Rethinking Themes! Being Culturally Responsive with Literacy Therapy

Thematic intervention is an evidence-based practice used by teachers in classrooms as well as by speech language pathologists in therapy sessions. Using themes offers a meaningful way of presenting information and choosing themes that are relevant to students helps build a connection between therapy and real life. It is also a time saver and an easy way to streamline planning and preparation! Research studies have shown improved communication outcomes when themes are utilized; however, when we limit the types of books and images used in thematic intervention, we limit our students' access to characters and stories that represent their own lived experiences and reduce their exposure to experiences that differ from their own. This course will focus on how to utilize picture books with inclusive representation for thematic intervention.

Honoring Identity and Culture: Neurodiversity Affirming Strategies

It is essential to acknowledge the shift to a more balanced view of neurological differences, including autism. Families of autistic children and clients are often presented with deficit-focused narratives and overwhelming pressure to do more, and a lot, quickly. This course will highlight neurodiversity affirming principles and sensory strategies that can empower clients and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. With knowledge of intersectionality and acknowledging both barriers and differences, therapy professionals can seek to uphold the welfare, culture, and identity of the diverse individuals they serve.

One Size Does NOT Fit All - Communication Equity in the Deaf Community

This course will focus on communication equity in the field of speech pathology and audiology related to working with Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) students. We will discuss considerations for communication, optimal service options, and barriers to accessibility. Examples of situational challenges and solutions will be provided to educate and empower the audience to be proactive when working with this population of learners.

Navigating Generational Diversity in Your SLP World

Generational diversity is a type of diversity that is frequently overlooked. Perhaps for the first time in history, many of our professional relationships involve interactions among five different generations. The speech language pathologist (SLP) is likely to experience multigenerational dynamics among clients, supervisors, supervisees, students, or fellow co-workers. Multigenerational environments are often bursting with diversity in experiences, customs, beliefs, values, and worldviews. Due to vast generational gaps, there may be misunderstandings, biases, unspoken attitudes, stereotypes, and even conflicts. Generational differences may intersect across a multitude of other multicultural dimensions. This presentation will explain foundational information regarding generational diversity and provide essential strategies for thriving in multigenerational environments.

Empowering Monolingual SLPs to Provide Intervention for Bilingual Clients

Participants will learn about resources that will help empower them to provide speech/language intervention successfully and ethically for clients who come from bilingual and multilingual households. Whether they speak the client’s language or not, participants will learn the importance of utilizing available resources to communicate with their clients, and help them learn about their client’s cultural background and possible language influences. Participants will also learn how to write appropriate goals for intervention and how to select appropriate intervention materials.

The Investment in and Commitment to Diversifying Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences

Have you heard questions or participated in discussions such as: “Why don’t we have more men in the field?” “Wow, Black men in the profession of speech pathology and audiology, they’re unicorns!” “We need clinicians and practitioners that match the demographics of the populations being served in our work settings.” If so, you would be among a number of individuals who have looked around and wondered, why do we not have a diverse group of professionals working in the speech-language-hearing sciences (SLHS). There are a number of reasons why this is a phenomenon. One of the many concerns related to diversity in SLHS is the fact that the number of Black professionals has been slow in growth and it does not represent the demographics of our global society. Based on information reported by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association in 2021 related to membership, of the 193,000 respondents, 8.7% identify as people of color, 3.6% identify as Black. In a profession that is approximately 96% female, 3.7% identify as men (of all races). From that information, we can extrapolate that less than 1% of that group would identify as a Black man. There is a continued need to discuss how we can invest in the commitment to diversify the profession, provide equitable actions and access to ensure recruitment and retention efforts are successful. How do we go about expounding on the racialized biases, identifying barriers that prevent access and inclusion, and overcoming the inequitable actions that disable the diversification of speech-language-hearing sciences? This session will offer ideas, suggestions, strategies, and engage you in a thoughtful discussion on what must be done to create a profession that is welcoming and supportive of varied perspectives, genders, ethnicities, and races.

More Joy, Less Stress: A Guide To Address Burnout

The education profession has become increasingly stressful. Between the mass exodus and increased responsibility, burnout is rapidly rising. Even though this condition seems inevitable, there are strategies that can be used to minimize overall effects. During this course we will dive into the importance of establishing boundaries, identifying/creating an individualized self care plan and discuss current burnout indicators. As an education professional, there will be some HARD days. This course is designed to give you essential tools to minimize those times and maintain your passion.

Providing Bilingual Spanish Augmentative Alternative Communication Services

Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) systems are tools non-speaking individuals may use to communicate with others. Millions of children in the United States are emergent bilinguals who benefit from AAC technologies to support their language development and participation across social and academic contexts (King, Ward, Soto & Barrett, 2022). According to ASHA’s 2021 Demographic Profile of ASHA Members Providing Multilingual Services, there are 10,807 Spanish-speaking self-identified SLPs. Therefore, we can conclude a monolingual therapist would, most likely, be providing bilingual AAC services given the clear disparity between bilingual SLPs and bilingual AAC users. How can monolingual SLPs support Spanish/English bilingual language learner AAC users without knowing the language? Monolingual SLPs can create a climate where different language practices are included and legitimized, where clients and their families feel proud of their native language, and where their bilingualism can be used to support language development (SFSU Culturally Responsive AAC, 2021). This seminar identifies culturally responsive AAC practices, including current issues, myths, and concerns in providing Spanish bilingual AAC intervention; Latino cultural perspectives; evidence-based AAC intervention tools for Spanish bilingual emergent communicators; and defines SLP's role in supporting language growth.