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Don't miss this Q&A! Becca and I have a great little chat about promoting independence, using high-, low-, and no-tech AAC when cooking, and how great it is when your kids can make their own food.

Are you a clinician looking for something new and fun to spice up your therapy? Or maybe you're a parent on the hunt for ways to incorporate your child's speech and language goals into your everyday life? Join Gravity Bread's Becca Eisenberg for this fun podcast all about how to use cooking and eating to address communication goals for children of all ages and abilities. She'll address ways to address specific communication goals, support sensory exploration, promote independence, and encourage interaction in one of the most natural settings there is!

This month we talk to Bob Stewart, Superintendent of the Gladstone School District in Gladstone, OR. He is a Past President of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators and it was a pleasure speaking with him. Also, full disclosure, I am a sitting school board member in Gladstone, so I know Bob personally.

This month we talk to John Carver, Superintendent of the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District in Northeast Iowa and participant in the first-ever National Connected Superintendents Summit at the White House in November 2014. This was an exciting interview! After all, how often do I get to glean insights from one of the top superintendents in the country? It only took this 15 minute conversation for me to hang up and reflect, 'How are we getting it so wrong everywhere else when they are getting it so right in Iowa?!'

Once you've listened to Heidi's formal talk, take a listen to our little conversation about our unique window on the wide world of IEP goals and how I don't know the difference between The Pottery Barn Rule and the Girl Scout motto.

Are you looking for strategies to connect your language assessment results to IEP goals? Do you ever wonder how other clinicians do it and what best practices are? Join Heidi Peters, MA, CCC-SLP as she shares guidelines and tips to help you improve what you've been doing so that you can easily write great goals that are measurable, realistic, and functional for your students. In this podcast, she addresses what 6 steps you should be following from assessment to goal, 4 things you should never do when writing goals, and results from a recent survey she did asking other SLPs for their input into this topic. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for her great handout to accompany the podcast.

This month we talk to Dallas Myers, Director of Student Services for Fremont County School District #25 in Riverton, Wyoming. His district has 12.8% of it's students on IEPs (approximately 350), and his job description includes overseeing the entire special education program, including curriculum and instruction and IEP compliance.

Kimberly was also gracious enough to hang out after her podcast to chat with me a little bit more about this fun population. Listen in on our informal Q&A session to hear us gab about the challenges and rewards of working in Life Skills classrooms. And, as promised, you can find all of her resources below the audio link. I can attest, there are some great ones on her list. Have one to add? Share it with us and we'll put it on there!

Are the dynamics of serving kids in Life Skills classroom overwhelming to you? Are you ready to turn the challenges of addressing the needs of this population into the greatest adventure of your school year? Join Kimberly Wilkerson as she shares guidelines and tips for navigating the multiple facets of serving kids and collaborating with staff in Life Skills classrooms. In this podcast, she addresses best practice service models, specific treatment considerations, resource possibilities, and of course - why and how working with these students can become the most fun and creative hour of your week! Plus, check out the resource links she's shared below!

This month we talk to Eric Richards, Student Services Coordinator within Salem-Keizer School District, Salem, Oregon. Eric has worked in education for years at both the district and state level within the department of education in Oregon. He is a close partner of The Hello Foundation due to his tremendous commitment to do the very best possible for students with special needs.

Sharon Soliday joins Kelly Bawden for a Q & A session on her talk, “Social Skills After the Age of 18: A Case-Study of a 32 Year Old Woman with Autism Wanting to Date.”

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a young woman high-functioning ASD who is trying to navigate the online dating scene? Are you curious about what foundational social skills younger children with ASD might need as they move into adulthood? Join THF-owner Sharon Soliday as she shares a case-study detailing her private practice work with a remarkable 32-year old woman with autism. Sharon will share some of their more memorable sessions together, a few lessons she herself had to learn along the way, and her take on the skills SLPs can and should target with young adults in this population.

This month we talk to Davey Hough, Special Ed Director for the Region 4 Developmental Pre-School System for the State of Wyoming. Davey has worked in education for many years and currently oversees 3 diverse locations all with different needs. Wyoming Region 4 Children’s Learning Center Stats Total Enrollment: 600 Families Population Served: Early Childhood/Preschool Age Interesting Tidbit: Region 4 Children's Learning Center (CLC) serves all families in Teton and Sublette counties in Northwestern Wyoming. This podcast is part of our new series, Admins Connect, which highlights the experiences and opinions of a strategic cohort of educational administrators. Learning an outside perspective is valuable and The Hello Foundation is committed to building connections between administrators to promote our core value of Putting Kids First. Each 15 minute conversation captures an administrator's answers to 5 questions.Things look different when you're at the top, and by asking each guest the same 5 questions we'll be weaving a rich, textured, and interesting narrative about decisions from the strategic desk. Thanks for sitting down with us, Davey, and for your commitment to kids!

Wendy Gunter joins Kelly Bawden for a Q & A session on her talk, “Help! I Have to Write a Feeding Protocol!”

Does assessing dysphagia in the schools scare you a little bit? Does creating a feeding protocol for a student seem overwhelming and impossible? Join Wendy Gunter as she shares the steps you need to take to assess dysphagia for a student and complete a safe feeding protocol. She will discuss the history and ethics of managing dysphagia in the schools, and will give you concrete steps for working with your team and developing a plan. Wendy references the ASHA Code of Ethics (http://www.asha.org/code-of-ethics/), the ASHA Professional Issues Statement on the Roles and Responsibilities of the SLP in Schools (http://www.asha.org/policy/PI2010-00317/), and the ASHA Pediatric Dysphagia Portal http://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Pediatric-Dysphagia/. This is one of her favorite topics, so she encourages you to contact her with your questions and concerns you have!

We're excited to share our new podcast series, Admins Connect, which will highlight the experiences and opinions of a strategic cohort of educational administrators. Learning an outside perspective is valuable and The Hello Foundation is committed to building connections between administrators to promote our core value of Putting Kids First. Each 15 minute conversation captures an administrator's answers to 5 questions.Things look different when you're at the top, and by asking each guest the same 5 questions we'll be weaving a rich, textured, and interesting narrative about decisions from the strategic desk. This month we talk to Nancy Byers, Executive Director of Special Education, Yakima School District in Yakima, Washington. Nancy has worked in education for many years and brings the perspective of a long-time administrator committed to ongoing learning. Yakima District Stats: Total Enrollment: 15,627 Interesting Tidbit: Largest Latino-majority district in the state; second largest district in Eastern Washington SLP Model: a combination of employees and the Hello There! model from The Hello Foundation Thank you for your commitment to kids, Nancy!

Sara Ecker joins Kelly Bawden for a Q & A session on her talk, "5 strategies and resources for school age students who stutter."

Are you nervous about doing therapy with a child who stutters? Do you wish you had a few more basics to your stuttering arsenal of therapy ideas? Join Sara Ecker as she gives her top 5 strategies and resources for school age students who stutter. In this podcast, she will discuss the importance of speech sound awareness on the speech machine, how to use a speech hierarchy, how to reduce avoidance behaviors, resources for targeting feelings and attitudes and what the stutter says about the speech machine with a prescription for different kinds of stuttering moments.

This week on Hello Live, Frank Bender provided a general overview of the special education evaluation process for culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Listen in as Frank joins Kelly Bawden for a Q & A session on how to best serve this population.

Grappling with the complexities of evaluating ELL students for SPED services? How do you evaluate a bilingual student when you are a monolingual English-speaking clinician? This podcast will provide a general overview of the special education evaluation process for culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. This process aligns with both federal and state statues and research-based best practice principles. Don’t miss the Q & A discussion following the podcast presentation that provides additional context and insight to many questions. Listen all the way through for instructions on how to document your free CEUs.