Session Descriptions for Speech Sound Disorders in Schools

Pre-recorded sessions will be on-demand and last about an hour, so you can watch them whenever time permits! 

Assessment and Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech in the School Setting
Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will discuss the use of valid assessment practices to differentiate childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) from other speech sound disorders. It will also provide a framework for preferred treatment practices that focus on increasing meaningful communication. The speaker will address working with both monolingual English-speaking and multilingual children with CAS.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• list characteristics that demonstrate differential CAS characteristics
• compare CAS and non-CAS speech production characteristics
• create a flowchart that outlines a CAS treatment approach to maximize practice and generalization
• determine ways to increase meaningful communication treatment goals for children with CAS

Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Keeping it Evidence-Based, Functional, and FUN
Mike Bright, MS, CCC-SLP

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a confounding pediatric communication disorder. Rarely occurring in isolation, changing over time, and always requiring specialized care, the breadth and depth of understanding required for appropriate treatment is vast. This session will explore precursors to motor learning, discuss considerations for target selection, and explain how to apply and manipulate the principles of motor learning to optimize task complexity.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• select appropriate treatment targets
• design activities that provide opportunities for repeated practice
• implement and manipulate principles of motor learning to optimize task complexity

Strengthening Your /r/ Toolkit: Practical Considerations and Strategies
Kathryn Cabbage, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will discuss the core characteristics of /r/ production and the theoretical and practical challenges associated with achieving accurate production in children. The speaker will discuss the course of /r/ treatment, including multiple strategies for eliciting accurate /r/ productions in children of varying ages. The session will highlight the significance of diversifying /r/ treatment to individual clients for individual success.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• describe articulatory and acoustic characteristics of producing /r/
• identify three strategies for eliciting /r/ in school-age children
• compare and contrast beginning intervention for /r/ in early vs. older school-age children

Lateral Lisps Remediation: Practical Strategies for Elicitation and Generalization
Amy Graham, MA, CCC-SLP

This session will focus on practical assessment and treatment related to lateral lisps. The speaker will discuss how to properly assess a child's speech mechanism to uncover—or rule out—underlying structural/functional deficits that could impede progress. The session will also share practical intervention tips to help SLPs elicit non-lateralized target phonemes using phonetic shaping and cognitive reframing. Finally, the speaker will discuss how to promote generalization by incorporating principles of motor learning. The session will include videos that illustrate elicitation techniques in real-world situations.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• identify key components of a speech assessment that can help SLPs identify—or rule out—underlying structural/functional impairments
• describe how cognitive reframing and phonetic shaping can be used to eliminate lateral air flow and elicit correct production of target phonemes
• integrate motor learning principles to encourage generalization of speech skills to spontaneous conversational speech

Treatment of Cleft-Related Speech Errors
Katelyn Kotlarek, PhD, CCC-SLP

The majority of children with repaired cleft palate receive speech intervention, which typically occurs in the school setting. This session will share effective, evidence-based techniques for remediation of cleft-related speech errors. The speaker will provide an overview of cleft-related speech errors, highlighting appropriate intervention targets and corresponding elicitation strategies, and summarize the most up-to-date evidence regarding treatment approaches. The speaker will also discuss techniques for establishing successful collaborations with SLPs on the craniofacial team.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• list methods for treating specific cleft-related speech errors
• apply appropriate intervention techniques and approaches when working with a child who demonstrates cleft-related speech errors
• identify effective ways to collaborate with the craniofacial team SLP

Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Dysarthria
Kristen M Allison, PhD, CCC-SLP; Jenya Iuzzini-Seigel, PhD, CCC-SLP; and Ruth B Stoeckel, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will introduce practical clinical decision-making frameworks for evaluating and treating children with dysarthria and illustrate their application through clinical case examples. The session will strive to increase SLPs’ confidence in evaluating and treating children with dysarthria. Note: This session was previously offered as a live webinar—and is currently offered as an on-demand webinar—in the ASHA Learning Pass (course number PD102440).

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• identify speech features associated with dysarthria by listening to speech samples of children
• apply use of a motor speech assessment framework for describing subsystem impairments and distinguishing between dysarthria and childhood apraxia of speech in children
• objectively measure intelligibility of children with dysarthria
• explain the influence of all speech subsystems on speech production and intelligibility in children
• write patient-centered goals focused on maximizing communication function and intelligibility for children with dysarthria

Contrastive Phonological Approaches: How to Choose Among Them
A. Lynn Williams, PhD, CCC-SLP, FNAP

This session will provide a deep understanding of the key features that distinguish the phonological contrastive approaches, which will guide clinicians in selecting the most appropriate approach for a given child. The speaker will use a “knowledge-on/hands-on” approach to guide you in designing intervention for the different contrastive approaches. Note: This session was previously offered as part of the ASHA Schools Connect 2023 online conference (session number SC01).

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• list the key features of the different contrastive phonological intervention approaches
• demonstrate each of the contrastive approaches in role-play
• develop an intervention plan with targeted contrasts and stimuli for each contrastive approach

Contrastive Phonological Approaches: Implementation With Fidelity
A. Lynn Williams, PhD, CCC-SLP, FNAP

In this session, the speaker will use case studies and scenarios to illustrate effective interventions for the different contrastive approaches. We recommend you watch Contrastive Phonological Approaches: How to Choose Among Them prior to viewing this session.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• analyze the distinguishing features of the different contrastive approaches according to the four domains of the Phonological Intervention Taxonomy
• use a clinical decision-making model to select the contrastive approach(es) that is(are) suited for particular characteristics of a phonological speech sound disorder
• identify two strategies to use to evaluate the fidelity of implementation of contrastive phonological intervention approaches

Assessment and Intervention for Multilingual Children With Highly Unintelligible Speech
Raul Prezas, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will discuss evaluating and enhancing the phonological systems of multilingual children with highly unintelligible speech. With an emphasis on Spanish-English children, the speaker will address the assessment of multilingual learners, phonological intervention, target selection, and shared versus unshared sounds from several languages. The session will explore specific factors related to stimulability, dialect, and other considerations.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• differentiate difference versus disorder in the assessment of multilingual children with highly unintelligible speech
• identify at least three critical components of a phonological remediation approach for multilingual children with highly unintelligible speech
• implement evidence-based intervention practices involving shared versus unshared sounds for multilingual children with highly unintelligible speech

Assessment and Eligibility: Speech Sound Disorders in Schools
Breanna Krueger, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will provide information about speech sound disorder assessment and eligibility for school-age students. The speaker will discuss age of acquisition of sounds as well as evidence for treating late-acquired sounds earlier in a child’s development. The session will also explore progress monitoring benchmarks for assessing treatment effectiveness.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• use recent research and developmental normative data to inform eligibility determinations
• identify evidence-based treatment strategies for school-age students
• evaluate a child's progress in treatment

Service Delivery Considerations for Speech Sound Disorder Intervention in School-Based Settings
Kathryn Cabbage, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will discuss the unique factors associated with school-based settings that can make implementation of research-based treatment for speech sound disorders (SSD) challenging. The speaker will review key characteristics of evidence-based SSD intervention, discuss how these can be applied in school settings, and explore core involvement of speech-language pathology assistants in schools.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• describe three factors that impact speech sound disorder intervention in school-based settings
• match the appropriate service delivery approach to children of different stages of speech sound acquisition (i.e., establishing phonetic placement, practice in words, maintenance in conversation)
• explain how to incorporate speech-language pathology assistants into SSD intervention in school-based settings

Writing Goals for Speech Sound Disorders: Using Assessment and Treatment Data
Lissa Power-deFur, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL

Speech-language pathologists working in schools include measurable goals and benchmarks in students’ IEPs. By reviewing speech sound assessment information, including narrow transcription of a student’s utterances, the goals can be tailored to the student, thereby facilitating goal attainment. Treatment data can be invaluable for adjusting goals throughout the child’s eligibility for special education. The session will include strategies for data gathering and analysis.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• explain the value of various target selection strategies
• describe how to use assessment data, including narrow transcription of the child's errors, to prioritize targets
• write long- and short-term goals or benchmarks that are measurable and understandable to both colleagues and parents
• implement at least two new strategies that facilitate data collection

The Road to Dismissal: When Should Speech Sound Services End?
Sherry Sancibrian, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL

Dismissing students from intervention can be a difficult and sometimes contentious process. How do we determine when services for speech sound disorders are no longer warranted? This session will explore modifying treatment conditions and intensity to achieve the best outcomes and using established exit criteria to make informed decisions about dismissal from services.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• plan treatment that is effective and efficient
• modify practice conditions to achieve better retention and generalization
• collect data to monitor progress and support dismissal decisions

Preventative Approaches to Speech Sound Disorders
Angie Neal, MS, CCC-SLP

This session will explore how to prevent speech sound disorders through a variety of methods and approaches within the general education, multi-tiered systems of support framework. The session will focus on co-teaching and training of teachers on the overlap of speech sound production and reading instruction as part of a speech-to-print approach. The speaker will share supports and resources for including parents as partners.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• describe the SLP’s role in multi-tiered systems of support
• discuss the overlap of speech sound production and reading instruction
• list various approaches and activities SLPs can utilize within general education to promote prevention of speech sound disorder

"I loved how there were different perspectives on the same subject. I liked the tips and practical strategies that were provided."