this episode of SLP Coffee Talk about some things that you need as a brand new CF. Now, if you aren’t a CF, don’t skip this episode! All of the things I’m sharing with you could apply to you too. These things have been essential in my time as an SLP and I want you to go into your first day fully prepared and ready for whatever comes. There are so many things I wish I knew back when I ...
Jul 18, 2022•13 min•Ep. 129
Have you heard of Gestalt Language Processing? This is something that many SLPs don’t actually know a lot about but understanding it can make a huge impact on your students. We have always been told to redirect echolalia, but kids that communicate that way are gestalt language processors, and it’s important to understand how to help them. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Alexandria Zachos to talk about gestalt language processing and how you can incorporate this knowledge into...
Jul 11, 2022•31 min•Ep. 128
Have you ever struggled to diagnose an English language learner because you aren’t sure if it’s a difference or a disorder? Many SLPs struggle with this because we don’t want to be wrong about a diagnosis just because our student is learning the English language. The most effective way for us to really understand our ELLs is to use dynamic assessments and language sampling instead of standardized tests. In today’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Nia Thomas to talk about how you can u...
Jul 04, 2022•24 min•Ep. 127
Do you work with a lot of students with communication difficulties? It can be so hard to watch a child struggle to tell you what they need. We have strategies in place to help them learn, but it takes time and it can be frustrating for children in those situations. In this week’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Natashia Kletter to talk about how she created books that help children with communication challenges tell you what they want to say. Natashia is the mother of an autistic boy...
Jun 27, 2022•24 min•Ep. 126
Have you ever heard of the neurodiversity-affirming approach to therapy? For many years, we have been taught to teach students how to adapt to the world around them, but what if we approach it differently? The neurodiversity-affirming approach means that you work with autistic kids in a way that doesn’t ask them to fundamentally change who they are. In today’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Meg Proctor to talk about how you can start offering therapy that is respectful towards the a...
Jun 20, 2022•27 min•Ep. 125
As SLPs, we work with students with all different backgrounds, and for some, that means hearing difficulties. For many SLPs, this is a challenge because students that need hearing aids have unique needs that we may not always feel qualified to assist with. On this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Madison Levine, a hearing instrument specialist, to talk about hearing services for our students and how we can take an active role in helping students make the most of their hearing aids. Ma...
Jun 13, 2022•26 min•Ep. 124
There is an unfortunate lack of diversity within the speech-language pathology profession. With it being a predominantly white profession, that means that a large majority of SLP materials lack diversity as well. In today’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Christina Royster and Courtney Overton from DiveryCity SLP to discuss the things that they are doing to increase diversity and representation within the field so that all children feel included. In 2018, Ana-Maria Jaramillo, Courtne...
Jun 06, 2022•34 min•Ep. 123
Do you have routines established for your speech room? There are so many benefits to having an established routine in place in your speech therapy practice that many don’t think of. Routines help students get the practice they need to reach their goals faster, and it helps you with planning and progress monitoring. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Amanda Wilp to talk about collaborating with classroom teachers, teaching strategies, and how to establish effective routines that ...
May 30, 2022•31 min•Ep. 122
How do you feel about AAC devices? If you think everything surrounding AAC is a little scary, you’re not alone! Many SLPs feel this way, but it doesn't have to be scary! AAC devices can benefit our students in so many ways, you just have to understand it and be patient. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Kate Thomson to dive into the topic of AAC and what you need to know about using these devices to help your students reach their speech goals. Kate is a go-getter who establishe...
May 23, 2022•22 min•Ep. 121
How are SLPs different than reading teachers? This is a question I see a lot in my SLP Elevate membership. People want to know how we can differentiate ourselves from a standard reading teacher and show our value without just doing the same thing over and over. Some even wonder why students even come to us for things like this. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I want to really dive into this question. I want to share how we as SLPs are, in fact, very different from reading teachers, and how w...
May 16, 2022•12 min•Ep. 120
Let’s talk about special education! As SLPs, many of us work closely with special education teachers. Collaboration is an important part of helping students reach their goals. Sometimes that’s easier said than done though. There is a lot that goes into each role, and it can be easy to lose sight of that and get frustrated when things don’t go as planned. The key is to come up with a strategy that works for you and your SPED teacher. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with a special e...
May 09, 2022•25 min•Ep. 119
Do you use gaming and technology in speech therapy? One of the keys to getting students more engaged in their speech therapy sessions is utilizing their interests, and for many kids, that’s gaming and technology. A lot of SLPs are wary about incorporating those though because they don’t want to give children too much screen time. However, there is a difference between playing games or watching YouTube and participating in speech therapy on a screen. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down...
May 02, 2022•27 min•Ep. 118
We know that working together with other professionals in the school is an amazing way to get better outcomes for our students, so in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, we are talking about how to get more buy-in from teachers in order to better support our students. When I first started working as a speech therapist, I had a lot of grand ideas of how I would collaborate and communicate with the teachers to help my students ace their tests and hit their goals. I went out of my way to check in with...
Apr 25, 2022•13 min•Ep. 117
Let’s talk about after-reading activities for speech therapy! This is the last part of a three-part series all about literacy-based therapy. In the last episode, I covered during-reading activities that you can do to make sure your students are understanding what they’re reading, critically thinking, and taking good notes. In the episode before that, I shared some before-reading activities that would get your students excited about reading and assess their background knowledge. Stretching out yo...
Apr 18, 2022•16 min•Ep. 116
Let’s talk about activities you can do while reading in speech therapy! This episode of SLP Coffee Talk is part two of my three-part series on literacy-based therapy activities. In the last episode, we talked about different activities you can do before starting a book or text in your speech therapy classroom. In this episode, we are diving into what to do while they are reading. There are so many benefits to doing during-reading activities in speech. It allows students to monitor their own comp...
Apr 11, 2022•15 min•Ep. 115
If you know me, you know that I love incorporating books and literacy-based activities into my speech therapy sessions! It allows me to plan easily, quickly, and effectively. I can use one resource with as many groups as possible or even with mixed groups with many different goals. It also allows me to correlate what we do in speech therapy with what they are doing in their classrooms. This means I can mimic their classroom lessons and teach them how to use the strategies that we worked on in th...
Apr 04, 2022•14 min•Ep. 114
Do you have students that love music? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I am sharing one of my favorite tools to use in speech therapy, and it’s something that you might not have thought of before: song lyrics! I use them all the time during my speech therapy sessions because it’s super fun and motivating, and it allows me to work on a ton of speech therapy goals. I know that it can be a huge struggle to get our older students motivated in speech. They may be embarrassed to be there or frustra...
Mar 28, 2022•10 min•Ep. 113
Have you ever felt lost or powerless in your career? Unfortunately, many new SLPs end up getting discouraged and lose their inspiration after they begin their career. It’s easy to feel this way when you don’t feel supported, valued, or paid adequately. So what do you do to get out of this funk? In today’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Mattie Murrey-Tegels to talk about how you can take your power back, grab the reigns in your life, and find happiness and fulfillment in your career ...
Mar 21, 2022•25 min•Ep. 112
A couple of weeks ago, I shared my favorite YouTube channels for using nonfiction during speech therapy sessions. Now, I am sharing my all-time favorite YouTube Channel—Simon’s Cat! If you aren’t familiar with this channel, it is full of videos that are no more than ten minutes long. They are all black and white and share the stories and adventures of a man and his cat. So why do I love it so much? Because all of the videos are wordless! If you know me, you know that I absolutely love using thes...
Mar 14, 2022•13 min•Ep. 111
Do you write strength-based goals for your autistic students? The neurodiversity movement is bringing a lot of awareness to the fact that all brains are different. It is increasing our ability to work with our autistic students in a way that makes sense for them and sparks their interest. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Rachel Dorsey is joining me to talk more about how we can improve our goal setting for our autistic students and approach it in a way that caters to their natural talents whi...
Mar 07, 2022•29 min•Ep. 110
Do you use videos in your speech therapy sessions? A couple of weeks ago, I shared all about why I think you should be using nonfiction in your speech therapy sessions. I know it is easy to reach for those favorite fiction resources, but studies show that using nonfiction is extremely valuable to students! It builds their background knowledge and improves their comprehension skills as well as their ability to make connections. It doesn’t have to be a nonfiction text that you use, you can utilize...
Feb 28, 2022•13 min•Ep. 109
Let’s talk about grad school! If you are preparing for grad school or currently applying for it, this episode of SLP Coffee Talk is for you! Once you start grad school, you may think that your whole life should revolve around it and you won’t be able to do anything else, but that’s not the case! It will take up as much time as you give it, but you are not just a student, you’re a person too. In this episode, I sat down with Sam Walker to talk about all things grad school for future SLP’s and how...
Feb 21, 2022•27 min•Ep. 108
Are you using nonfiction texts in speech? I know as speech-language pathologists, we love our storybooks. It’s so easy to reach for a comforting story for any activity in the classroom. However, there is a ton of evidence to back up the idea that nonfiction texts are more beneficial to our speech therapy students than fiction texts are. One of the main reasons they are more beneficial is that they provide background knowledge. Our students may really struggle in this area. Using nonfiction texts...
Feb 14, 2022•11 min•Ep. 107
Do you ever struggle with imposter syndrome? Many SLPs, myself included, struggle with this feeling of not being good enough. That’s okay though! No one feels like they have it together all the time. It’s important that you self-reflect and remember those times when you knew you did an amazing job. This is the key to powering through those moments of doubt. Today’s guest on SLP Coffee Talk is Dani Newcombe, and she is such an inspiring SLP to talk to. She has had her fair share of imposter syndr...
Feb 07, 2022•25 min•Ep. 106
