Hallie chats with Colleen Ashford of Ashford Speech and Advocacy P.C. about navigating transition process from an IFSP to IEP.

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie sits down with Colleen Ashford — bilingual SLP, private practice owner, and the special education advocate we all need. Colleen shares how she went from planning to be a school SLP forever to accidentally falling in love with advocacy work when families kept asking her IEP questions she couldn’t half-answer. She gets real about taking a special education law course on Saturdays, why we need to stop treating parent rights like secret information, and how she now runs her own practice doing both speech therapy and advocacy. If you’ve ever felt stuck answering parent questions or wondered how to actually support families navigating the IEP maze, this conversation is packed with real talk and “yes, you can totally do this” energy.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Bullet Points to Discuss: 

• Why families in private practice were totally lost about basic IEP stuff
• The difference between school speech services and what happens in clinics
• Why SLPs need to stop being scared of “getting in trouble” for educating parents
• Parent education vs. parent advocacy—and when it becomes a whole new service
• When to hand families a community resource list (and how to build one that actually helps)

Here’s what we learned: 

• You’ll never get in trouble for objectively explaining educational rights to families.
• IEP meetings are collaborative—not presentations parents just stamp “yes” on.
• Early intervention families need extra support understanding what happens at age three.
• Translation services aren’t optional—parents have the right to understand in their native language.
• Building a resource list takes time, but tackle it during cancellations and it’s golden.
• Parent education is valuable, billable work—don’t downplay what you know.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Learn more about Colleen Ashford: 

Website: www.ashfordspeechandadvocacy.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theadvocate.slp 

Unfiltered IEPs: Apple | Spotify 

Right to Translation Freebie: https://theadvocateslp.myflodesk.com/kp4nh8184r 

Learn more about Hallie Sherman and SLP Elevate:  

📝 Website: https://speechtimefun.com/

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📘✨ Grab your copy of The Secondary SLP Roadmap here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/stf-book

Subscribe today and get access to my secret podcast filled with my juicy secrets for planning with ease for secondary speech students. 6 quick episodes that you can quickly listen to and feel refreshed and inspired! https://speechtimefun.com/secondarysecrets