Episode 38: Shining Lights on Intervention Guides for AAC Users

In this episode, Lindsay Sharpe, a speech-language pathologist who works in the Louis Riel School Division out of Winnipeg, MB, returns to continue her conversation on AAC use. She identifies the increase in the number of students with communication disorders in her school division and working to have sufficient intervention and programming for these students. She describes this new pressure put on school teams to ensure that they're getting the programming, the intervention and the goals set for them that they really need. She explains how support teams can adapt to AAC users' unique needs using this complex system of communication.

In this episode, Dr. Theresa Pham – a researcher and speech-language pathologist (S-LP), and Melissa Fiesser, a classroom teacher – team up as an S-LP and teacher team to discuss Talk Moves, sentence starters and gestures that students can use to join or invite others into conversations.

Dans cet épisode, Véronique Boisvert, propriétaire de la clinique privée Birchwood Circle of Care à Fort McMurray, nous présente son parcours et le travail de son équipe auprès d’enfants d’âge scolaire dans divers milieux. Elle nous parle de son approche centrée sur le client, de ses interventions auprès des communautés autochtones, ainsi que de ses ressources préférées et de quelques astuces pratiques.

In this special episode, Dr Lisa Archibald speaks with Lindsay Sharpe, a speech-language pathologist who works in the Louis Riel School Division out of Winnipeg, MB. She describes her efforts in advocating for the use of AAC devices and for AAC consultants in the classroom. She also describes various tools, strategies, and assessments to maximize the use of AAC devices.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Karla Gutierrez, a speech-language pathologist at the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg, MB. Karla speaks on her eight-year journey in supporting teachers to teach literacy in the classroom through a foundation of relationships and co-teaching. She talks about the importance of teaching across skills (phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading, writing) and her work on a district-wide literacy team.

Vibhuti Jethava – adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto and speech-language pathologist – teams up with Jocelyn Kadish – who has lecturing experience at McMaster University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cape Town – to speak with Dr Lisa Archibald on the speech-language pathology work setting of providing assessment and consultation for children with mental health needs. They discuss topics on identifying language needs, providing mental health therapy through language mediation, the impact of language on social functioning, the use of language on self-regulation of emotion and behaviour, and more through the lens of speech-language pathologists.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Tara Ross and Kristen Smith, S-LPs from the Upper Grand District School Board. They discuss the unique way of combining deep learning with declarative language strategies, working students at a Tier One level around building social, emotional, and social communication and co-regulation.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Michelle Cowan and Kiran Bagri, two speech-language pathologists from the Peel District School Board. They discuss their Classroom Literacy Resource, activities to practice letter sounds with kids, taking handwriting tips from books, and more.

Olivia Colosimo and Leah Schwartzentruber, guests from Episode 27, return in this special episode to continue the discussion on their work with the Thames Valley District School Board. They describe their resource on Literacy-Based Language Intervention, a multi-tiered system of support to provide services and connect communication-based goals to classroom-based expectations.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with two speech-language pathologists from Saskatchewan, Sherry Bockus and Cheryl Turner. They likened intervention for kids with speech-language disorders to insulin for those with diabetes, arguing that therapeutic intervention is necessary. This philosophy leads them in their work as they encounter mixed results trying to advocate for the need for speech-language services in schools and the subsequent challenges and successes.