Schools 2011 Education Sessions

Instructional level

Unless otherwise noted, all Schools Conference sessions are at the Intermediate level and assume general familiarity with the concepts, terminology, literature, and professional practice of the topic.

Friday, July 8

Opening Plenary Session (8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.)

PL01 The "Butterfly Effect" and You
Jerry D. Posner

Understand how small changes and seemingly insignificant actions can yield huge results. This session offers a toolbox of techniques to increase the likelihood of achieving positive results at work and at home. Whether you want less stress, more self-awareness, greater balance, or improved service to students and parents—you'll get practical and proven suggestions for staying focused, improving communication, and creating an environment that supports your mission. This fast-paced presentation will keep you engaged with real-life examples and creative applications to personal and professional life.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the "butterfly effect" and its practical applications
• Discuss specific tools and techniques for improvement in attitude, performance, and mood
• Describe how these tools apply in your work with children, parents, classroom teachers, and other professionals

Concurrent Sessions CS01–CS05 (10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.)

CS01 Social Competence in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder at Pre-symbolic and Emerging Language Stages
Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP

This session provides practical guidelines for supporting children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who are learning to use gestures, words, and augmentative communication to improve their social communication and emotional regulation. The discussion includes recommended goals and objectives in these areas, as well as evidence-based learning supports. We will examine changes in the environment and in partner behavior to support smooth transitions between activities, active engagement during classroom lessons, and more conventional emotional expression and coping strategies. Video case reviews illustrate supports appropriate for the classroom environment and social skills groups.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Identify critical times when children and adolescents with ASD at pre-symbolic and emerging language stages benefit from changes in the environment and partner behavior
• Describe strategies for enhancing smooth transitions between activities
• Discuss supports for fostering increased engagement and functional communication within academic activities
• Identify supports for fostering conventional emotional expression and coping strategies

CS02 SLPs and Assistants: Partners in Practice
Lisa Keane, MS, CCC-SLP
Instructional level: Introductory

We will examine the factors that contribute to the development of responsible, effective, and mutually respectful relationships between SLPs and assistants in school settings. Roles and responsibilities of SLPs and assistants are reviewed, with emphasis on how to work together most effectively. We'll discuss common issues including role definitions and boundaries, giving and receiving feedback, providing appropriate supervision and support, and supporting assistants' development.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss the role of the speech-language pathology assistant in a school setting
• Describe activities appropriate for a speech-language pathology assistant to facilitate
• Discuss the speech-language pathologist's role in supervision
• Work effectively as a team to support students' progress

CS03 Use of Psychotrophic Medications With Children and Adolescents
Larry B. Silver, MD

Psychopharmacology is an important aspect of treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. This session reviews and summarizes indications for the use of specific medications, their dosage and management, and potential benefits or side effects, for conditions including psychotic disorders, pervasive developmental disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, tic disorders, anger control disorders, bipolar disorder, and ADHD. Emphasis is placed in how you can assist in monitoring the use of medications, their effectiveness, and identifying potential problems.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Describe the neurological basis for use of medication
• Discuss the most frequently used medications, including indications, uses, and potential side effects
• Assist in monitoring medications' effectiveness and spotting medication problems in children and adolescents with whom you work

CS04 Medicaid Issues in the Schools
Marie Ireland, MEd, CCC-SLP
Laurie Alban Havens, MA, CCC-SLP
Linda Peltz

Discuss issues that are central to school districts' access to Medicaid funds. Do you meet Medicaid's professional qualifications requirements? What constitutes "medically necessary therapy?" Can your school require you to sign off on therapy you did not observe being provided? What should you do if you suspect your school district is not complying with Medicaid regulations? Panelists represent federal, state, and ASHA perspectives on these and other Medicaid questions.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Provide a working definition of medically necessary therapy
• Discuss federal and state professional qualification requirements
• Describe factors in the appropriate supervision of support personnel
• Locate relevant federal regulations and sources of Medicaid information

CS05 Vocabulary Part I: Background and Assessment
Judy Montgomery, PhD, CCC-SLP, BRS-CL
Instructional level: Advanced

Poor vocabulary development is a hallmark of language and learning disabilities in students of all ages. In this session you'll review the four types of vocabulary, with emphasis on recent research, and get an overview of a new tool to assess receptive and expressive knowledge of words. Both conventional therapy and application to RTI settings are addressed.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss typical vocabulary development
• Identify four types of vocabulary in therapy
• Assess Tier 1–3 words receptively and expressively

Assistants' Education Session (11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.)

AS01 Serving Diverse Children and Families: The Influence of Culture and Language
Andrea "Deedee" Moxley, MA, CCC-SLP

Note: This session is offered for Professional Development Hours (PDHs), but not for ASHA CEUs.

Understanding the cultural and linguistic variables that affect communication is an important part of work in the field of speech-language pathology. This session explores the important relationship between language and culture and sheds light on how culture influences your daily work with students and their families. Join this discussion to learn how language shapes and is shaped by one's cultural identity and explore how cultural identity impacts everyday communication. You'll come away with a new perspective on communication in a diverse world.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Explain the relationship between culture and language
• Identify ways in which cultural differences impact communication
• Describe strategies for improved communication with diverse students and their families

Concurrent Sessions CS06–CS10 (1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

CS06 Vocabulary Part II: Research-Based Interventions
Judy K. Montgomery, PhD, CCC-SLP, BRS-CL
Instructional level: Advanced

Note: You are encouraged to attend CS05, Vocabulary Part I, before attending this session.

In Part Two, we focus on planning and conducting effective intervention for K–12 students with communication deficits that adversely affect their academic growth. By linking research to state standards, SLPs can provide the most engaging and effective strategies to improve semantic development. Both conventional therapy and application in RTI settings will be demonstrated.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Conduct 15 effective vocabulary strategies
• Evaluate the outcomes of an intervention
• Describe relevant research supporting vocabulary strategies

CS07 Social Competence in Children and Adolescents With High Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome
Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP

This session provides practical guidelines for supporting children and adolescents with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger's syndrome (AS) to improve their social communication and emotional regulation. Topics include recommended goals and objectives in these areas, as well as evidence-based learning supports. We will examine changes in the environment and partner behavior to support smooth transitions between activities, active engagement during classroom lessons, and more conventional emotional expression and coping strategies. Video case reviews illustrate supports appropriate for the classroom environment and social skills groups.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Identify critical times when children and adolescents with HFA or AS benefit from changes in the environment and partner behavior
• Describe strategies for enhancing smooth transitions between activities
• Discuss supports for fostering increased engagement and functional communication within academic activities

CS08 SLPs and Response to Intervention (RTI) in Schools
Sandi Gillam, PhD, CCC-SLP
Sponsored by SID 16, School-Based Issues

This session highlights the SLP's role in the RTI process, emphasizing the use of valid and reliable progress-monitoring tools. Progress-monitoring tools are a way to make data-driven decisions about intervention approaches or procedures, or to compare the performances of students with similar abilities receiving the same or different instruction. We will discuss specific progress-monitoring rubrics and procedures designed to capture change in narrative and vocabulary knowledge, addressing issues related to the design, measurement, and interpretation of outcomes. The session will include the review of data from first-grade children who participated in a value-added intervention provided by an SLP to address narrative and vocabulary skills.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss how SLPs may contribute to RTI and progress-monitoring process in school settings
• Describe a measure for monitoring change in the use of story grammar elements and literate language features during story telling
• Describe a procedure for measuring incremental change in vocabulary knowledge
• Discuss factors and issues that contribute to outcomes using progress-monitoring tools

CS09 Authentic Assessment: Implementation and Application, Part I
Jo-Anne Prendeville, EdD, CCC-SLP
Linda Wellman, PhD, CCC-SLP

Given the current emphasis on intervention assistance teams and response to intervention (RTI) approaches, assessment processes must incorporate and reflect students' language and literacy skills in relation to the curriculum. This session will show you how to apply your skills in authentic assessment in an RTI environment. You'll be introduced to a model that will help you expand your repertoire of focused and systematic authentic assessment protocols. You'll learn to create authentic assessment plans that steer the assessment process, and to triangulate assessment data to inform future assessments and interventions.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the principles of and rationale for authentic assessment
• Explain the role of the SLP and authentic assessment in RTI and intervention assistance teams
• Create authentic assessment plans
• Implement selected authentic assessment protocols

CS10 Strategies That Motivate Adolescents With Language Disorders
Vicki Lord Larson, PhD, CCC-SLP

Review the typical stages of development in young people aged 10–19, and how these stages relate to setting intervention goals for adolescents with language disorders. The characteristic expectations and challenges for adolescents who have language disorders are described, and intervention strategies and service delivery models that motivate adolescents are presented. Specific strategies to enhance students' thinking, listening, speaking, reading, and writing are discussed and illustrated in relation to students' academic progress, personal-social interactions, and vocational potential.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the three stages of adolescence and their implications for intervention
• Discuss the characteristic expectations and challenges of adolescents with language disorders
• Explain various service delivery models and their effectiveness with adolescents
• Describe approaches that motivate adolescents to learn intervention strategies

Roundtable Discussions (4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.)

Share solutions to common problems with colleagues from around the country in these discussions focused on particular topics of interest. You'll have the chance to participate in two 30-minute discussions. Have a topic you'd like to discuss? Note it on the registration form!

Assistants' education session: AS02 (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)

AS02 How Children Develop Language
Diane Paul, PhD, CCC-SLP, CAE

Note: This session is offered for Professional Development Hours (PDHs), but not for ASHA CEUs.

The development of language is an amazing accomplishment. Although each child is unique and develops language skills at a different pace, most children follow a predictable progression. In this session, you'll see videos of children from birth through age 5 showing how typically developing children learn to understand, talk, and take early steps toward reading and writing. You'll see children learning more than one language and watch as children interact with their parents, siblings, and peers. You'll come away with tips that caregivers can use to enhance their children's speech, language, and literacy development.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the major milestones in language development for children from birth to 5 years old
• Compare the way monolingual and bilingual children develop language skills
• Discuss how caregivers can enhance language development in infants and young children

Saturday, July 9

Concurrent Sessions CS11–CS15 (8:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.)

CS11 Embedding Speech and Language Intervention Into the General Curriculum for Young Children
Eva Horn, PhD
Instructional level: Introductory

Take a close look at ways to ensure that individualized learning priorities, including speech and language goals, are appropriately addressed for each child, focusing on early education of young children with disabilities. We will explore a multi-tiered model of support that has direct implications for SLPs working in early education settings. Decisions about when to provide supports and what form they should take are based on assessment and the linking of desired learner outcomes to curriculum content and individualized learner supports. We will discuss the concepts and strategies that form the foundation for each tier, focusing on how SLPs can integrate discipline-specific content at each stage.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Articulate the mandate of access to and progress in the general curriculum
• Describe your role in the implementation of a multi-tiered model of support to meet the mandate
• Identify types of instructional individualizations that need to be made to meet children's individualized speech and language service needs

CS12 Legal Hot Spots in Special Education
Julie J. Weatherly, Esq
Sponsored by SIG 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (Dysphagia)

This session highlights the top national legal issues currently facing public school personnel in special education. Hear about topics including: money damages and liability in special education cases, the use of restraint and seclusion in schools, investigations by state protection and advocacy organizations, the use of service animals in schools, violations of procedural safeguards, and disability harassment and retaliation. The emphasis is on equipping you to avoid legal problems in these and other areas of current change and interest.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Identify the top legal issues in special education
• Discuss ways to avoid legal issues or disputes
• Describe Congressional or regulatory actions that may affect the provision of free appropriate public education to students with disabilities

CS13 Building Integrated Services in the Schools: A Collaborative Role for the SLP
Patricia Prelock, PhD, CCC-SLP, BRS-CL

Collaboration is a developmental process that enables us to rethink fragmented approaches to service delivery. In this session, we'll focus on community science as an interdisciplinary framework for strengthening speech-language services by improving the quality of practice in treatment, prevention, health promotion, and education. We'll consider conceptual, administrative, and practice issues facing the development of full-service school programs, and learn practical strategies for assessing the strengths and challenges of existing services, collaborating with other professionals to plan prevention programs, incorporating evidence-based practice in the classroom, implementing collaborative co-teaching and conjoint consultation, and evaluating outcomes of collaborative approaches.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe a process for assessing the collaborative strengths and challenges of a school team working to fully integrate services for children with special needs
• Define community science, conjoint consultation, collaborative co-teaching, and response to intervention as frameworks for implementing integrated services for children with communication disorders
• Identify at least three practical strategies for implementing collaborative service delivery
• Explain at least one approach to evaluating the outcomes of using evidence-based practice in collaborative classrooms

CS14 What's Your CQ (Cultural Quotient)? Developing a Roadmap for Cultural Intelligence
Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, PhD, CCC-SLP
Sponsored by SIG 14, Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Populations

There's no question SLPs need a high CQ to function effectively in today's environment. In this session we examine the many factors that contribute to cultural competence across a range of educational, economic, social, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. Using case studies to illustrate some of the complexities, we'll discuss how to approach assessment and intervention in ways that are truly sensitive to long-term issues and concerns, support all those who are affected, serve the families of our clients, and attend to the nuances of cultural differences. You'll come away with a higher CQ, a deeper understanding of human communication, and a better roadmap toward cultural intelligence.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Distinguish language difference from language disorders
• Use culturally appropriate strategies to provide assessment and intervention
• Interpret communication patterns based on multicultural contexts
• Work more effectively with families from multiple cultural/linguistic backgrounds

CS15 Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents
Richard Guare, PhD, D-BCBA

Examine the role of executive skills in the self-regulation of behavior in children and young people aged 4–18, and discuss how the development of these skills relates to brain development. You will learn how these skills are assessed using both formal and informal measures, and leave with a set of tools that include strategies for task or environmental modifications, skill development through cognitive/behavioral techniques, and creation of incentive systems. With these tools, you will be able to give teachers and parents a means for developing and improving organization, time management, impulse control, goal-directed persistence, and the host of other executive skills critical for independent functioning.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe executive skills and their relationship to brain development and brain function
• Describe assessment tools to identify executive dysfunction, including parent/teacher interviews and behavior rating scales
• Identify how executive skills affect performance and daily living at home and at school
• Use a repertoire of strategies to improve executive skills in children and adolescents

Concurrent Sessions CS16–CS21 (1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

CS16 Conversational Interaction in Adolescents: Putting the Pieces Together
Barbara Hoskins, PhD, CCC-SLP
Kristine Noel, MS, CCC-SLP

Many adolescents with language disorders have learned specific language skills, but may not be able to incorporate them into effective conversational interaction. This presentation provides you with a framework that brings together the key aspects of intervention to develop conversation skills in young people aged 11 and older. You will learn how to structure conversation groups to engage students in appropriate interactions, how to plan a series of sessions that focuses on specific conversational moves, how to teach critical social-cognitive and linguistic-conceptual skills needed for conversation, and how to assess and monitor progress.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Identify the key components in a framework for assessing and teaching conversational interaction
• Identify the key behaviors needed to use conversational moves effectively
• Plan group sessions that teach specific skills and facilitate conversational interaction
• Use multiple measures, including rubrics, a checklist, and a rating scale, to assess conversational skills and monitor progress

CS17 Evaluating Nonspeech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) for Speech Sound Disorders
Gregory L. Lof, PhD, CCC-SLP

The use of nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOME) to change speech sound production problems continues to be discussed and debated by researchers and clinicians. Many SLPs continue to use these isolated exercises for preschool and school-age children even though the theory, logic, and evidence do not support their use. This session presents six theoretical and practical reasons why NSOME should not be part of the therapy repertoire if the goal is to have children produce articulate speech.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Describe what makes a therapy approach scientific vs. pseudoscientific
• Analyze logical arguments for and against using NSOME
• Interpret theoretical arguments pertaining to the use of NSOME
• Summarize the empirical evidence testing NSOME

CS18 AAC Strategies for Students With Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms
Stephen N. Calculator, PhD, CCC-SLP

This presentation focuses on the role of AAC in fostering teaching, learning, and overall communication success for students with severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms. A variety of strategies for developing and implementing authentic AAC assessments and interventions are discussed. Emphasis is placed on functional, evidence-based strategies for effective teaching and learning. Ways of incorporating parents' priorities for AAC are examined, as are methods of selecting and implementing AAC and related instructional goals. Finally, we discuss methods to help students and others value AAC as a means of communication, as well as a vehicle to optimize access to the curriculum.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Apply a variety of authentic AAC assessment strategies
• Evaluate the appropriateness of AAC and related goals for students in inclusive settings
• Discuss the need for collaborative planning when implementing AAC and related instruction
• Identify specific ways to increase the likelihood your students and others will accept AAC systems

CS19 "Understanding" Comprehension
Sandi Gillam, PhD, CCC-SLP

Children's comprehension of what they hear or read requires integrating knowledge from various sources and executing a number of independent processes. Because comprehension is so complex, its assessment and treatment requires multi-dimensional thinking on the part of the SLP. This session highlights and defines factors that contribute to discourse and reading comprehension, including vocabulary and general world knowledge, inference generation, knowledge of text structure, use and understanding of causal connections, memory, and the establishment of global and local coherence. Think-aloud procedures are explored as a way to examine knowledge and processes "during comprehension." Evidence-based comprehension approaches and strategies for narrative and expository discourse will be described.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe six factors involved in discourse and reading comprehension
• Discuss the use of think-aloud procedures for comprehension assessment
• Apply evidence-based comprehension approaches and strategies for narrative and expository discourse

CS20 Authentic Assessment: Implementation and Application, Part II
Jo-Anne Prendeville, EdD, CCC-SLP
Linda Wellman, PhD, CCC-SLP

NOte:You are encouraged to complete CS09, Authentic Assessment: Part I, before taking this session.

This session explores assessment as a collaborative process allowing for data collection in authentic contexts using a variety of assessment tools. You will discuss authentic assessment protocols that can be used for progress monitoring and summative evaluations, showing how to apply the information to curriculum-based interventions.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe authentic assessment protocols used for progress monitoring and summative evaluations
• Explain how authentic assessment protocols relate to classroom contexts
• Describe the language and literacy underpinnings of the curriculum
• Apply authentic assessments protocols to curriculum-based intervention planning

CS21 Mobile "Apps": The SLP's Bag of Tricks in a Pocket
Phyllis S. Watson, MS, CCC-SLP
Instructional level: Introductory

Applications ("apps") for mobile devices represent a pocket-size bag of tricks for the school-based SLP with a large and diverse caseload. In this session, you'll learn how to choose among the thousands of apps available. You'll get guidelines for evaluating apps, and hear about some current products for students with articulation problems, fluency issues, voice disorders, and language delay.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Identify five apps that aid in the assessment or treatment of communication disorders
• Apply two guidelines for evaluating mobile apps

Posters: Research in Action (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)

Review research projects, case studies, and service delivery models submitted by practitioners, researchers, and students. Each poster carries 15 minutes of CEU/PDH credit. You may earn credit for up to six posters in this time period.

Sunday, July 10

Special Plenary Session (8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.)

Teaching, Learning, and the Power of the Human Factor
Michelle Shearer, MS

Education at any level is a dynamic responsibility because children of all ages are complex human beings with dreams, goals, talents, flaws, and needs. In her work as an educator, Michelle Shearer, 2011 National Teacher of the Year, believes that everyone with a stake in the success of students must always be conscious of their profound power to influence the lives of children. Her teaching philosophy, based on the belief that an educator's strong positive connection with students is essential to their academic success, centers around a theme she experiences constantly has an educator: when students feel that a teacher is genuinely invested in their progress, they become eager to invest in themselves and take ownership of their educational efforts. America's education system may search for a novel strategy or technological advancement to ensure academic success for all learners, yet what students most need is to experience positive rapport, high energy, and high morale within every classroom, much of that through interaction with a teacher who understands that human beings are the ultimate inspiration for passionate, productive, life-long learning.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss the educator's role in students' academic achievement
• Describe factors that promote academic success for all students

Concurrent Sessions CS22–CS26 (9:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.)

CS22 Legal and Ethical Issues in Clinical Supervision
Wren Newman, SLPD, CCC-SLP

Discuss and analyze case studies of ethical issues that may arise around supervisory relationships in school settings. Issues include confidentiality, dual relationship, and vicarious liability in supervisory relationships between SLPs and graduate students, clinical fellows, and speech-language pathology assistants. Strategies to address ethical issues will be emphasized.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Recognize an ethical dilemma within the supervisory relationship
• Describe how confidentiality applies within supervisory relationships
• Define the terms vicarious liability and dual relationship
• Determine possible strategies to address ethical issues in supervisory relationships

CS23 Assessment and Treatment of Speech Sound Disorders: An Update
Gregory L. Lof, PhD, CCC-SLP

If you find it hard to keep up with the latest information on speech sound assessment and treatment, this presentation will update you on some fundamental themes pertaining to assessment and treatment, with information from the contemporary literature summarized, interpreted, and explained as it relates to clinical practice. Topics include current trends in assessment, efficient treatment target options, intervention selection—including minimal pairs, maximal pairs, and modified cycles approach—and efficient and effective treatment decisions, all with an emphasis on what works based on empirical evidence.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Outline assessments that are consistent with current trends
• Develop treatment targets that are efficacious and efficient
• Select appropriate interventions that have empirical support

CS24 Mobile "Apps" for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Phyllis S. Watson, MS, CCC-SLP

With thousands of "apps" available for mobile devices, which ones benefit children who have communication impairments? This session highlights top AAC-related apps and implementation strategies for preschool and school-age children with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and developmental disability.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• Identify three apps that use pictures and digitized speech for communication
• Identify three apps that use icons or symbols and synthetic speech for communication
• Identify two apps that use text-to-speech for communication
• Identify two apps that provide visual supports for behavior regulation or task completion

CS25 School-Age Children Who Stutter: Setting Goals and Priorities
J. Scott Yaruss, PhD, CCC-SLP, BRS-FD

Learn how to design individualized treatment programs to help children aged 7–18 who stutter improve their speech fluency and overall communication. First, we will review the disorder to better understand the child's experience of stuttering. Next, a comprehensive set of treatment goals will be described, including goals for ensuring that children can modify their speech and communicate effectively. Finally, we will discuss how goals can be prioritized to meet the individual needs of different children and review specific treatment activities. You'll come away with a better understanding of how to tailor your fluency treatment for the unique needs of each child.

After completing this program, you will be able to:

• List three appropriate treatment goals for school-age children who stutter
• Prioritize treatment goals depending upon a child's individual needs
• Describe three activities that help children improve their communication

CS26 Tell Me Your Story: Increasing Social Competence of High Risk Adolescents
Kristine Noel, MS, CCC-SLP

The relationship between language deficits and behavior difficulties is well documented, as are the social challenges often experienced by adolescents with language and behavior disorders. This session examines the role of language in the social problem-solving process, and presents a new model for social problem-solving intervention for adolescents with language and behavior disorders. Examples of assessment and intervention strategies, as well as student applications of the strategies, are provided.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the relationship between language and behavior.
• Discuss frameworks for understanding social problem solving
• Describe tools for assessment and progress monitoring of narrative and social problem-solving skills.
• Discuss one treatment approach for teaching social problem-solving skills to adolescents.

Closing Plenary Session (11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

PL03 Inspiration and Transformation: Personal and Professional Journeys
Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, PhD, CCC-SLP

How do we define and redefine excellence? How do we define and redefine competence? In this session, we will consider sources of deep and transformative personal growth. The speaker's continuing quest for deeper cultural competence and the driving force of cultural humility will serve as springboards for you to consider your journey of development and growth. The roles of personal vision and values, communities of practice, and continuing education will be examined as they affect our movement along the continuum of competence toward excellence.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss the continuum of competence
• Describe the roles of personal values, professional communities, and continuing education with respect to the continuum of competence
• Describe the quest for cultural competence as a model for other developmental efforts