ASHA Leader Tips to Involve Parents and AVT Principles

Did you read the article in the ASHA Leader yesterday? My 4 Favorite Tips to Involve Parents in Treatment August 17, 2017, By Jonathan Suarez?  It corresponds with our Auditory Verbal Principles of guiding and coaching families.



Jonathan Suarez, MS, CCC-SLP,  shares that SLPs are experts in speech and language development whereas, parents, however, are experts on their child.  Like LSL practitioners Jonathan suggests we take advantage of this time and teach the parent simple ways to help their child every day.

He wrote about a child who had SLP sessions twice a week for 18 months which comes out to 156 sessions.

Jonathan said,  "If I went to 156:

personal training sessions, then I better be all muscle.

cooking lessons, then I should cook like a master chef.

college courses, I could earn at least two degrees, maybe three.

coached basketball practices, I might finally accomplish my life-long goal of being an NBA player.

finally, as a parent, if I attended 156 speech-language sessions, I hope I learned enough to help my child work on the concepts at home."

I thought this was an illustration we can share with parents or colleagues who still believe more therapy must be better.  We know that coaching parents and getting other family members involved usually allows the child to make faster progress.

Click HERE to read the

Ebb and Flow - A Mama's Heart

Read my daughter Kara's essay published at Coffee+Crumbs 
- a collaborative blog about motherhood.



I reflect on our distant summer travels, sitting on the beach, gritty and warm. The air is dense with the smell of salt as the indigo waves create a rhythmical pattern. Growth. Decline. Regrowth. Squabbling seagulls dart on the blanket-littered sand as I welcome myself to listen. The ocean's pulsing heart is speaking to me as the water swells and crashes onto shore. Maybe this is how life is. 


Kara is a Chicago suburbanite trying to savor every moment with her husband, highly spirited toddler and Craigslist dog. By day she works in healthcare marketing and by night she loves cooking, and on occasion writing at ThePassionateParsley.com. You can also follow her day-to-day adventures on Instagram.

Little Listener Anthony - A Jockey, A Wheelchair and A Horse

Check out one of my "Little Listeners" who I have seen for AVT since he was an infant. Anthony has auditory neuropathy and  hears with his cochlear implant.

Each Halloween Anthony's Dad designs and makes one of a kind costumes. This year he is a jockey with his wheelchair and his horse. He was a honored guest at two horse tracks in Chicagoland last week. Anthony's 2015 Halloween costume is amazing and parents hope to reach Ellen DeGeneres so he can be a guest on the show!