What Medicaid changes mean for providers—and how to support families without the drama.

In this episode, Megan is unpacking the real story behind the recent Medicaid changes—without the noise, drama, or clickbait. There's a good chance you've heard about Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" and seen some intense headlines, but what does it actually mean for families and providers?

This episode isn't about politics—it's about people. We're looking at both sides of the issue and exploring how to be steady and informed advocates as the system shifts.

Whether you're in early intervention, schools, or private practice, this episode will help you stay grounded and proactive as upcoming changes in Medicaid begin to roll out.

Read the blog post here!

Just wanted to shout out THANK YOU- thank you my friends for your continued support as I walk this post partum anxiety journey. I see you, I appreciate you, and I am thankful for each and every one of you.

In this episode, I'm sharing my journey through the first 2 months post-partum and how it relates to parent involvement in speech therapy for toddlers.

I pride myself on being an empathic person. Life has thrown a ton of curveballs my way. With each curveball, I've been left with a lesson and purpose that has helped me relate to parents on multiple levels. Today, I want to share some of that with you.

Check out this episode if you're interested in learning about post-partum anxiety and more ways you can empathize with the parents of toddlers on your caseload.

In this episode, you'll find an honest conversation about setting boundaries, find peace, and making tough decisions about work life balance.

If you caught the previous episode of The SLP Next Door Podcast, then you know I'm currently in the midst of new motherhood (second time around) and fighting an incredibly difficult battle with post partum anxiety.

Today, i'm opening up and talking about big decisions I've had to make over the last few days and the ways I will be navigating life moving forward.

In this episode, I'm starting to share my journey with post-partum anxiety. Like many moms, my post-partum anxiety slammed me out of nowhere and left me feeling completely out of control of my life.

After posting about it on Instagram, I realized that many others also experience crippling anxiety and so I've decided to carve out some time on The SLP Next Door Podcast to share my journey.

I'm no stranger to anxiety disorder; in fact, I've experienced anxiety all my life. After my second baby was born, I knew it was coming, I just wasn't expecting it to hit me as hard as it did.

If you're a follower of The SLP NExt Door Podcast- the speech therapy for toddlers side, don't worry! I will continue to share episodes. They will be labeled with pink thumbnails. For the anxiety side of things, look for the purple thumbnails.

You can decide which side fits you best (although I do hope you'll join me for both!)

This is the first episode, where I'm introducing the concept of this podcast series and sharing how it all got started.

You can find me on Instagram @theslpnextdoor - I would LOVE to hear from you!

What is a language based learning disorder? It's exactly what the name says- a learning disorder caused by difficulties and deficits in language development. Language based learning disorders can impact a child's ability to process, express, read, write, and comprehend language in written and oral form.

Language based learning disorders include diagnoses such as Developmental Language Disorder, Dyslexia, and Dysgraphia.

Developmental Language Disorder is a difficulty in learning, understanding, and using language. Impacts expressive and receptive language skills. (typically the children we see)

Dyslexia is often linked with difficulties in phonological awareness. A child experiences difficulties in reading and decoding skills. Once evaluated and diagnosed in the school, children can qualify for services provided by a specialist. Parents/caregivers may also seek outside specialists for diagnosis and services.

Dysgraphia is when a child experiences difficulties with writing such as forming letters, spacing letters and words correctly, and fluency. Children can receive specialized services for intervention with dysgraphia. Occupational therapy can help!

With early intervention and speech therapy for toddlers, we don't focus on dysgraphia or dyslexia. (we're just excited when the toddler pays attention to the book or uses their pincher grasp appropriately, amiright?)

It's important to remember that what we are doing can have an impact on those future skills. For instance if a toddler that has difficulty with fine motor movement in their hands and fingers and these skills do not improve, there's a chance a child may experience some type of difficulty in the future.

In speech therapy for toddlers, it's so important that we are intentional with what we do. This is also another reason to get parents and caregivers on board with what we are doing.

We know about language delays and language disorders- but what about language differences?

A language difference is referring to the variations in languages that are influenced by an individual's culture, regional, social, or language background.

Language differences ARE NOT language disorders or language delays. When we meet a child with a language difference, those differences don't count against them.

It's important for us to be sensitive to language differences, talk with parents about their expectations for speech therapy, and plan strategies that will benefit the child moving forward without changing who they are.

You know, that last part should actually apply to everyone on your caseload.

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Language is the words we use and how we use them to communicate and share ideas. Effective language development is critical for a child's development because language helps us learn, communicate, and socialize.

Typically, we divide language into three categories: pragmatic language, expressive language, and receptive language. However, there are actually 5 domains of language and 3 components of language.

The 5 domains of language are phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

• Phonology is the sounds and patterns of sounds in a language. [think: articulation, phonological processes, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, etc.]
• Morphology is the study of rules that govern how morphemes are used in a language. Morphemes are the smallest grammatical unit of language that has meaning. There are two types of morphemes: free morphemes or morphemes that can stand alone [dog, run, happy] and Bound morphemes or morphemes that cannot function as independent words and must be attached to another morpheme [prefixes, suffixes, word endings]
• Semantics is the linguistic representation and relationship between objects, ideas, feelings, and events. The meaning of words and combination of words in a language. Semantics includes: vocabulary- expressing ideas about objects or actions, relationships between objects, expressing by using a word, expressing by using a group of words.
  • *Side note: children with Specific language impairment or Gestalt language processing have difficulty analyzing semantic information.
• Syntax is the rules and ways words combine to form sentences. Syntax includes grammar and differs across language and age groups. Toddler's syntax is much different than adult syntax. Syntax also includes sentences that are not grammatically incorrect, but, we still understand [I want to hold that, me hold dat].
• Pragmatics are the rules for language in conversation and social situations. Pragmatics is knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it based on a situation or context.

The components of language help us understand how the domains of language work together to form meaningful communication. 3 components of language are: form, content, and use.

• Form is as it sounds; it includes the structure of language. Phonology, morphology, and syntax fall under the component of form.
• Content is expressing ideas about objects and actions, aka, semantics.
• Use is how we combine words and sentences for social interactions and conversational speech.

As you can imagine, effective language and communication require a combination of form, content, and use.

The speaker thinks of something to say and how to say it then puts the words into a sentence based on the scenario or situation.

Understanding these 5 domains of language and 3 components of language isn't just a grad school thing—it's the foundation of everything we do to communicate!

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In this episode, Megan talks about a topic being discussed amongst many people working with (or raising) toddlers and preschoolers... behaviors! More specifically, finding the function of the behavior impacting communication development in early intervention speech and language.

There are 4 potential functions of a behavior:

1. seeking attention
2. escape or avoid someone or something
3. seeking access to someone or something
4. seeking some type of sensory input

Once we've determined the function or "why" behind their behavior, we can better understand, strategize, and respond to a child.

To find the WHY behind a behavior,

• Talk with family/caregivers to determine any patterns surrounding the behaviors to determine what message the child may be trying to convey.
• Talk with the child about their problematic behaviors outside of their occurrence.
• Praise positive behaviors and effective communication strategies when a child attempts or uses them.

The most important thing to remember: when it comes to changing behaviors, we are working in the best interest of the child (and their family), we must remain consistent, and we gotta remember this is a long game.

Changing how your view on behavior can make a difference in your approach to speech therapy for toddlers and help you view the little ones on your caseload from a different perspective.

If you're looking for handouts and more information about communication development and behaviors, download the FREE PREVIEW of my handbook Communicate & Connect.

Share this episode with someone you know struggling with the behaviors of the little ones on their caseload or in the classroom!

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Gestures are actions produced with the intent of communicate. Gestures are typically expressed using fingers, hands, arms, facial features, and other body movements.

Children produce gestures before their first spoken words.

A 2009 study found that the number of gesture + speech combinations a child uses in early communication is a strong predictor of later language development.

Tracking early gesture development may help us determine if a child is at risk for a language delay.

Dietic Gestures: these are the earliest to develop. Pointing, reaching, showing, and giving are dietic gestures. Easy way to remember this? Dietic gestures are the first gestures babies and toddlers learn to use.

Conventional Gestures are those that are culturally specific. I found this to be interesting; we take for granted that we use certain gestures to mean certain things but that doesn't mean they are universal. These are gestures like waving and nodding yes/no.

Iconic/Representational Gestures reflect the shape or form an object and give information about objects, actions, or abstract ideas: cupping your hand in a c shape to represent drink or enclosing your hand over your eyes like glasses or binoculars.

Beat Gestures emerge between 2 and 4. They are rhythmically tied to the prosodic features of speech and reflect social language development and an increase in MLU. These gestures do not convey meaning but are more in tune with the rhythm of speech. People who "talk with their hands" are using beat gestures.

Babies should have (and use) at least 16 gestures by the time they are 16 months old.

By the time they are one year old, babies will begin to point using their whole hand and, eventually, an isolated index finger. Babies learn to point through imitation, and caregivers and parents point to items and objects throughout the day, encouraging joint attention and labeling.

Pointing is also a sign that observational learning is occurring and the child is becoming more of a symbolic communicator.

Observational learning means the child is learning by observing and modeling the behavior of another person. In order for observational learning to occur a child must be able to remember, imitate, and have a reason to imitate the behavior. (that's a lot of cognitive development, right?)

Symbolic communication occurs when the child is able to use symbols to convey information or express their ideas, feelings, or beliefs. Being to able to refuse something, choose an item of interest, or make a choice based on preference.

Here are 3 ways you can encourage gesture development!

• Introduce 1-2 specific gestures at a time.
• Imitate and make big movements with gestures in songs and nursery rhymes
• Use gestures in your speech therapy activities and encourage parents to use gestures during their daily activities.

Check out my handbook, Communicate & Connect for more information on gestures and language development!

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In this episode, Megan continues talking about communication in speech therapy for toddlers. Topics include: verbal communication, not verbal communication, and multimodal communication.

Megan dives into examples of non verbal communication, gives a verbal communication example, and explains why multimodal communication is typically most common.

Communication is the exchanging information between people through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.

Effective communication occurs when the intent and meaning of one person is understood by another.

Here are some tips to remember when it comes to toddler language development and communication:

• Presume competence. Just because a child doesn't use spoken language does not mean they cannot communicate.
• Be mindful of a toddler's body language, facial expressions, and use of gestures during an activity
• Offer opportunities for a child to communicate
• Acknowledge anytime a child attempts to communicate
• Honor all forms of communication

Determining how a toddler is trying to convey their message gives us a starting point for building functional communication.

If you're looking for a way to determine how the little ones on your caseload communicate, check out my handbook: Communicate & Connect. You'll find strategies for encouraging communication, handouts for helping parents understand the various ways their child communicates, and printables to help you keep track of a child's communication.

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