Why isn't 'Mama' a first word for many children with Autism, yet it is for their neurotypical peers? There are four underlying physiological causes for this difference. Let's dive in to explore these four reasons why 'Mama' is not just naturally developing and what we need to do differently to encourage the development of this pivotally important word. Ready to work more effectively with children with autism by treating the whole child with done-for-you, ready-to-use activities delivered weekly in your inbox? Don't delay and learn about the SIS Membership at https://www.kellyvess.com/sis

Looking forward to seeing you at the SIS drawing board,💚Kelly

How can speech-language pathologists determine whether a child’s communication challenges are due to a language difference or a language disorder—and then choose the most impactful language intervention strategies?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin, one of the leading experts in culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) populations. With over 70 scholarly publications and 16 books, she has dedicated her career to ensuring SLPs can assess children fairly and provide evidence-based interventions that truly change outcomes.

You’ll get research-backed, Monday-morning-ready tools you can use right away to evaluate students from under-resourced backgrounds and target goals that will boost both communication and academic skills.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why standardized tests often misrepresent abilities in children from economically diverse backgrounds
• How working memory and nonword repetition tasks can reveal developmental language disorder (DLD)
• Fine and gross motor skills as powerful screening indicators
• Practical dynamic assessment techniques that reduce cultural and linguistic bias
• How parent responsiveness speed drives early language growth
• Goal-setting priorities from infancy through school age for maximum impact
• Building phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and narrative skills
• Why tier 2 vocabulary and paper books improve long-term literacy outcomes
• Free and low-cost strategies any caregiver can implement—no matter their literacy level

If you’re ready to put these strategies into practice, join the SIS Membership. You’ll get weekly, empirically based language and literacy activities that improve phonological awareness, literacy, and print skills—all ready to use for therapy every week. Perfect for working with preschoolers, early elementary students, and children from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds.

🎯 Start improving outcomes today → www.kellyvess.com/sis

Connect with Guest Dr. Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin:

TikTok: @celesteroseberry

Instagram: @dr.celesteroseberry

YouTube: Celeste Roseberry

Dr. Celeste's Website: www.lovetalkread.com

Download Dr. Roseberry-McKibbin's Supplementary PowerPoint Handout

Unfortunately, verbal cues are often the last to be faded in speech therapy. What are the drawbacks of providing a verbal model in speech therapy? This episode covers the three major areas negatively impacted by the persistence of verbal cues. Check out this episode to learn what to do instead to improve self-efficacy, executive function, and mastery through the automatization of accurate speech patterns.

To learn how to effectively cue, check out "Speech Sound Disorders: Comprehensive Evaluation and Treatment"

To put the latest cues and targets into practice this week, join the Sparkle in School (SIS) Membership today.

Are you using the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) framework in your autism intervention?
This episode of The Preschool SLP pulls back the curtain on Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) and challenges you to think critically about what’s truly supported by research—and what isn't.

SLPs are increasingly encouraged to adopt GLP-informed interventions, but a recent article by Venker and Lorang (2025) in response to Hadock et al. (2024) raises five concerns you can’t afford to ignore. In this episode, we break down each criticism with clinical insight and offer evidence-aligned strategies you can use immediately in your therapy room.

🔍 In this episode, you'll learn:

• ✅ What aspects of the NLA framework are backed by empirical research
• ❌ Why there’s currently no published GLP intervention program to evaluate
• 🧠 How mislabeling children as “Gestalt processors” can lead to unsupported assumptions
• ⚠️ The risks of avoiding verbs or grammar in early language modeling
• 🧪 What data you should be tracking with spontaneous language samples
• 🦢 Why eclectic, evidence-informed practice beats one-size-fits-all intervention

📚 Want done-for-you, research-backed materials aligned with what actually works?

Skip the guesswork.
My SIS Membership provides weekly, ready-to-use intervention tools grounded in empirical research—designed to help preschool SLPs like you make real progress with children on the autism spectrum, including those who use gestalts to communicate.

👉 Join the SIS Membership at www.kellyvess.com/sis

Inside, you’ll find:

• 🎯 Multimodal therapy treatment targets
• 🔁 Materials for consistent, high-frequency language use that boosts progress

00:00 Introduction to Natural Language Processing

00:30 Evidence-Based Practices in Language Development

01:54 Intervention Strategies and Challenges

03:05 Criticisms of Gestalt Language Processing

06:59 Understanding and Measuring Language Processing

10:44 The Role of Gestalts in Language Learning

17:43 Final Thoughts and Practical Advice

Haydock, A., Harrison, L., Baldwin, K., & Leadbitter, K. (2024). Embracing gestalt language development as a fundamental neurodiversity-affirmative practice. Autism, 28(5), 1055–1059. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241234598

Venker, C. E., & Lorang, E. (2024). Continuing the conversation about echolalia and gestalt language development: A response to Haydock, Harrison, Baldwin, and Leadbitter. Autism, 29(3), 821–824. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241287577

This week, Kelly shares a powerful, research-driven strategy that she developed—almost by accident—that has become a game-changer in her therapy room and for countless SIS members.

🔍 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why traditional “plus one” language modeling often isn’t enough—and how to break free from the chisel-and-hammer approach.
• The story behind how a speech sound disorder bootcamp accidentally became the birthplace of an effective language intervention for children with autism.
• How using a repetitive, multisensory paragraph-based strategy can lead to spontaneous, complex language—even in non-speaking children.
• The dangers of over-praising or applying pressure—and how loss aversion can backfire in autism intervention.
• Why comments matter more than requests—and how shifting from "I want" to "Look at" can be transformative.
• How to embrace gestalt language processing with intention, evidence, and child-led wisdom.
• The cascading impact: how one paragraph can ignite spontaneous language, natural intonation, and even why questions you've never explicitly taught.

🧠 Evidence + Experience = Results

You’ll hear how Kelly used both data and lived clinical experience to build this method, drawing from motor planning research, storytelling science, and decades of observing how autistic children truly learn.

The result? Gains in speech clarity, sentence complexity, and utterance length—even after just five sessions. And for many children, spontaneous language emerges naturally, without the artificial scaffolding of sentence strips and forced modeling.

💡 Want to Try This Strategy?

The exact language target paragraphs Kelly describes in this episode are exclusive to the SIS Membership. But today, she’s sharing the methodology so you can start seeing the cascading gains in your own practice—starting Monday morning.

🚀 Ready to Change Lives One Paragraph at a Time?

The SIS Membership gives you access to:

• Treatment target paragraphs for speech & language
• Research-based strategies that actually work in real-world settings

👉 Join the SIS Membership today at www.kellyvess.com/sis
Your next language breakthrough starts here.

Are you using the Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) approach in your language assessments—or wondering if you should? In this episode of The Preschool SLP Podcast, we cut through the noise to break down what’s evidence-based, what’s not, and how to make informed, practical decisions starting Monday morning. Whether you're a speech-language pathologist or a parent of a child with autism, this episode will equip you to approach Gestalt language development with discernment and clarity. In This Episode, you'll Learn: What is Gestalt Language Development and where it comes from (Marge Blanc, Barry Prizant, Laura Lee)? Why does current meta-analytic research cast doubt on many GLP intervention programs? Which active ingredients of the Gestalt paradigm align with spontaneous, generative language development? What are the biggest red flags in GLP that may hinder progress? The #1 evidence-based assessment tool you should be using (Hint: It's a spontaneous language sample—only 25 utterances needed!)? How to measure growth using: Repetition reduction, Type-token ratio, Verb diversity, Subject-verb combinations, Syntactic + grammatical complexity? Why do verbs matter more than nouns in assessing vocabulary gains? How to “be discerning like a swan” and combine the best of multiple intervention models? This episode isn’t just theory—it’s practical, raw, and backed by real research. If you're looking to create impactful change in language development, this is your blueprint. 🔗 Resources Mentioned: ResearchGate: 25-Utterance Language Sample Study, Barry Prizant’s work on Echolalia, Marge Blanc’s six stages of GLP, Laura Lee’s Developmental Sentence Scoring. Want Tools That Make Monday Easier? Get ready-to-use multimodal activities for autistic learners in the SIS Membership? Join hundreds of SLPs transforming their therapy with SIS Membership's evidence-based tools you can download and use today. 👉 Join the SIS Membership now at www.kellyvess.com/sis

We're combining two of the most highly requested topics—Gestalt Language Processing and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)—into one conversation with Farwa Husain of First Phrases. We're answering some key questions about AAC + Gestalt: What do we actually know about integrating gestalts with high-tech AAC systems? What’s missing in the research? How can SLPs move forward confidently on Monday morning without waiting for perfect data? What Gestalt Language Processing really means (and why you can’t “give” a child a gestalt)? What common AAC myths are holding children back—and what to do instead? Is the child “stimming” on AAC devices (spoiler: it’s often exploration-a good thing)? Why focus on relationship-first therapy? How can we model extensively and in a meaningful manner? What are some joyful learning strategies for introducing AAC to Gestalt Language Processors in preschool? Whether you're a seasoned SLP or just getting started, this episode is packed with actionable insights and evidence-informed best practices for Monday morning therapy with autistic preschoolers.

Guest Bio: Farwa Husain is a specialist in Gestalt Language Processing and AAC integration. Follow her on Instagram @firstphrasesofficial and learn more at www.firstphrases.com.

Roll up your sleeves and join the SIS Membership today! Get ready to implement what you hear on the podcast with done-for-you, ready-to-use literacy, music, and movement-based activities that treat the whole child. The SIS Membership is your go-to toolbox for engaging, evidence-based, educationally rich, neurodiversity-affirming therapy activities that treat the whole child in preschool and elementary school settings. Get AAC support, weekly movement activities, visuals, behavior supports, AAC strategies, Google Slides Decks, and more—all aligned with best practices discussed in today’s episode. I look forward to seeing you at the SIS Membership drawing board. Join now at www.kellyvess.com/sis

Is the way you’re working… actually working?
In this candid and empowering episode of The Preschool SLP, I sit down with the SLP Happy Hour host, Sarah Lockhart, to talk about what no one tells you in grad school: the path to sustainability as an SLP is rarely linear.

Together, we unpack what it really takes to thrive in this field—from navigating burnout to rebuilding self-trust, shifting careers, and defining success on your own terms. Whether you’re in public schools, private practice, teletherapy, or contracting, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

What You'll Learn:

• The hidden costs of perfectionism and overworking
• When private practice becomes unsustainable
• The real pros and cons of contracting, teletherapy, and salaried school positions
• How to build a fulfilling SLP career through self-trust and clinical intuition
• Why working smarter (not harder) is the key to staying in this field long term

If this episode hit home, and you’re craving less prep and more purpose in your therapy sessions, then it’s time to join the SIS Membership.

Inside SIS, you’ll get:

✅ Weekly ready-to-go, research-backed therapy materials

✅ Tools like the Behavior Flip Cards and Progress Diplomas featured in this episode

✅ Multimodal strategies that support the whole child

✅ A system that protects your energy so you can focus on what matters: being present

Join now and start working smarter today: www.kellyvess.com/sis

00:00 Introduction and Inspirational Opening
02:33 Sarah's Journey as an SLP
04:16 Challenges and Realities of Private Practice
04:46 The Shift to Telepractice
07:24 Balancing Work and Personal Life
18:12 Top Recovery Tips for SLPs

Get your Behavior Rule Flip Cards + Behavior Diplomas at:
🔗 www.kellyvess.com/behavior