Navigating dyslexia and working memory goals

In episode 63, I share a Q & A from the Language Therapy Advance Foundations members’ group about dyslexia diagnosis and treatment, as well as working memory goals. 

I get a lot of questions about who is qualified to diagnose and treat dyslexia; especially when it comes to the SLP’s role in the process. Understanding the process of dyslexia diagnosis in the schools vs. medical settings can be especially confusing.  

That’s why I wanted to share this Q & A session with my LTA members where I talked about the SLP’s role in the process; including the differences between school vs. medical settings. Another topic that comes up with diagnoses like dyslexia is working memory; and I get asked all the time if addressing “working memory goals” in therapy is a good use of time (this is also relevant when considering things like ADHD or auditory processing disorder).  

In the second part of this Q & A, I share how to make the best use of therapy time considering the available research; including how to keep therapy functional and focused on tasks that are likely to improve “real-world” skills (as opposed to rote drill exercises with weak carryover).  

Some of the questions I address in this Q & A include:

✅Where can you go to get an “official” dyslexia diagnosis?

✅Are school therapists “qualified” to treat dyslexia, even though they might not be able to officially diagnose it?

✅Is it a good use of therapy time to focus on auditory memory and working memory exercises?

✅If you suspect that a child has language processing issues AND weak working memory, what should we be working on with them? 

In this episode, I mention this position statement from the  American Speech-Language and Hearing Association about the speech-language pathologist’s role in reading and writing.

This episode was taken from a Q & A session with Language Therapy Advance Foundations members. Language Therapy Advance Foundations is my course that teaches pediatric SLPs a framework for language therapy designed to give them the vocabulary and language processing skills needed to thrive in school and life.

If you’re an SLP, and you want a better system for language therapy so you can show up to sessions confident you’re setting your students up for success, check out the Language Therapy Advance Foundations enrollment page here.

The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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