SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS: Practical Strategies for Strengthening Social Communication Skills Presented by Mary Asper, MS, CCC-SLP Outstanding Speech-Language Pathologist and National Presenter

Specifically Designed for Speech-Language Pathologists Serving Students in Grades PreK-12

Practical Ideas and Strategies

School-based SLPs are the professionals schools turn to most for support, but the complex, diffuse characteristics of students with social communication deficits and disorders can sometimes seem overwhelming. School-based SLPs also have unique constraints that often aren't addressed in most seminars. In this unique seminar, Mary B. Asper will provide you with an effective, practical "toolkit" of interventions and approaches that address social communication from diagnosis to treatment planning, from the therapy room to the classroom.

You will learn how to differentiate between social communication deficits commonly seen in students with related disabilities and social communication disorder. You will receive therapy-tested and proven strategies that are designed to improve students' reading comprehension and written language. Above all, you will discover new and innovative ways to improve all students' functional performance and ability to successfully, socially navigate the school setting.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

1. Build Your Repertoire of Social Communication Intervention Strategies
   Discover numerous, ready-to-use therapy strategies that promote successful social communication
2. Accelerate Social Learning by Lifting the Level of Peer Partners Social Groups
   Establish effective peer partnerships and gain students' buy-in and commitment … Move your students beyond awkward social interactions to social competence with a host of activities, themes and targets
3. Remediate Social Communication Deficits in Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences
   Recognize the characteristics of adverse childhood experiences and receive extensive trauma-informed interventions, strategies and techniques perfect for use in your therapy
4. Apply a Framework for Powerful Collaboration
   Acquire practical strategies for involving all members of the IEP team in successful social communication remediation … Explore your role as a social language and communication expert for best serving these high need students
5. Align Your Therapy with Your School's Academic Standards to Support Students' Success
   Discover the specific ways in which social communication deficits directly affect students' reading comprehension and written expression … Align your therapy to academic standards and gain strategies to support your students' success in reading and writing
6. Differentiate Social Communication Disorder From Other Related Disabilities and Weaknesses
   Develop a clear understanding of the difference between social communication deficits and a true social communication disorder
7. Improve Students' Ability to Socially Navigate the School Setting
   Explore the multiple cues and factors that contribute to atypical social communication development … Discover potent techniques for honing students' social skills in a school setting
8. Incorporate the Most Current, Evidence-Based Social Communication Therapy Strategies
   Align your therapy with the most current guidelines for best practices from a range of professional disciplines … Support your students with evidence-based social communication practices
9. Implement Highly Effective Social Communication Strategies for Supporting Classroom Success
   Increase students' ability for success in the classroom by implementing social communication strategies that support speech and language during class, whole group work or independent work time
10. Receive a Detailed Social Communication Skills Resource Handbook
    Each participant will receive an extensive speech-language therapy resource handbook filled with practical strategies and ideas presented in this seminar

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

• Dozens of proven strategies and resources to accelerate students' social communication success
• Effective methods for assessment of social communication in the school setting
• Fresh perspectives on the school-based SLP's role in social communication
• Proven strategies to help content area teachers understand the language challenges associated with social communication deficits
• Specific ideas to strengthen core skills that provide the foundation for functional performance in the school setting
• Vital academic and instructional strategies to support social communication in relation to reading and writing
• Innovative ideas to make therapy fun, engaging and effective for students
• How to differentiate social communication disorders from social communication weaknesses and related disabilities
• Effective ways to write measurable goals for social communication
• Numerous inexpensive and effective therapy materials to enhance your therapy
• Tips to extend therapy "outside the box" of the therapy room and apply them throughout the school setting
• Acquire powerful, effective therapy techniques to reach students affected by adverse childhood experiences such as trauma and abuse
• Accelerate social communication success for students by implementing the most current evidence-based strategies

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

A major interest and passion of mine throughout my career has been pursuing more knowledge and better techniques for improving social cognition, social interaction and social communication. As a collaborative team member, I helped build and facilitate social groups, provide individual therapeutic services for students with social communication deficits, and train school-based personnel to support students with social communication challenges. Some of the students I first worked with are now adult, contributing members of their community – and there is great joy in seeing those outcomes!

Social behaviors are foundational building blocks for language acquisition and for academic success. Students with social communication differences often struggle to achieve on all fronts, and often experience accompanying anxiety, feelings of isolation and possibly depression. As speech-language pathologists, we can be game-changers for such students through therapeutic instruction in social cognition, social interaction and social communication.

In this seminar, I want to help you design evaluation protocols for differential diagnosis of social communication deficits, or social communication disorder. Students with varied language learning disorders experience the impact of poor social communication. We will examine how to provide effective therapy for a wide range of diagnoses and characteristics. I want to equip you with the tools and strategies I have filled my toolbox with over the years and provide you with practical, therapy-tested lessons and activities. Throughout our day together, we will explore dozens of outstanding ways you can make a marked difference in strengthening social communication skills in students with whom you work.

I am excited to spend the day with you, learning together about strengthening social communication!

Sincerely,
Mary B. Asper, MS, CCC-SLP

P.S. I promise – you will leave feeling like you have many practical, effective, even fun solutions to address your students' social communication challenges!

Who Should Attend

Speech-Language Pathologists serving students in grades PreK-12

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Social Communication Skills Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive resource handbook specifically designed for this seminar. The handbook includes:

• A comprehensive description of strategies addressed throughout the seminar
• Lists of recommended Preschool and school age social communication assessment tools
• Guidelines for organizing effective social groups – from choosing participants to establishing norms and creating engaging, effective lesson plans
• Social narratives you can use to help strengthen students' social communication skills
• Scripts for playing games, learning social conventions, community outings and more

ASHA - CEUs

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