Professional Development for Educators and Therapists Like You

This course will provide professionals with information about Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its impact on communication and interaction. It will introduce, or review, the characteristics of ADHD-Inattentive type, ADHD-Hyperactive type, and ADHD-Mixed type. It will discuss the areas of the brain impacted by ADHD, the stigma and/or misconceptions attached to it, and the importance of applying neurodiversity-affirming care. Finally, it will provide specific examples of the communication differences and challenges that are seen in people with ADHD, as well as strategies for providing neurodiversity-affirming support. Attendees will walk away with practical information that may be applied immediately to empower and advocate for those with ADHD, educate others on ADHD, and provide meaningful intervention strategies to people with ADHD.

This course delves into the concept of diagnostic humility in the day-to-day practice of speech-language pathology. Designed for seasoned clinicians who feel like they have “seen it all”, this course will explore the nuances between humility, confidence, and expertise in diagnostic and assessment processes. Additionally, there will be a focus on how the relationships with our patients and their families can be affected by the ways we approach diagnostics through a combination of theoretical discussion, case examples, and self-reflection.

Children with speech and language impairments are at significant risk for co-occurring literacy deficits that last well into the formal schooling years and beyond. These deficits may include children with dyslexia, who exhibit a significant difficulty decoding written text for meaning, and children with poor language comprehension which may make it difficult for children to comprehend complex linguistic structure associated with literary contexts. Speech-language pathologists have extensive expertise in subcomponents of linguistic structure that support literacy development through phonological skills and comprehension through semantics, morphological, and syntactic knowledge. In this presentation, we will briefly review more advanced literacy skills beyond phonological awareness, phonics, and other early literacy skills that are necessary to succeed academically in older elementary and secondary grades. We will discuss specific ways speech-language pathologists can provide support for these later literacy skills through appropriate assessment and intervention techniques.