Telepractice Today

After serving for a year as a volunteer speech language pathologist at an orphanage in Guatemala in 2013, Amanda Blackwell has been living and working full-time in the country for over 7 years. Amanda completed a clinical doctorate in speech language pathology and started the official professional association for local Guatemalan speech therapists (SomosTLgt), which has grown to more than 300 members over the past year. In January 2020, she began working toward a Doctor of Education degree at Murray State University with the goal of opening a university for allied health professions in Guatemala to improve the quality of services across the country. She currently directs the speech therapy departments at FUNDAL (for individuals with deafblindness and multiple disabilities) and the Guatemalan Association of Down Syndrome in Guatemala City, teaches a course about teletherapy through UOC in Barcelona, Spain, provides teletherapy services for public school students in the United States, runs an autism education social project for Spanish speakers called LUNA (@lunautismo), and is part of the ASHA-PAHO ad hoc committee for Ecuador. She was a clinical supervisor of graduate students at the University of California San Marcos doing teletherapy in the Summer of 2020 and she is an adjunct research fellow working with five doctoral students in the SLPD program at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah. She is a life-long learner herself and also loves providing dynamic training on various topics to school districts and SLPs around the world. 

Lisa Kathman and Sarah Bevier are graduates of Arizona State University with master's degrees in Communication Disorders and have over 40 years combined experience in the field of speech-language pathology. Lisa and Sarah met while working in the largest school district in Arizona and share a passion for solving issues in the school setting. They are co-creators of the innovative web app, SLP Toolkit, which launched in January 2016, as well as brIQht ideas, an ASHA-approved CEU provider that has hosted courses and conferences since 2019 (including SLP Summit and SLP Telecon). 

Website: www.slptoolkit.com

Noralee Jones is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist of 10 years, mom of four kids under 7 and a military spouse. In her career, she has worked with a variety of age groups and settings and have been practicing tele-practice for the last 6 years primarily with school age children. Noralee feels that as a military spouse, telepractice has served her well as it has provided her with the ability to continue to build her skills and to serve her patients even through several moves and her husband’s  deployments. Her next adventure includes a move to Japan, where she plans to continue working in the telepractice setting. 

The link to resources mentioned in this episode:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shake-N-Say-Language-Dice-Bundle-1823170

Marge Edwards, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, is a Programs Leader at Hearing First, an educational endeavor of the Oberkotter Foundation. As a parent of two successful children with hearing loss and practicing as a Listening and Spoken Language specialist, Marge knows firsthand what is possible for children born with hearing loss today when families receive appropriate support. Marge has provided early intervention services to families and has offered professional training for the delivery of telepractice services to families of children with hearing loss. Marge is dedicated to assuring families of all children with hearing loss have the support they need to help their children reach their full potential.

Amy Hill is the Arizona Executive Director of Clinical Support for Light Street Special Education Solutions.  She has been a Speech Language Pathologist since 1998 and has provided services to children in the Arizona school system.  In this position, she provides clinical support to a variety of special education professionals including SLP/SLPA, OT/COTA, PT/PTA, Special Education Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Behavior Technicians who are contracted to public, charter, and private schools. 

Kacy Barron is an AAC Specialist, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Online CEO. She is located in Northeast Florida and currently works in private practice with clients with complex communication needs and other speech, swallowing, feeding, and language disorders. To further advocate for all people with complex communication needs outside of private practice, she hosts online courses teaching other SLPs, parents, and educators about AAC. When she's not using her AAC and SLP expertise, she helps entrepreneurs and coaches go from stressed out to attracting their ideal clients with money mindset and authentic, aligned online marketing strategies. 

Marissa Rocheleau, M.A., CCC-SLP graduated from Indiana University in 2012 with a Masters in Speech Pathology. She has been working in telepractice since 2014, when she started her first private practice company in Chicago. Since then, she has transitioned to working exclusively online as a private practice owner and business coach through Linguabilities. Marissa really enjoys the range of people she gets to work with through telepractice.

Jill Shook, MS, CCC-SLP provides teletherapy (and, in simpler times, in-person therapy) at her own private practice in Pittsburgh, PA. She has provided teletherapy for almost 5 years and has extensive knowledge of teletherapy platforms and regulations. She provides business consulting for SLPs interested in starting or growing their private practices, and is available at www.privatepracticeslp.com.

Alison King, PhD is an Assistant Professor & the Graduate Director of the CSD Program at Longwood University in Farmville, VA where she teaches courses in Aural (Re)habilitation, Speech Science, Language Development, Phonetics, & Research Methods. Alison currently serves on the Virginia Board of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology and the Virginia Board of Health Professions.  Additionally, she is a LSLS Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist.

Resources for telepractice: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Distance-Learning-for-Speech-Language-Pathologists-eBook-5860423

Dr. Dodd has over 25 years’ experience working as a school-based speech-language pathologist and more than 10 years’ experience teaching graduate students (Chapman University, CSULB). Her research & clinical experience focuses on classroom based interventions and the use of AAC to facilitate communication in children with CCN.