I’ve been doing a lot of language and literacy assessments lately of elementary-aged children whose testing shows great phonemic awareness abilities (PA) but significantly impaired decoding skills. Many of their parents, well-versed in all the recent conversations on the importance of phonemic awareness raging on social media, have been asking me a variation of the […]
The ABCs of Decoding: Understanding the Basics Read More »
Recently I wrote a post entitled: “What Works for Improving Working Memory?” in which I listed useful resources on the subject. Due to the popularity of that post as well as numerous requests, I decided to write a similar post regarding what works and does not work for improving processing speed in students with language
What Works for Improving Processing Speed? Read More »
As part of my comprehensive language and literacy testing, I routinely incorporate clinical narrative and discourse assessment tasks into my testing batteries. Today I wanted to share with you which materials I use and how SLPs on a tight budget can obtain them online for free. I really like the books recommended by the SALT
FREE Clinical Narrative and Discourse Assessment Materials in Speech Pathology Read More »
Recently I have been seeing an increase in social media posts requesting assistance with working memory interventions. So I decided to compile a post with a few useful resources on this subject. But first a few words regarding working memory basics. Working Memory (WM) is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold
What Works for Improving Working Memory? Read More »
On November 16th, 2022, I did a free outreach webinar hosted jointly by two wonderful literacy organizations: WI Reads as well as Everyone Reads PA on the subject of fostering self-talk and self-motivation in children who struggle with executive functions as well as concomitant language and literacy needs. In this webinar, I discussed the research
Free Webinar: EBP Executive Functions Interventions: Focus on Self-Talk and Motivation Read More »
Today, I’d like to elaborate on the importance of clinical assessments in speech-language pathology, especially as relevant to our older teen clients 14-18 years of age. Notice my choice of words in the title – “life-saving”. It is not an over-exaggeration or an attempt at sensationalism for clickbait. For our clients with more subtle higher-order
On the Life-Saving Value of Clinical Assessments Read More »
On September 29th, 2022, I did a free outreach webinar for Georgia IDA, on the subject of effective evidence-based interventions for children with language disorders who struggle with executive functions as well as concomitant literacy needs. In the webinar, I discussed how to provide effective evidence-based practice (EBP) language and literacy interventions aimed at improving
Free Webinar: Evidence Based Executive Functions Interventions for Struggling Learners Read More »
Typically, I write posts pertaining to certain aspects of the assessment and treatment of school-aged children. However, due to an increasing number of requests, today, I wanted to share some advice regarding how speech pathologists can comprehensively assess the language and literacy abilities of preschool and kindergarten-aged children. Now some professionals may ask, “Isn’t it
Comprehensive Assessment of Preschool and Kindergarten-Aged Children Read More »
In recent years there has been a substantial rise in awareness pertaining to reading disorders in young school-aged children. Consequently, more and more parents and professionals are asking questions regarding how early can “dyslexia” be diagnosed in children. In order to adequately answer this question, it is important to understand the trajectory of the development
How Early can “Dyslexia” be Diagnosed in Children? Read More »
In June 2021, I did an outreach webinar for Georgia IDA, which reviewed current controversies pertaining to the validity of assessment and treatment of auditory processing disorder (APD). Its major focus was on how this diagnostic label frequently results in professionals discounting true language and literacy deficits in students who require appropriate language and literacy
Free Webinar: The Controversy of the Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosis Read More »