School-Based SLPs: A Language Processing Disorder - What It Is and How to Treat It Presented by Maribeth Plankers, MS, CCC-SLP, ATP Speech-Language Pathologist, Author and National Presenter

Specifically Designed for Speech-Language Pathologists Serving Grades K-12

Practical Ideas and Strategies

For SLPs, the term a "Language Processing Disorder" is often unclear because there is not yet an official diagnosis through ASHA. SLPs are typically left to their own interpretations based on observable characteristics to determine what underlying difficulties are leading to receptive and expressive language disorders and resulting academic difficulties.

What is a Language Processing Disorder, and how can we as school based SLPs best support and intervene? Often a student who has difficulty with expressive language and/or receptive language is described as having a Language Processing Disorder. A student with a Language Processing Disorder often has difficulty gaining meaning from spoken language due to short-term memory deficits or discrimination difficulties. The student often demonstrates poor written output due to difficulty with syntax and semantics. Reading comprehension is often impacted due to higher-order language impairment. The student shows difficulty expressing thoughts in verbal form due to difficulty retrieving thoughts. These difficulties are due to the linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual components of a Language Processing Disorder.

In this seminar, experienced Speech-Language Pathologist and national presenter Maribeth Plankers will help you build your toolbox of ways to identify and treat a Language Processing Disorder in students with whom you work. The emphasis will be on the most current, research-based, practical strategies and interventions you can implement immediately in your therapy.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

1. Determine the Difference Between Auditory and Language Processing
   Auditory and language processing are not the same thing … Discover the distinction between the two and where they overlap
2. Highly Effective and Engaging Language Processing Intervention Strategies for Multiple Therapy Models Including Teletherapy, Push-In, and Pull-Out Therapy
   Discover numerous ready-to-use therapy materials, including games, graphic organizers and computer/iPad-based intervention strategies to promote students' language processing skills and academic success that can be used in online therapy and in the general and special education classroom
3. Explore Assessment Instruments to Find Specific Language Processing Deficits
   Align your evaluation and ongoing clinical assessment with specific assessment tools that allow you to pinpoint a Language Processing Disorder
4. Align Your Therapy Intervention With Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Assistive Technology Tools and Strategies
   Discover how specific areas of language may be impacted by a Language Processing Disorder: linguistic (syntax, semantic retrieval, pragmatics, and supralinguistic skills), cognitive (working memory, processing time, and executive function) and perceptual (central auditory processing, phonemic awareness, and word discrimination)
5. Embed Language Processing Therapy With Literacy Instruction and Academic Standards
   Learn powerful techniques to improve phonemic awareness that are necessary to discriminate sounds correctly for literacy development … Incorporate the academic standards into your therapy and know which concepts to emphasize to increase students' academic success
6. Implement Strategic Vocabulary and Retrieval Strategies for Classroom and Curriculum-Based Vocabulary
   Increase students' ability to retrieve vocabulary in context … Highly effective strategies to enhance vocabulary development and retrieval in words and discourse
7. Analyze Other Areas That Will Impact Students' Language Processing
   Explore other diagnoses and student learner preferences that may align with a Language Processing Disorder … Discover how executive functions such as attention and working memory impact language processing
8. Expand Your Intervention Strategies to Support Students Who Struggle With Written Language Expression Due to a Language Processing Disorder
   Proven methods and therapy techniques to support students who struggle with written language … Identify specific strategies and tools to support written language skills and help your students be more successful with their written expression
9. Increase Collaboration Between SLPs, Classroom Teachers, Resource Teachers, and Other Staff
   Determine planning for a collaborative partnership with staff to support students with a Language Processing Disorder … Many practical and effective ways to help you incorporate your interventions into a variety of school settings and academic subjects
10. Receive an Extensive Language Therapy Digital Resource Handbook
    You'll leave with a detailed language therapy digital resource handbook packed with step-by-step activities, materials and resources designed to make your language therapy program more efficient and effective

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

• Gather strategies for increased student language processing that can be used in the general and special education classroom as well as through teletherapy
• Determine a concise definition of a Language Processing Disorder, including a working diagnosis of LPD characteristics and auditory processing, where the two overlap, and where they are different
• Utilize Bloom's Taxonomy to promote higher-order thinking and learn how it is often used to describe language processing skills
• Develop an assessment protocol that evaluates the linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual components of language processing skills
• Identify linguistic skills impacted by a Language Processing Disorder – determine how syntax, semantic retrieval, social language, and written language skills are impacted
• Determine cognitive difficulties associated with a Language Processing
  Disorder – identify the lag in language processing time and executive function skills
  including short-term working memory often diagnosed as part of a Language Processing Disorder
• Analyze the perceptual features of a Language Processing Disorder – determine how phonemic discrimination and auditory processing may be included as part of a Language Processing Disorder
• Utilize innovative and easy-to-use therapy ideas for treating a Language Processing Disorder – target linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual activities – whether working with students at school or online
• Identify concomitant diagnoses – determine associated diagnoses such as attention deficit disorder, central auditory processing disorder and receptive/expressive language disorder
• Motivating ways to expand your vocabulary development and retrieval intervention to target basic concepts and curriculum-based vocabulary retrieval with a Language Processing Disorder
• Numerous, no/low cost, effective therapy materials – receive an extensive list of materials, apps and websites that can enhance your Language Processing Disorder therapy
• Explore a variety of ready-made materials to target several language goals – ideas for how to use materials to target morphology, phonology, syntax, and semantics
• Increase your professional influence – learn how to "market" yourself and your knowledge about a Language Processing Disorder to your administrator and colleagues
• Tie your language goals to the academic standards – discover how your language goals directly impact attainment of your state's standards
• Integrate current language lessons with reading, writing, and spelling – take the next step with your therapy goals to support necessary language arts academic skills
• Enhance reading and reading comprehension – learn strategies for phonemic awareness, syntax, short term memory, vocabulary, and retrieval
• Expand your vocabulary and retrieval interventions to meet the needs of more students – powerful instructional methods that improve verbal and print vocabulary, and increase academic success
• Discover new, easy-to-use language activities – update your toolkit of language interventions to better integrate language and literacy instruction across all school settings
• Utilize effective ways to become more interactive during therapy sessions – proven ways to present information in ways that students will learn and retain more

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

Welcome to communication services whether we are in a speech therapy room, the general education classroom, or in teletherapy. I have found in my practice that our students are up for the challenge no matter where our services are provided. Think of where they are today, whether we are online, teaching them in their homes or transitioning from online learning to the speech therapy room. I continue to see happiness, smiles, laughter, and excitement for learning. My goal for this seminar is to provide you with the helpful language assessment and intervention tools to use across settings. I will model a variety of assessments and interventions so that your confidence will soar as you embrace therapy.

How can we help, guide, and communicate with those whom we value in the home setting: parents, grandparents, caregivers, agency staff members? I will provide you with intervention plans that will work for guided practice and independent learning for the generalization of all communication skills. You will be on your way to a quality of communication services. Please join me in this seminar to learn strategies, assessments, and interventions that you can truly use in your own teletherapy practice. Come ready to talk, sing, play, read, move, and share a day packed with engagement, motivators, and ready-to-use ideas for the SLP serving students across all environments!

Sincerely,
MariBeth Plankers, MS, CCC-SLP, ATP

P.S. This seminar is filled with a variety of quick and easy-to-implement ideas that will help you to be a hands-on, interactive SLP – ideas you will be able to use immediately in your therapy.

Who Should Attend

Speech-Language Pathologists Serving Grades K-12

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive digital resource handbook giving you access to countless strategies. The handbook includes:

• Evidence-based strategies you can use immediately to assess and treat a Language Processing Disorder – whether you are providing in-person or online therapy
• Dynamic, fun, and interactive intervention activities to address students' communication challenges
• Hands-on, practical Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology tools treat the linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual features of a Language
  Processing Disorder
• Applications and websites to support your language assessment and intervention
• Extensive resources and activities to match learner preferences and much more!

For in-person seminars, registrants will also receive a printed copy of the resource handbook as long as their registration is received in the BER office at least 15 calendar days before the event.

Share Ideas
This seminar provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to meet and share ideas with other speech-language pathologists.

Consultation Available
MariBeth Plankers, MS, CCC-SLP, ATP, will be available at the seminar for consultation regarding your questions and the unique needs of your own program.

ASHA - CEUs

ASHA-Required Disclosure Statement for Maribeth Plankers:
Financial: Presenter for the Bureau of Education & Research and receives honorarium compensation. ASHA CEU Administrator for the Bureau of Education & Research for which she receives compensation.
Nonfinancial: No relevant nonfinancial relationships exist.

Semester Credit Option
Up to four graduate level professional development credits are available with an additional fee and completion of follow-up practicum activities. Details for direct enrollment with University of Massachusetts Global, a nonprofit affiliate, will be available at this program.

Meet Inservice Requirements
Participants of both the Live Online Seminar and those completing the Recorded Version online can receive a certificate of participation that may be used to verify five continuing education hours. State CEUs are available for both versions of the course. For specific details, visit www.ber.org/ceus.

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