Beyond Words Ep. 20 | Neural Encoding of Speech: Insights from Aphasia with Dr. Jill Kries

In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Jill Kries, cognitive neuroscientist, about how the brain transforms sound into language—and what this reveals about aphasia. They explore how aphasia may involve disruptions not just at the level of words and grammar, but in lower-level speech processing, including phoneme perception and acoustic discrimination. From EEG studies using natural story listening to concepts like lexical entropy, this conversation reframes aphasia as a breakdown across the full speech processing hierarchy.

🎙️ Topics include:

• Low-level auditory and phoneme processing in aphasia

• Neural encoding of speech using EEG

• Lexical entropy and real-time language processing

• Implications for assessment and intervention

• Connections to dyslexia and statistical learning

Learn more about Dr. Jill's work: https://linktr.ee/jillkries

Get ASHA CEUs: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/neural-encoding-of-speech

Beyond Words Ep. 19 | Comics and Visual Language with Dr. Neil Cohn

In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Neil Cohn, cognitive scientist and director of the Visual Language Lab, about how drawings and comics function as full-fledged visual languages.

They explore how visual narratives have structure, grammar, and vocabulary, and why understanding comics isn’t as automatic as we might assume. Dr. Cohn challenges the idea that language is purely speech-based, introducing a multimodal language faculty that includes vocal, bodily, and graphic expression.

Along the way, they connect language to drawing, gesture, writing systems, and even AI, offering a powerful reframe of what it means to communicate.

🎙️ Topics include:

• Comics as structured visual languages
• Multimodal language faculty (speech, gesture, drawing)
• How children learn visual narratives
• Why image-based tasks may be misleading in assessment
• Visual language and neurodevelopmental differences
• Implications for speech therapy and AAC

Learn more about Neil and purchase his books here: https://visuallanguagelab.com/

Get ASHA CEUs here: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/comics-visual-language

Beyond Words Ep. 18 | Brain-to-Brain Synchrony and Attention in Early Development with Dr. Sam Wass

In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Sam Wass, developmental neuroscientist, about how attention, arousal, and social interaction shape the developing brain.

They explore how infants regulate attention in real time, how stress and environmental context influence learning, and what brain-to-brain synchrony between parents and children reveals about communication. They discuss neural entrainment, shared book reading, and the role of co-regulation in supporting language development. Along the way, they connect laboratory neuroscience to everyday parenting and clinical practice, reframing language learning as something deeply embedded in attention, physiology, and relationships.

Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@GarrettBeyondWords

Get ASHA CEUs: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/brain-to-brain-synchrony

Beyond Words Ep. 17 | Language as a Complex Adaptive System with Dr. Joan Bybee

In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Joan Bybee, pioneer of usage-based linguistics, about how language emerges through use, repetition, and social interaction rather than abstract rules.

They explore why sounds don’t exist in isolation, how frequency and predictability shape speech and sound change, and what this means for child language development, speech therapy, and learning. Along the way, they connect language to music, motor practice, and improvisation, reframing speech as a dynamic, living skill shaped by experience.

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube

Beyond Words Ep. 16 | Speech Therapy in the Age of AI: Play, Screens, and Language Development

In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett sits down with renowned developmental scientist Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek—professor at Temple University, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, bestselling author, and one of the leading voices in early learning, language development, and play.

Kathy breaks down what quality language input really looks like, why back-and-forth interaction is the engine of learning, how play and boredom shape the developing brain, and what parents and clinicians should know about screens, e-books, and the rise of AI-powered toys.

This conversation is packed with clarity, humor, and practical wisdom for anyone who works with children—or wants to understand how humans learn in a world overflowing with technology.

Watch on YouTube

Get ASHA CEUs: SpeechTherapyPD

Kathy's work:

• Website
• Einstein Never Used Flashcards
• Playful Learning Spaces

Beyond Words Ep. 15 | Before Words: Understanding Babbling with Dr. D. Kimbrough Oller

What do a baby’s coos, squeals, and growls reveal about the origins of language? In this episode of Beyond Words, Dr. D. Kimbrough Oller — a leading voice in speech and language development — joins Garrett Oyama to explore protophones, functional flexibility, and why spontaneous infant vocalizations may hold the key to understanding how language evolved.

Topics include:

• What protophones are and why they matter
• The Functional Flexibility Hypothesis
• How infant vocal play relates to evolution
• What LENA recordings reveal about early speech
• Why babies vocalize even when no one is listening

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube

Beyond Words Ep. 14 | Inside the Language Network: Brains, AI, and What Words Really Mean

Is language the same as thought? Dr. Idan Blank (UCLA) joins Beyond Words to explain why the answer is no — and why that matters for neuroscience, speech therapy, and AI. We explore the brain’s language network, how large language models learn, why Broca’s area is misunderstood, and what this all means for testing, development, and the future of cognition.

Topics include:

• Why language and thought are separate systems
• How ChatGPT challenges our assumptions
• What Broca’s area really does
• Implications for speech therapy and assessment
• What LLMs and infants both tell us about language learning

Join the Beyond Words Newsletter

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube

Beyond Words Ep. 13 | Bilingual Brains and Sound Processing with Dr. Jennifer Krizman

What does it mean to hear the world through two languages? In this episode, host Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Jenn Krizman, research scientist at the Brainvolts Lab (Northwestern University), about how bilingualism reshapes the brain’s sound processing networks.

Together they explore how speaking multiple languages enhances inhibitory control, boosts consistency in auditory encoding, and even provides a kind of “neural armor” that can delay cognitive decline. They also discuss clinical implications for speech-language pathologists, common myths about bilingualism, and why parents should feel confident nurturing their child’s native tongue.

Join the Beyond Words Newsletter

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube

Beyond Words Ep. 12 | The Developing Sound System: From Canonical Proportion to Cochlear Implants with Dr. Cychosz

In this episode of Beyond Words, Dr. Meg Cychosz (Stanford University) joins host Garrett Oyama to explore how children develop speech and language—from babbling and canonical proportion to cochlear implants and multilingual environments. We dive into naturalistic data, cultural variation, and the surprising ways infants make sense of sound.

Join the Beyond Words Newsletter

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube

Beyond Words Ep. 11 | The Inner Voice: Exploring Intrapersonal Communication with Constance Bainbridge

In this special archive episode, Garrett sits down with fellow UCLA PhD student Constance (Connie) Bainbridge, a researcher in the Department of Communication who studies the inner voice—how we communicate with ourselves. Connie is the Principal Investigator of the Stream of Mind Lab and her work blends evolutionary, developmental, and cognitive science to better understand intrapersonal communication and the flow of consciousness. She also draws on her background as a musician to explore how music and self-expression shape human experience.

This conversation covers:

• What the “inner voice” really is
• How self-talk and imagination shape decision-making, self-regulation, and well-being
• Why hidden differences (like having no inner voice) matter for research and therapy
• Connections between music, language, and consciousness

Join the Beyond Words Newsletter

Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD

Watch on YouTube