FAQs: Language therapy goals and "observable behaviors" vs "strategy goals".

01/01/25 • 46 min

For episode 196 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I talk through how to write language therapy goals that are both trackable and functional.

This is just one of many Q & A sessions I’m planning on sharing where I talk through how to find the balance between focusing on external behaviors that allow us to document progress and internal cognitive processes.

I also talk about when to focus on “observable” language skills vs. strategy-based goals; especially when addressing both language and executive functioning skills.

Throughout the session, you’ll hear examples related to working on skills like syntax, semantic feature study, vocabulary, and cognitive processes that support language comprehension.

This Q & A session was done in the member’s group for Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs build a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here : https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

For episode 196 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I talk through how to write language therapy goals that are both trackable and functional.

I also talk about when to focus on “observable” language skills vs. strategy-based goals; especially when addressing both language and executive functioning skills.

Throughout the session, you’ll hear examples related to working on skills like syntax, semantic feature study, vocabulary, and cognitive processes that support language comprehension.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Previous Episode

FAQs: Language evaluations, data, doctoral programs and expanding clinical career options.

For episode 195 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I talk through ways to navigate evaluations; including considering a test's psychometric properties, how detailed it gets, and how to supplement with non-standardized protocols.

In the second half, I talked about SLP career transitions and things to think about if you want to explore other ways to use your clinical credentials or are considering getting a doctorate or additional certifications.

*This discussion on career pathways is also relevant for other clinical disciplines outside of speech-language pathology.

I also talk about how to do "micro-experiments" that help you build skills and explore other ways to use your skills and build up a portfolio of experience you can use to transition to the next stage of your career.

his Q & A session was done in the member’s group for Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs build a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

Additional episodes mentioned in this discussion:
EP 80: Career test runs and calming your inner critic with Stephanie Hayes
(Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-80-career-test-runs-and-calming-your-inner-critic-with-stephanie-hayes/)

EP 108: How to do multilingual evaluations as a monolingual therapist (with Meg Morgan)
(Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-108-how-to-do-multilingual-evaluations-as-a-monolingual-therapist-with-meg-morgan/)

EP 186: Supporting multilingual students and taking part in state and national advocacy work (with Puja Goel and Prabhu Eswaran)
(Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-186-supporting-multilingual-students-and-taking-part-in-state-and-national-advocacy-work-with-puja-goel-and-prabhu-eswaran/)

EP 187: Dynamic assessment: Evaluations are a process, not a test (with Destiny Johnson)
(Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-187-dynamic-assessment-evaluations-are-a-process-not-a-test-with-destiny-johnson/)

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Next Episode

Scaffolding, fading prompts, and the importance of parent and teacher coaching (with Rebecca Robbins)

“Scaffolding” has become a buzzword when it comes to helping kids become more independent with academic and functional tasks, but it's only useful if people know what it means.

Watching students or your own children struggle to transition or complete daily tasks can be uncomfortable for both the adults and children.

As a result, it can be easy to get pulled in to a situation where kids become prompt-dependent.

That’s why I invited Rebecca Robbins to De Facto Leaders to talk about how to use declarative statements and strategic pausing to increase independence.

Rebecca Robbins is a speech language pathologist who has spent the bulk of her career helping children, young adults, and families impacted by autism. She has worked in various settings over the course of her career including a private school for children with autism, Early Intervention & Preschool agency work, as well as a public school. She is now the proud owner of Mind ShaperSLP, LLC where she provides 1:1 speech therapy, executive functioning and life skills coaching for individuals and social skills groups. In addition, Rebecca provides parent online training programs and consultation services. Rebecca currently lives in Pennsylvania, and provides services in The Hudson Valley, NY and in Montgomery County, PA.

In this conversion, we discuss:

✅Parent coaching: It’s emphasized in early intervention, so why aren’t we doing it for school-age kids and adolescents?

✅What does it mean to “act as kids’ executive functioning”?

✅Directive statements, explicit teaching, reflective questions, and pauses: How to use these strategies to fade prompts.

✅Getting started with coaching and consulting: What strategies can we teach adjacent disciplines and caregivers to improve carryover?

You can connect with Rebecca and learn about her therapy services and online programs for Autistic clients here: https://mindshaperslp.com/

Connect with her on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/mindshaperslp/

Connect with her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/MindShaperSLP/

In this episode, we mention Linda Murphy’s Declarative Handbook and website. You can learn more about Linday Murphy’s work on her website here: https://www.lindakmurphy.com/declarative-language

In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers develop a strategic plan for putting executive functioning support in place in collaboration with their school teams. You can learn more about that program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.