Hallie and Desi Peña of Panorama Speech chat about multilingualism: how to approach multilingual evaluations and therapy strategies.

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie chats with Desi Peña, a Spanish-bilingual speech-language pathologist, about the real-world challenges of evaluating and supporting multilingual learners. From gathering parent input and working with interpreters to looking beyond standardized scores and trying out dynamic assessment, Desi shares practical strategies you can use right away. You’ll walk away with tips to feel more confident in your evaluations, ideas for advocating with administrators, and the reminder that every child deserves to be seen for their strengths—not just a number.

Bullet Points to Discuss: 

• Multilingual evaluations and the essential information to collect.
• Considerations when using standardized tests with multilingual learners.
• Dynamic assessment and how it can guide clinical decision-making.
• The role of interpreters during evaluations and therapy.
• Strategies for supporting multilingual learners in therapy sessions.
• Collaboration with ESL teachers and classroom staff.

Here’s what we learned: 

• Parent input is one of the most valuable tools in a multilingual evaluation.
• Standardized test scores don’t always show the full picture.
• Dynamic assessment can reveal a student’s true learning potential.
• Building strong relationships with interpreters makes the process smoother.
• Collaboration with teachers leads to better support for students.
• Every multilingual learner deserves to be seen for their strengths, not just a score.

Learn more about Desi Peña: 

Website: www.panoramaspeech.com 

Instagram: 

@d.bilingualslp: https://www.instagram.com/d.bilingualslp 

@panoramaspeech: https://www.instagram.com/panoramaspeech 

@boldslpcollective: https://www.instagram.com/theboldslpcollective 

The Bold SLP Podcast: https://theboldslp.wixsite.com/theboldslpcollective 

Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/d-bilingual-slp 

Free Resource: https://panoramaspeech.myflodesk.com/startherefreebie 

Learn more about Hallie Sherman and SLP Elevate:  

📝 Website: https://speechtimefun.com/

🎲✨ Check out the Secondary Secret Podcast here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/secret-podcast-signup

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