Episodes

You asked, and we listened. Tune into this episode to have (hopefully) all of your questions answered about who we are, what this show is about, our process, and continuing education. We review our professional work history and interests, what this show is about and how it was born, and how you can use this podcast for ASHA CEUs. We hope this episode gives you some answers, but if not please email us anytime! We love hearing from our listeners. Give it a listen, be our nerdy friend, and then en...

UPDATE: This episode was recorded and published with an error (@ timestamp 6:35). INTERprofessional collaboration is collaboration between different fields or professions (example: an SLP collaborating with a BCBA). INTRAprofessional collaboration is collaboration within one field (example: an SLPs collaborating with other SLPs). In our recording we swapped the two - blame it on first episode jitters! A BIG THANKS to our listener who brought this to our attention! You know who you are!! ___ G...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here Aided modeling interventions are becoming a common recommendation in the field of AAC. You hear about it at conferences, you see it posted on social media, it’s listed on popular reference websites. It’s kind of a hot topic. But - what is it exactly? Is it called aided language stimulation, aided language modeling, or aided language input? With everyone calling it different things and doing it in different ways it’s hard to tell if you are doing it correctly. Plus, a lot o...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here Wow. Data collection. Qualitative. Quantitative. Frequency. Latency. Validity. Accuracy. Super exciting topic - no really! We know speech language pathology is an evidence-based practice, but we don’t get tons of training in different types of data collection methods or how to optimize our data collection for our work environment. We found some great articles when we were preparing for this podcast, and we are excited to share them with you. In this episode we hope to get ...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here It takes two (Kate’s singing somewhere, listen to the podcast, you’ll get it) - at least two, for communication. When introducing aided AAC tools to people with complex communication needs, it isn’t just about them - things they have to learn, changes they need to make. Optimal communication and acquisition of new skills requires something from the partner as well. In this podcast we’ll review several studies on partner training that just might make you think about things a...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here You may be asking yourself: “But why is verbal behavior even relevant to SLPs?” This is a valid question, and we have a few answers. First, most SLPs (especially in pediatrics) will interact with a BCBA at some point in their careers (and the field of ABA is only growing!). We’d bet that the majority of SLPs will come across terms like “mand” and “tact” at least once in their careers. If our clients/students/patients (particularly those with autism) and their families are u...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here DISCLAIMER: We got a little sassy in this episode. Contains explicit content. Anyone who works in AAC knows that matching an individual with the right tool is a crucial step to AAC success - but more often than not the success is NOT about having the right tool. Success happens when the tool is implemented in conjunction with a successful teaching procedure consistently across communication partners. There is no better way to make this happen than writing and distributing a...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here Who hasn’t had a client / patient / student crawl under the therapy table and refuse to come out? Or hit, yell, and pinch instead of using functional communication? We are willing to bet that most SLPs (especially those who work in pediatrics) have come across behavioral challenges at some point in their careers. That’s no surprise - the comorbidity of communication disorders and behavior challenges is high and is documented in the literature across different ages and disord...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here As promised, here is Part 2, an episode dedicated to antecedent behavior management with a review of commonly used behavior management strategies. We start this episode with a quick review of the content we covered in Part 1, but you will definitely get more out of this episode if you listen to Part 1 first. Antecedent management strategies are important, and many of us use them without even realizing it. Have you ever put a favorite snack out of reach? Removed aversive or ...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here There are so many things that go into setting up a private practice, we simply couldn’t squeeze them all into one episode! After we recorded our first episode (“Setting up a Private Practice Part 1: Liability and financial considerations”) we got a lot of questions related to documentation and logistics that we hadn’t covered. What pieces of information do you have to include in your clinical documentation? What things does insurance require in documentation? What about inta...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here As discussed in our first episode on feeding and swallowing (Feeding and Swallowing in Schools: Foundational Knowledge), treating feeding and swallowing disorders can be a very daunting task, and it’s not always clear where to begin. Is it an issue with feeding or swallowing? How do you know it’s a sensory based feeding issue and not just behavior? What if you don’t know how to thicken liquids? What if you make a mistake? Begin brain explosion. We had the pleasure of welcomi...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here SETT = Student, Environment, Tasks, and Tools. If you aren’t already using this framework to guide your AAC Assessments and service provision, get ready to learn about something really, really exciting! If you’ve listened to our podcasts, you know we are such powernerds that certain people in the field are sort of like professional celebrities for us, the nerd equivalent of a movie star if you will. In this episode we had the lovely experience of interviewing one of these ...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here You just found out you have an AAC user on your caseload - congratulations, get ready to have some fun! If it has been a while since you’ve worked with somebody with complex communication needs (CCN), if you’ve never worked with somebody with CCN, or if you just want a review of the basics - this episode is for you! In this episode we will provide a quick overview of some key terminology and intervention strategies - as well as load you up with resources where you can learn...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here As promised, here is our second episode on AAC Basics. If you have listened to any of our other episodes you already know that we are passionate about AAC Implementation. As we covered in our Implementation Plans episode, you could have the most appropriate set of AAC tools in the universe, but if they aren’t implemented in a way that supports the needs of the client / student then they are at risk for being abandoned. Our goal for this episode was to try and unpack some re...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here We were lucky enough to publish an article for the incredible blog, PrAACtical AAC. If you interact with AAC at all in your clinical work this blog contains a wealth of information. This episode is meant to be an auditory companion to the original article published on July 6th, 2020. Below is a brief excerpt from that article: Most SLPs working in AAC have come across a variety of different interventions in their practice. Some, like aided language modeling, are popular an...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here As discussed in our second episode on feeding and swallowing (Feeding and Swallowing Intervention), treating feeding and swallowing can be challenging, especially when there are questions as to whether or not sensory issues are at play. Is it a feeding behavioral issue or is it a feeding issue? Is your client a picky eater or is there a problem worthy of clinical intervention? Which treatment approach should you use and why? We had the pleasure of welcoming back Tracey Call...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here Whether we like it or not, we (as SLPs) share a lot of “territory” with behaviorally oriented professionals. While we like to feel like we own the majority of the real estate on Communication Island, the truth is we share it with several other professionals (teachers, neuropsychologists, etc.) including BCBAs. Similarly, BCBAs feel that they own the majority of the real estate on Behavior Island, even though several articles we reviewed consider writing functional behavior ...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here 2020. Or 2

Get .1 ASHA CEU here In what is becoming a common occurrence around the SLP Nerdcast virtual office, the reading and research we conducted to prepare for an episode presented us with a wealth of information that refused to be condensed into a single hour. Initially driven by a listener’s question - we trundled off into the weeds of assessments. Why do we do them? Are standardized, norm-referenced or criterion-referenced tools required? What really makes up a quality assessment? These questions ...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here So, our dirty little secret is out. We are pretty into data. Not just for the sake of collecting data, but thinking about why we are collecting it, what the best methods are for collecting it (so - meaningful and doable), and how and when we should use it to inform all sorts of things. Data is a thread that runs through our field, from assessments, to recertifications for third payer funding sources, to helping understand and tweak what you are doing from day to day as a cl...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here In this series “Bringing it all Together,” we review different intervention strategies with a focus on implementation. In the last episode of this series, we reviewed Aided Language Modeling, a popular AAC interventions that is commonly used throughout the field of AAC. But there are other interventions, like chaining, that don’t quite get the time in the limelight that they deserve. Chaining interventions in the AAC world might be best known for their role in the PECS ® pr...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here Dyslexia. What is it? What is the role of the speech language pathologist with respect to identifying, referring, and/or treating clients who have dyslexia or suspected dyslexia? We had the pleasure of speaking with Alex Loos, M.Ed, A/AOGPE, and learning SO much! Alex talks us (and you!) through an informative overview of dyslexia, including early markers in oral language, the importance of early identification, and specific screening tools and skill areas to be aware of a...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here As we reviewed in a previous episode, 2020 has thrown us some serious curveballs and forced many of us to quickly learn the ropes of telepractice. For this episode we had the pleasure of welcoming back Dr. Nerissa Hall PhD. CCC-SLP, ATP, and Hillary Jellison MS, CCC-SLP, ATP of Commūnicāre, LLC, two incredible and inspiring clinicians who are well seasoned in the telepractice game. Not only are Nerissa and Hillary well versed in tele-AAC, but they created an AAC Camp that a...

Get .1 ASHA CEU here So many of us still feel as though we’ve been thrown in the deep end of telepractice without much notice at all. Sometimes it really feels like we are splashing around in our clothes, trying to learn how to swim, (or at least keep from drowning!) with this new way of delivering speech and language services to our clients. Maybe you’ve learned a bit - you can doggy paddle - but are starting to hit some roadblocks, or you just feel like you are ready to move your services to ...