Tag Archives: speech-language

Access a variety of speech and language therapy resources designed to support communication development in children and adults. These resources include tools, assessments, and activities for speech-language pathologists working in schools, clinics, and home settings to enhance expressive and receptive language skills effectively.

Top Summer Reads & Webinars for Professionals

Summer is the perfect time for professionals to focus on personal and professional growth. Summer reading can be more than just a chance to relax—it’s an opportunity to refresh your skills, explore new ideas, and gain valuable insights that can be applied in the upcoming school year. Whether you’re a therapist, educator, or caregiver, Therapro offers a variety of resources and free webinars that are both informative and practical, helping you make the most of your summer! Read on for Therapro’s top summer reads & webinars for professionals.

📚 Professional Reads That Make a Difference

Therapro’s collection of professional resources is designed to support the continuous development of therapists, educators, and caregivers. These books, grounded in evidence-based practices, provide effective strategies and activities to implement in various therapeutic settings. Consider adding these essential reads to your summer reading for professionals:

  • Debra Em Wilson’s The Polyvagal Path to Joyful Learning offers educators a practical guide to applying Polyvagal Theory in classrooms to foster safety, connection, and engagement, while her Resilient Learner’s Backpack provides over 60 adaptable mind-body activities grounded in neuroscience to enhance students’ focus, regulation, and resilience across all grade levels.
  • Just Right! A Sensory Modulation Curriculum for K-5 is a 206-page, evidence-based program featuring 16 flexible lesson plans and full-color handouts designed to help students build self-awareness and manage their sensory needs—ideal for Tier 1 and Tier 2 RTI implementation by teachers, therapists, or parents.
  • Is It Sensory or Is It Behavior? Second Edition equips educators and clinicians with updated, evidence-based strategies to differentiate between sensory-driven and behavior-driven challenges in children, offering practical tools like case studies, worksheets, and laminated intervention cards to support a holistic, team-based approach to assessment and intervention.
  • M.O.R.E.: Integrating the Mouth With Sensory and Postural Functions offers a comprehensive framework for addressing sensorimotor challenges by focusing on the integration of Motor components, Oral organization, Respiratory demands, and Eye contact/control (M.O.R.E.), providing clinicians with practical strategies and activities to enhance self-regulation, attention, and postural development in children.
  • Social Language Rules & Tools: A Preschool Curriculum is an engaging, developmentally sequenced program that equips educators and speech-language pathologists with multisensory, play-based lessons and carryover strategies to enhance social communication skills in preschoolers, particularly benefiting children with autism and other social language challenges.
  • Pediatric Feeding Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment is a comprehensive clinical guide edited by Kelly VanDahm, MS, CCC-SLP, featuring contributions from 14 leading clinicians and incorporating the latest research and interdisciplinary perspectives to support professionals in the assessment and management of pediatric feeding disorders.

🎓 Free Webinars to Support Ongoing Learning

For professionals seeking learning opportunities that fit into a busy schedule, Therapro’s Free Webinar Series is an excellent choice. These on-demand webinars offer concise, high-impact professional development, giving you the tools and strategies needed to excel in your practice.

Here are some must-watch webinars this summer:

Explore more and register for free: Therapro’s Free Webinar Series

✨ Pro Tip: Build Your Own Summer Learning Plan

If you’re wondering how to make the most of summer learning opportunities, here’s a simple guide to help you get started:

  1. Choose a Focus Area – Identify a specific topic, like handwriting, feeding, or sensory integration, that aligns with your professional goals.
  2. Pair a Book with a Webinar – Combine reading a relevant book with attending a webinar to reinforce your learning.
  3. Reflect and Apply – Use your summer to explore new strategies and materials, or even test them with clients or students in summer programs.

Therapro: Your Partner in Professional Growth

At Therapro, we understand the importance of ongoing professional development. Our carefully curated resources, including books and free webinars, are designed to support your growth and success. Summer learning doesn’t have to be a solitary task—use it as a chance to engage with new content and further your impact on the children, families, and communities you serve.

🔗 Visit therapro.com to explore more summer resources, and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for the latest updates.

Happy summer learning!

Therapro is Celebrating National Speech-Language-Hearing Month!

May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, a special month dedicated to raising awareness about speech, language, and hearing disorders. National Speech-Language-Hearing Month is an opportunity to recognize the challenges faced by individuals with communication difficulties and to honor the devoted professionals who support them on their journey to improved communication skills. The purpose of this month-long observance is to raise awareness, promote understanding, and encourage intervention for those who have communication challenges.

Specialists who make a difference in the lives of individuals with communication challenges include Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and Audiologists. SLPs identify, assess, and treat speech, language, and swallowing disorders. Audiologists prevent and assess hearing and balance disorders, and provide audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Their expertise, compassion, and commitment contribute to improved communication outcomes and enhanced quality of life for their clients of all ages.

At Therapro, we truly value our colleagues in the fields of speech, language, feeding/swallowing, and hearing. The Therapro website is full of resources dedicated to these areas!

Therapro has an entire catalog dedicated to Speech and Language targeted areas including assessments, articulation and phonology, functional language and literacy, social-emotional language, and more. This catalog is free, and available at therarpro.com!

Therapro is also a proud supporter of our fellow therapists who are writers and creators. Our most recent publication is Social Language Rules & Tools: A Preschool Curriculum, authored by Deborah Fortin, MSPA, CCC-Speech. We proudly feature the Sensory Spoon, designed by two Therapro occupational therapists and Mary Schiavoni, MS, CCC-SLP, creator and owner of Chewy Tubes. Another resource for feeding therapy is the publication Pediatric Feeding Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment. This comprehensive anthology is edited by Kelly VanDahm, MS, CCC-SLP, and holds chapter contributions from a roster of esteemed clinicians.

Numerous resources are available for those seeking assistance with speech, language, or hearing issues. Online support groups, educational materials, and information about local clinics and specialists can help individuals and families navigate the journey toward improved communication. National Speech-Language-Hearing Month serves as a reminder of the importance of seeking early intervention and accessing the support needed to overcome communication challenges.

As we celebrate National Speech-Language-Hearing Month in May, Therapro honors the dedicated professionals and advocates in the field, extends our gratitude, and applauds their wholehearted efforts in improving the lives of those with communication challenges.

Guest Blogger:
Filomena Connor, MSOT – Retired

Discover Therapro’s Handy Guides

Searching for the perfect tools, games, or evaluations for your clients can be time-consuming and overwhelming, Therapro’s Handy Guides can help streamline the selection process. The Guides help with making informed decisions. At a glance, you can see color representations of products. These guides are user-friendly, concise, and best of all, they’re absolutely FREE! The Handy Guides cover 5 key categories:

Handy Guides for Fine Motor:

Therapro's Which Writing Tool or Accessory Handy Guide

Which Writing Tool or Accessory: This Guide helps you choose the right tool for your client’s needs, whether it’s for comfort, positioning, or sensory input. For example, a Squiggle Writer Pen may be the right choice if your client would benefit from added sensory input with vibration when writing to alert and focus on the task.

Get a Grip on Grips: Explore a variety of writing utensil grips designed for comfort, finger positioning, and sensory needs. To facilitate a tripod grasp, the Start Right Pencil Grip may fit the needs of your client.

Get a Grip on Grips handy Guide

Handy Guides for Sensory:

Therapro's Find Your Fidget Handy Guide

Find Your Fidget: Discover fidgets for calming & organizing or alerting, including popular choices like Squeezies and Theraputty that offer resistance to help with focus and attention.

Choose Your Chew: Select the perfect chew for your client’s needs, categorized by age and chew strength. Chews are organized into Chews for Babies and Toddlers; and Chews in 3 chew levels (Light for mild sensory seekers, Medium for chewers who need more sensory input, and Firm for those who are strong chewers who need maximal sensory input). The benefits of selecting the appropriate chew is essential. Selecting a Firm Chew that a client can bite and chew safely is easy with choices such as the Krypto-Bite pencil topper or a Tube Zillas on a Tether.

Therapro's Free Choose Your Chew Handy Guide
Tools for the Body Handy Guide with link to download

Tap into Tools for the Body: Explore tools designed to provide calming and organizing sensory input that have resistive features to increase proprioception and sensory input. Bouncy Bands for Chairs provide foot resistance when a student is seated in a classroom chair. Selecting tools to enhance attention and focus include materials with a vibratory component such as Senseez Touchable Vibrating Pillows or tools that challenge balance such as the CanDo Wobble Ball.

Handy Guides for Adaptations:

What Can You Adapt Handy Guide

What Can You Adapt: Learn how to enhance upper extremity activities with the versatile EazyHold universal cuff. This Guide demonstrates its versatility for use in many home, school, and community scenarios. It can be used in a variety of activities including brushing teeth, holding utensils, and using art materials.

Assistive Technology: Find the best assistive technology solutions to support classroom participation and daily living activities. Take a look at positioning materials such as Slant Boards, tools for increasing active participation in games and crafts, and tools for enhancing learning in academic areas. Self-help and activities of daily living aides are addressed as well. Switches and switch-activated toys are also included. A myriad of tools are explored to help make a student’s school day and daily life skills at home and in the community successful.

Assistive technology handy guide

A Handy Guide for Games:

Gear Up for Games Handy Guide

Gear Up for Games: Select from a variety of games to build executive function, visual perception, academic, and language skills. Along with each game, the guide identifies the target audience, age range, and adaptations and modifications to enhance participation and learning. Favorite games: Novenops; Lion in My Way; and Letter Treasure Hunt are included.

A Handy Guide for Evaluations:

Handy Evaluation Chart: A helpful reference for deciding how best to assess your client’s needs. This Guide organizes evaluations offered by Therapro into comprehensive subcategories with age-appropriate designations. 

Therapro's Handy Evaluation Guide

These Handy Guides are designed to simplify your decision-making process and enhance the quality of care you provide. Each Handy Guide is packed with valuable information and practical recommendations to support your work as a therapist.

Explore them today and discover how Therapro can support you in your journey!

Guest Blogger: Filomena Connor, MSOT-Retired