It’s state convention time! Each year our state’s speech-language pathology organization (TSHA: Texas Speech –Language-Hearing Association www.txsha.org) holds a three to four day convention. This year it is being held in Fort Worth, TX and Michelle Garcia Winner is one of the presenters! The convention allows speech therapists from all over to the state to come together to receive Continuing Education, to network, to present research studies, to find jobs, to buy materials, to catch up with other speech friends and professors and more. We at KidSpeak usually jump at this opportunity and attend each year. Naturally, the presentations relating to Autism, social communication and play catch our eye and we usually schedule our weekend around these talks. We want this blog to encourage not only professionals but mainly families and parents to ask their therapists what kind of Continuing Education they will be involved in this year. We encourage you to do some research online and see what your state and hometown has to offer. If you find a presentation that catches your eye and you feel your therapist and your child may benefit from, by all means, write the info down, shoot your therapist an email with a link, print off a flier. Trust me, your therapist will be more than grateful for the suggested info. There is so much out there to learn and sometimes with our busy, fast-paced lives, opportunities can pass us by.

Here are some of the courses that KidSpeak will likely be attending just to give you a taste of what’s out there this year:

-Michelle Garcia Winner
Informal Dynamic Social Thinking Assessment and Core Treatment: Strategies for Home and School

- Marilyn Monteiro
Autism Conversations: From Speech Evaluation to Intervention

-Tiffany Barber, Jamie Ledford, Brenda Bender
Taking a Different Perspective: Visual and Auditory Communication in Autism

- Tiffany Lenee McIver, Crystal Lynne Grafton
Social Skill Intervention Development in Children and Adolescents with Social Communication Impairments

-Joane Walvoord
Autism Support To Go

-Susan Lederer
Pretend Play 2010

-Lani Popp, Megan Rhoden
Talking Tunes: Combining Music and Speech Therapy Techniques to Improve Speech and Language

-Meredith Potts
AAC and Autism: Using SGDs with Preschool and School-Aged Children

- Lauren Breeden, Kimberly Mory
Play Therapy and the Spectrum: Elicitation of Fundamental Communication

Try doing an internet search on your state and their speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc. associations and see when its state convention is being held. If the convention’s brochure is posted, take a peek and make some notes on anything that catches your eye. Your child’s therapist will thank you!

~Laura & Amanda
KidSpeak, LLC
www.kidspeakdallas.com