We’re heading to ASHA 2013 this week! Stop by our booth (#1713) for live Speech Buddy demos.
Image Courtesy of asha.org/events/convention/
Dear ASHA Attendees:
As an SLP and co-founder of Speech Buddies, I’m thrilled to join more than 7,000 of our esteemed colleagues from all over the world for this year’s ASHA 2013 convention in Chicago. Researchers, clinicians, students and parents of children living with speech and language challenges will come to share their work, absorb new information, acquire new skills, and connect with their colleagues. The theme of this year’s convention is Teamwork: how trained professionals working in concert with their peers, parents and teachers can achieve positive outcomes not possible on an individual basis. We applaud ASHA’s focus on this vital theme and we at Speech Buddies have tailored our entire approach to harnessing the power of collaboration.
I will be presenting a one-hour seminar entitled the “Evidence-Based Application of Device Technology in Speech Sound Disorders: A Clinical Workshop,” on Saturday, November 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Device technology like Speech Buddies is unlocking new, more efficient ways of treating speech sound disorders and is changing the lives of children every day. What may sometimes be perceived as secondary to the immediate learning breakthroughs that Speech Buddies, is how Speech Buddies can empower parents to get involved in the therapy process from day one. Therapy is not only about the 30 or 60 minutes of direct time we as speech pathologists spend each week with our clients, it’s about the process of enlisting families to change behavior and ultimately, to change lives.
From my many conversations with parents, what they almost universally seek is a means to become an effective partner in the therapy process. They don’t want to just drop their child off at school or a clinician’s office and say, ‘here you go, you’re the professional, fix this.’ They want guidance to turn every interaction with their child into a therapeutic moment. From experience, I know that’s what parents need, from a practical standpoint, is specificity. Parents want to know: 1) specifically how to elicit the target sound to follow-up on therapy done with their SLP; 2) a specific set of words to use for follow-up, home-based practice; and, 3) specific and consistent feedback on how they’re doing. Speech Buddies provide all three of these crucial needs for parents and can be the key to unlocking the power of team work to better the lives of our clients.
We at Speech Buddies are truly taking this year’s Teamwork emphasis to another level by inaugurating our Speech Buddies Referral Network which will directly connect our 40,000 monthly visitors with SLPs in their neighborhood. This program is a “win-win” for all involved. It allows therapists to take advantage of Speech Buddies’ extensive reach with parents and direct more clients their way, and it allows parents maximal choice in locating and partnering with a provider.
If you’re interested in joining our free Speech Buddies Referral Network, please stop by our booth (#1713) at ASHA to learn about program details. In many ways, I view it as fortuitous that ASHA has decided to specifically focus on teamwork this year. As a company, it is the core of our commitment to therapists and families and what we do on a daily basis.
Sincerely,
Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP and Speech Buddies Co-founder
