The Speech Umbrella

When a child has difficulty with listening skills, auditory processing and auditory memory, we could give it a lot of names, including Auditory Processing Disorder, or APD. But whether or not a client has an official APD diagnosis, SO many of them struggle in these areas. When it comes to working on listening, attention, and memory, you can’t start too soon, because improving listening and  processing improves everything else.

---- Show Links ----
Podcast Episodes
Phonological Awareness Tracking Form - episode 11
Narrative Language Intervention with Doug Peterson Part 1 - episode 23
Narrative Language Intervention with Doug Peterson Part 2 - episode 24
Opportunity Cost - episode 42

Phonological Awareness Products
Prime to Rhyme Cards  
Phonological Awareness Tracking Form (actual form)

It’s no secret that phonemic awareness plays a huge part in our clients’ success in both articulation and language. But what you may not know is just how specific and demanding the criteria for mastering phonemic awareness is. Typical assessments and programs don’t teach phonemic awareness in a way for our clients to reach the same level as their peers, and they may end up struggling for years to master speech and language skills. 

Dr. David Kilpatrick explores this topic in depth in his book Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. https://equippedforreadingsuccess.com/shop/ . He has also written a Manual to implement his phonemic awareness approach, Equipped for Reading Success. Since I have been using his approach I have seen “stuck” clients get unstuck and make great progress. 

In today’s podcast we talk about how phonemic awareness helped a couple of clients finally master the tricky R sound!

In case you don’t have time right now to dive into Dr. Kilpatrick’s books, I’ve made this Simple Tools video to get you started. 

Parents can do this too! This is a great way for parents to get involved in their child’s therapy, and the video is for them as well as speech language pathologists. 

As a final bonus, while I highly recommend the Equipped for Reading Success manual, I understand you may not want to invest in it until you see some proof. Dr. Kilpatick has made the original material that was part the U.S government studies on phonemic awareness available, since it is copyright free. This is the material Equipped for Reading Success is based on. The material is not as complete as what you will find in the manual, but it can be a great place to start. You can find that phonemic awareness material on https://www.slpproadvisor.com/  in my free resource library. 

There are a lot of different treatment options in our profession, and let’s face it, often the experts don’t even agree. Added to that, every treatment choice comes with an opportunity cost. 

I get it. It’s valuable to have different treatment approaches, BUT when it comes to helping our clients learn to make and reciprocate eye contact, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool believer. I’m such a firm believer that I can’t stay silent when it’s suggested that eye contact can hurt, rather than help, our clients. 

This episode explores 

1. the opportunity cost of not working on eye contact, and 
2. the unexpected benefits of treating eye contact
3. how eye contact can help our clients develop a growth mindset

--- Featured Links ---
Realizing Their Authentic Selves https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.FMP.26092021.10/full/,
Keeping an Open Mind https://www.thespeehumbrella.com/blog/15 ,
You and Me and ABCs https://www.thespeechumbrella.com/blog/you-and-me-and-abcs,
Freedom: My Book of Firsts https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Book-Firsts-Jaycee-Dugard-ebook/dp/B01CH4KBKU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JCIPIG4CRG85&dchild=1&keywords=freedom+by+jaycee+dugard+book&qid=1631732618&sr=8-1,
BINGO activity,
The Road not Taken https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken,
Hanen More Than Words http://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/More-Than-Words.aspx,
Equipped for Reading Success https://equippedforreadingsuccess.com/

Does data get you down? Do you find yourself struggling to write easy to measure goals that are still meaningful? Have you ever found you were measuring the wrong thing when it comes to writing progress reports? If any of this sounds familiar, then this podcast is for you! Learn to make data a good servant, instead of a bad master.

Helpful Links
Challenges In Early Intervention
Phonological Awareness Tracking Form

Have you ever wondered what “complex target selection” means in the world of articulation therapy? Kelly Vess breaks it down for us episode 40 of The Mindful SLP.  You won’t want to miss Kelly’s insights on a working with preschools to create maximal change, and set them on a path to life long learning.

Associated Links
4-Step Process to Selecting Complex Targets 

Speech Sound Disorders: Comprehensive Evaluation and Treatment  

Research Gate  https://www.researchgate.net/

Kelly’s Website. https://www.kellyvessslp.com/index.htm

Simple Tools: PROMPT Method and Complex Target Selection (or “Shoo Fly” Activity)

Sometimes you need your client to buckle down, pay attention and work hard, but that’s the last thing they want to do. Here’s a way to motivate a reluctant child to try their hardest. 

When NOTHING works to elicit k or g, here’s a little something that may help. Join us as we discuss a client with a very complicated /k/.

Have you been thinking about starting your own speech therapy clinic but feel intimated by everything you need to do? Let us talk you through the first steps! In this podcast we cover legal requirement, business management, marketing, and setting up your clinic. 

Using sticky notes to help clients organize their written language reduces the cognitive load of word order and word recall, and at the same time eliminates the frustration of constant erasing. 

Celebrate with us! We are passing our one year anniversary and we couldn't be happier. We also passed our 2000th download this week. Thank you everyone, wherever you listen.