What is the role of an SLP when it comes to dyslexia? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with two rock star SLPs, Karina and Heather from @SoarWithWords, to talk about all things dyslexia and how we as SLPs can best support our students that struggle with it and help them reach their goals. Heather is a certified speech language pathologist and owner of HBC Language and Literacy. Karina is a licensed speech language pathology assistant and co-author of Soar With Words School. Topics ...
Mar 27, 2023•31 min•Ep. 165
What do successful readers do naturally? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with none other than my very own daughter, Ella, to talk about some things that successful readers do. She’s given me a lot of insight into what our students are picking up naturally in the classroom, and she’s here to share some tips that we can all apply to our therapy sessions! Topics covered in this episode include: What Ella does when she doesn’t know a word when reading The tricks she learned from her t...
Mar 20, 2023•15 min•Ep. 164
As SLPs, we all know that writing IEPs can be a challenge. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Jennifer Hofferber to talk all about IEPs and get her best time-saving tips and meeting must-haves that will make your life a whole lot easier. Jennifer Hofferber is a special education teacher with a passion for supporting struggling special educators. She supports them through her podcast, resources, and SPED Prep Academy. Topics covered in this episode include: How to create a weekly...
Mar 13, 2023•26 min•Ep. 163
Do you feel confident going into your mixed groups? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing a clip from a free training I did all about mixed groups and tackling them with confidence. I shared my top tips and strategies for planning them and feeling ready to take them on. Topics covered in this episode include: Why you shouldn’t overthink your mixed groups Tips for implementing a good behavior management system in these groups How to find commonalities in the objectives for each student ...
Mar 06, 2023•15 min•Ep. 162
Do you have students that just don’t want to write? You’re not alone! In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, we are diving into how we can help reluctant writers and the things we can do to encourage them to reach their writing goals. I sat down with Megan Polk, a literacy specialist, to get her top advice for SLPs. Megan Polk is a literacy specialist living in Nashville, Tennessee and the content creator behind The Literacy Dive and Writing Made Simple where she creates reading and writing resourc...
Feb 27, 2023•27 min•Ep. 161
Ready to learn more about AAC? People can be very intimidated by AAC and this is something I get a lot of questions about from other SLPs. I decided to bring an expert on the topic onto the show to talk about all things AAC so that you can become the best SLP you can be. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Laura Hayes to dive into this topic so we can learn more about AAC, who needs it, teaching students advocacy, and so much more. Laura Hayes is a speech-language pathologist wit...
Feb 20, 2023•32 min•Ep. 160
Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing some low-prep therapy ideas that you can use with your older speech students with a Valentine’s Day theme. Often we think that this holiday might be more fitting for your younger students with some basic activities that focus on love words and red things. But we can totally incorporate the theme with our older speech students as well! Anything that they might be motivated by, we can utilize in our speech room to e...
Feb 13, 2023•16 min•Ep. 159
Are you ready to be a leader? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with a returning guest, Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan to talk about how she helps SLPs step into the leadership role so that they can give their students the kind of help that they need. Dr. Karen is the founder and CEO of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on helping K-12 therapists (SLPs, psychologists, social workers, and other service providers) be better leaders so they can provide comprehensive support for their caseload...
Feb 06, 2023•31 min•Ep. 158
Do you ever just wing it? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing a different type of episode. I’m diving into the topic of winging it and giving you permission to throw something together last minute if your lessons don’t go according to plan or even if you just change your mind. As SLPs, we are busy. We have so much on our plate. There are evaluations to write up, students to gather up, and so much more. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes you just end up scrambling, and that’s okay! I ...
Jan 30, 2023•11 min•Ep. 157
Are you wondering how you can help the parents of your students become better advocates for their children? Sometimes it comes down to making sure they understand what to ask. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with a fellow SLP and the March 2023 Speech Retreat speaker, Dr. Tinita Kearney! She’s here to talk about topics like empowering parents, educating colleagues, and her new book! Dr. Tinita Ortega Kearney is a pediatric speech-language pathologist (SLP) specializing in autism s...
Jan 23, 2023•30 min•Ep. 156
Are you wondering how you can feel more balanced between work and your personal life? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with a dear friend, Dr. Lori Friesen, who is doing amazing things for her community. When I heard about what she does, I knew I had to have her on the show. She helps teachers find the right school-home life balance which is something so many SLPs could benefit from. Dr. Lori Friesen taught for 10 years in Canada and overseas in Hong Kong and Japan before completin...
Jan 16, 2023•21 min•Ep. 155
Are you working with students that are deaf or hard of hearing? Learning how to properly support these students is so important. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Deanna Magda to discuss how we can best help these students reach their goals. Deanna Magda is a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and a certified Auditory Verbal Educator. Through Listening Fun, she creates resources for TODs and SLPs in the areas of auditory skill development, language, and self-advocacy. The ...
Jan 09, 2023•37 min•Ep. 154
We made it to a brand new year! 2023 already, I can’t believe it! I hope you were able to get a lot of rest and relaxation during your break with your friends and family. I know that some of you might be thinking that you don’t want to head back to work and I get it, so whether you’re back already or preparing to head back, I figured you might not need therapy ideas right now, you might need more of a pep talk. So I’m taking a break from therapy tips to bring you some tips for yourself and how y...
Jan 02, 2023•11 min•Ep. 153
I want to wish you a very happy Holiday Season from me over here at Speech Time Fun! I know many of you are enjoying a well-deserved break, so in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I am reflecting on the year that we have had because not only is this our holiday episode, but it’s the last episode of 2022. I don’t know about you, but for me, this year has been a little…cray cray. I am still working in the schools, just like you. And we are understaffed, overworked, and honestly a little burnt out. ...
Dec 26, 2022•9 min•Ep. 152
Welcome back to week 3 of the Live from the ASHA Convention episodes! If you didn’t get a chance to check out the last two episodes yet, make sure to check those out because they are packed with some amazing tips from other SLPs on things like books, games, and resources for speech, as well as their best tips for new SLPs. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I once again interviewed ASHA attendees to find out why they believe you should consider coming to an ASHA Convention in the future and wha...
Dec 19, 2022•15 min•Ep. 151
Welcome back to week two of ASHA 2022 attendees taking over the podcast! If you missed it last week, I passed the mic to the people I met at ASHA and they shared some amazing tips, books, games, and activities for speech therapy. I had a blast meeting all of these attendees in New Orleans and I’m ecstatic to be able to interview them and ask them my burning questions so that you can get the perspective of other SLPs that are doing amazing things in the classroom. In this episode of SLP Coffee Ta...
Dec 12, 2022•8 min•Ep. 150
For the next couple of weeks, I’m doing something a little bit different on the show. I just got back from New Orleans for ASHA 2022. It was my very first time having an exhibit booth and I wanted to have some fun with the people there. I wanted to give them the chance to be on the podcast and hear themselves speak! So in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m letting the attendees take the mic to tell us their favorite book, their favorite game, or their favorite hack to use in speech therapy. Yo...
Dec 05, 2022•9 min•Ep. 149
Are you wondering how you can have a greater impact on your students with verbal apraxia? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Jordan Christian LeVan to talk about his journey with verbal apraxia. He is sharing tips for SLPs who are working with these students. Jordan Christian LeVan is an apraxia, disability, and mental health advocate. He writes about his life experiences with childhood apraxia of speech on his blog, Fighting for my Voice: My Life with Verbal Apraxia. He wants t...
Nov 28, 2022•40 min•Ep. 148
Do you work with high schoolers that have an AAC? So many SLPs in this position really struggle to make their lessons functional, so they end up stuck working on the same goals year after year. If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Katelyn Kelps from The Communication Classroom to talk about how you can work on functional communication with your older students in an effective way. Katelyn is going into year 8 of being an SLP. She ...
Nov 21, 2022•30 min•Ep. 147
Have you ever used song lyrics in your speech therapy sessions? I’m all about using my students' interests which is why I have high-interest themes in my membership every month. One of those interests is music. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing how you can use song lyrics to target a variety of student goals while keeping students engaged. There are always going to be students that complain that speech activities are boring. Over the years, I realized that I have to use their inter...
Nov 14, 2022•13 min•Ep. 146
Wondering how you can help your students master their tier 3 vocabulary words? If you have been following me for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of working with tier 2 vocabulary words, but in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing my best tips for teaching tier 3 vocabulary words to your speech students. For so many students, we work with them and their parents work with them, and they seem to have these words down… but then they go to take their test and struggle. Maybe the word w...
Nov 07, 2022•13 min•Ep. 145
Many SLPs were taught the medical model of working with autistic children where we found the deficit and worked to fill it. However, we know now that autistic children develop differently, and we need to focus on helping them become the most successful version of themselves, not more like their neurotypical peers. There’s a lot of unlearning to do here, so in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Cari Ebert to talk about becoming a relationship-based therapist, the best methods for wo...
Oct 31, 2022•34 min•Ep. 144
Even after graduate school is over, SLPs are continuously learning. We are constantly being given new research and information that could change how we do therapy. No matter how long we may have been doing things one way, it’s important to adapt. We live in a time where we have easy access to new information that can improve our therapy skills and make us the best SLPs we can be as long as we lean into it. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Jess Teixeira to talk about unlearning...
Oct 24, 2022•28 min•Ep. 143
Looking for tips for working on fluency with your older speech students? On this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Lori Melnitsky to answer all of your questions about working with older speech students that stutter. It can be challenging working with these students because sometimes, they just don’t want the help, or they aren’t getting enough help for it to be effective. If this sounds familiar, there are things you can do. Lori is a licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologist...
Oct 17, 2022•28 min•Ep. 142
As SLPs, one of the biggest things we work on with our students is reading. Whether they have an AAC or not, there are things we can do to help them reach their literacy goals at their own pace. In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Megan Stewart, who is passionate about both literacy and AAC! Megan is here to share her top tips for maximizing your reading time with your students. Megan Stewart, MS CCC-SLP is a Speech/Language Pathologist with over 19 years of experience, most of w...
Oct 10, 2022•18 min•Ep. 141
Looking for some tips on working with high school speech students? If you know me, you know that AAC is not my jam, but in this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I sat down with Ashley Larisey to chat all about AAC and working with high school speech therapy students. Ashley Larisey is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and clinical educator. Ashley’s work experiences include public and private therapeutic day schools, speech/language clinics, and early intervention. Ashley also serves as an adjun...
Oct 03, 2022•22 min•Ep. 140
Do you work with the school psychologist? In this episode, I’m switching things up and talking with a bilingual school psychologist, Briana Wagner. She’s here to chat about how SLPs can collaborate with the school psychologist, social skills, and so much more! Briana Wagner is a bilingual school psychologist and the founder of @EducationallyPsyched, a community dedicated to easy-to-understand information about special education, school psychology, and supporting students with diverse needs. I ha...
Sep 26, 2022•29 min•Ep. 139
I do not take data during the entire session, and I’m sharing why in this episode. I know there are some exceptions to the rules because administrations or districts require one thing or another, but I want to convince you to think about data a little bit differently. I’m not saying not to take data, just not to take it the entire session. Imagine that as you’re working, someone came and observed you and jotted down notes the entire time. You would be pretty nervous right? Imagine how our studen...
Sep 19, 2022•13 min•Ep. 138
What prizes and reward systems do you use with your older students? This is a question I get asked pretty often, especially at the beginning of the year. I have had many different reward systems in my career, but as of now, I don’t actually have a reward system in place for my older speech therapy students. In today’s episode of SLP Coffee Talk, I’m sharing the systems I have used in the past, why they didn’t work, and why I stopped using them altogether. While I don’t use reward systems, there ...
Sep 12, 2022•12 min•Ep. 137
Are you using visuals in your speech therapy classroom? In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, we are breaking away from only talking about older speech therapy students to talk about something that can be used with any age: visual supports! Visual supports are things like pictures, lists, or drawings that help students with autism communicate. They can make a huge difference in your students’ speech therapy outcomes. I sat down with Tara Tuchel from Autism Little Learners to dive into the topic of...
Sep 05, 2022•30 min•Ep. 136
