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PODCAST

The Preschool SLP

Kelly Vess, MA, CCC-SLP

Are you an agent of change? Looking to create real, life-long change in your work and in yourself? Ready to turn your visions into reality? Looking to work smarter, not harder—and have lots of fun along the way? Every Thursday, join international author, researcher, and speaker Kelly Vess to put only the best research to work. Kelly covers effective, practical strategies for children AND therapists to thrive. You are a miracle. Your time here is short. Let’s make the most of it. Follow Kelly

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All Episodes

24:02

212. Stop Waiting for Joint Attention. You’re...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/04/02

If you work with children who have autism, minimal joint attention, and limited expressive language, this episode challenges what you’ve been taught and replaces it with something far more useful. This is not a “wait and see” conversation. This is a rethink-everything conversation. Drawing from a powerful systematic review and the lens of dynamic systems theory, this episode breaks down why language development in autism does not follow a predictable path and why that actually changes how we ...

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12:26

211. The Social Cost of Speech Sound Disorders at...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/03/25

If you work with four, five, or six-year-olds with speech sound disorders, this episode was made for you — and this research will change how you document, advocate, and make eligibility decisions for your students. In this episode, we break down a brand-new 2026 open-access study that every school-based SLP, early childhood SLP, and preschool speech-language pathologist needs to save, cite, and have ready to go. Whether you're navigating a negative 2.0 standard deviation eligibility criteria,...

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36:26

210. The Hidden Visual Processing Problem Affecting...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/03/19

If you work with children with autism, developmental delays, or complex communication needs, this episode is a must-listen. Today, we’re talking about cerebral visual impairment, or CVI, and why it may be one of the most overlooked reasons children struggle with communication, attention, social interaction, AAC use, and motor-based learning. This episode is not about whether a child can see an item on an eye chart. It is about how the brain processes visual information and how that affects la...

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20:25

209. DTTC for AAC: The 5-Step Prompting Framework...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/03/12

Many clinicians are told there is a right way to prompt AAC users. You may have heard that you should always use least-to-most prompting. Others insist most-to-least prompting is best. But what does the research actually say? In this episode, we look at findings from a scoping review of 29 AAC intervention studies examining the prompting strategies used with children with autism who use speech-generating devices. Here’s the surprising truth: The research does not show that one prompting hiera...

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33:19

208. The 5-Step Therapy Routine That Works for Every...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/03/05

Feeling overwhelmed by a caseload that includes autism, childhood apraxia of speech, developmental language disorder, articulation, fluency, and AAC users… all back-to-back? You are not alone. Many speech-language pathologists walk into therapy sessions with a stack of different activities for every child. One game for articulation. Another for language. Another for fluency. Another for AAC. Before long, therapy starts to feel like running a fast-food counter. Quick activities. Separate goals...

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37:20

DTTC Isn’t Just for Apraxia: A Scaffolding Blueprint...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/02/26

What do Gustav Eiffel and dynamic, tactile, temporal cueing have in common? Scaffolding. Vision. And the courage to aim higher than anyone else. In this episode, I break down why Dynamic, Tactile, Temporal Cueing (DTTC) is not just for childhood apraxia of speech. It is a practical, high-impact framework that can upgrade how you treat: • Speech sound disorders • Language delays • Literacy skills • Fluency • AAC users • Autism and complex communication needs If yo...

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32:06

206. Why Traditional Speech Therapy Misses Drooling:...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/02/05

If you work with children who drool, this episode is for you. I’m pulling back the curtain on an approach I’ve used for over 15 years that has consistently reduced—and often eliminated—drooling in preschoolers. Not in theory. Not in a lab. In real therapy rooms, with real kids, on real caseloads. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: There is very little direct research on speech intervention and drooling. And instead of grappling with that complexity, our field often defaults to dogmatic thi...

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30:58

205. What 707 Autistic Preschoolers Reveal About Who...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/01/29

What do 707 Autistic Preschoolers Teach Us About Spoken Language Outcomes? If you work with preschoolers with autism and you care about spoken language outcomes, this episode matters. A lot. In today’s episode of The Preschool SLP Podcast, we unpack the largest study to date examining why some autistic children do not develop spoken language, even after receiving high-quality, evidence-based early intervention. The takeaway is blunt: Motor imitation doesn’t matter a little. It matters a...

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28:59

204. The R Workout: Applying Exercise Science to Fix...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/01/22

What if the problem with treating the R sound isn’t the child—but the way we train it? In today’s episode, we step outside the field of speech-language pathology and borrow powerful, evidence-based principles from exercise science and kinesiology to rethink how we treat speech sound disorders. Why? Because exercise science has done what our field largely hasn’t: isolated what actually works using controlled trials, precision, and specificity. Speech is a complex neuromuscular skill. Treating ...

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29:09

203. Consonant Clusters Aren’t Too Hard: They’re the...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/01/15

Are consonant clusters really “too complex” for kids with severe speech sound disorders—or have we been aiming too low? This episode tackles one of the most persistent myths in speech therapy: that children with childhood apraxia of speech, autism, or severe speech delay aren’t ready for clusters. I’m unpacking the real science behind complexity, coarticulation, and system-wide change—and why waiting for “readiness” often slows progress rather than supporting it. Let's break down three common...

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17:22

202. When AAC Feels Hard, It’s Working: What...

The Preschool SLP ·

2026/01/08

If you work with children who are minimally speaking with autism or you love a child who is minimally speaking, today’s episode matters. Over the past year, I’ve been doing something deeply intentional. I’ve been having long, honest conversations with speech pathologists and special education teachers who are truly effective with high-tech AAC. These weren’t quick chats. Each interview ran over an hour. I asked open-ended questions. I pushed for specifics. I wanted to know what is actually wo...

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14:19

Six Self-Care Swaps for Peak Performance in Therapy

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/12/18

If you work with children who have complex communication needs, you already know this truth: you cannot pour from an empty cup. In this episode, I share six realistic self-care swaps I use from morning to night to support energy, focus, and emotional regulation in the work we do. These are not trends. They are practical, research-informed adjustments that help me show up fully present in therapy sessions, even during long, demanding days. As winter approaches and energy dips, comfort-fo...

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14:07

201. The Movie Every SLP and Special Educator Needs...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/12/11

If you work with parents of children with special needs, this episode is non-negotiable. Instead of diving into research, we’re heading straight into a film that delivers the kind of uncomfortable clarity our field rarely gets. Today, we break down If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You—Mary Bronstein’s raw, emotionally accurate look into the lived experience of parenting a neurodivergent child—and why every SLP, special educator, and early-intervention professional needs to watch it. This movie exposes...

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25:37

My Five Favorite Literacy Habits That Boost Early...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/12/04

If you love weaving books into speech and language therapy, this episode is absolutely your lane. In this conversation, Kelly breaks down a 2025 scoping review on early language development and reading aloud, then translates it into five practical literacy “hacks” you can use with preschool and early elementary students starting tomorrow. She pulls zero punches about the study design: you’ll hear exactly what a scoping review is (and isn’t), why it doesn’t carry the same weight as a systemati...

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17:19

199. Selective Mutism + Hectic Holidays — Make Sure...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/11/20

Children who speak freely at home but shut down in public aren’t being stubborn. Their capacity is getting crushed by the demands of new people, new settings, and unpredictable routines. In this episode, we break down how to build capacity using the PRIDE approach—explicitly adapted for reluctant speakers and children with selective mutism. You’ll hear how to shift out of “thermostat mode” and into “mime mode,” using 10 minutes a day of pure responsiveness to lower pressure, increase connecti...

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20:02

198. Put PRIDE to Work to Improve Behavior:...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/11/13

If you serve young children with behavior challenges, this episode delivers a framework you can put to work immediately. Today, we break down the PRIDE skills: five evidence-based behavior strategies drawn from Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT). These methods have more than 50 years of empirical support and consistently improve behavior, engagement, emotional regulation, and communication across diverse populations. You’ll learn how to...

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41:24

197. Ten Predictors of Poor Progress in Speech...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/11/06

If you treat speech sound disorders (SSD) and you’re not seeing the gains you expect, this episode is your playbook. We cut through the noise and name the 10 research-informed predictors of slower progress—attention/self-monitoring limits, sensitive temperament, co-occurring language/working-memory load, hearing impairment (fricatives/affricates), motor speech factors, structural constraints (e.g., open bite), low stimulability, later start to intervention, low therapy intensity/irregular att...

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31:42

196. 10 Reasons to Use the ‘Look at’ Sentence Strip...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/10/30

If you work with children with autism who are minimally speaking, this episode is a must-listen. We’re breaking down why the “Look at” sentence strip has been a total game-changer in my therapy room—and why it consistently helps children begin to speak, connect, and comment on the world around them. After 25 years of practice, I can tell you this tool does more than encourage speech—it builds neurological pathways for speech to flow. You’ll learn: ✅ The neuroscience behind why repetition and...

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20:58

195. Groundbreaking Autism Study Reveals How Autism...

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/10/24

Discover how a 2025 Nature autism study transforms early intervention in speech language pathology. Learn how family history, genetics, and executive function shape assessment, therapy planning, and lifelong communication outcomes. If you work with children with autism, this episode will change how you think about early intervention forever. A major 2025 study published in Nature titled Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age of diagnosis has revealed that early onset aut...

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21:52

194. 5 Myths About High-Tech AAC—Debunked by Research

The Preschool SLP ·

2025/10/16

If you work with minimally speaking children or children with autism, this episode is a must-listen. Speech-language pathologist Kelly Vess takes on the five biggest myths about high-tech AAC (augmentative and alternative communication)—and backs every point with current peer-reviewed research. Learn why high-tech AAC devices: ✅ Do not require self-regulation or joint attention first ✅ Are not too complex for preschoolers ✅ Increase social interaction rather than limit it ✅ Should no...

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