Treatment Companion: A Speech-Language Pathologist's Intervention Guide for Students With Developmental Delays and Disorders

Whether you’re working with a new student and don’t know where to begin, or you have a long-term client and you’re feeling stuck, Treatment Companion: A Speech-Language Pathologist’s Intervention Guide for Students With Developmental Delays and Disorders provides ideas and strategies for a variety of common language goals. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) often face the challenge of adapting interventions to meet the needs of students with severe or complex disorders and diagnoses. As seasoned clinicians, the authors fuse their real-world experience with up-to-date research to create a robust road map for customizing SLP intervention strategies. 

User friendly and straightforward, the Treatment Companion offers a conversational approach to identifying options and goals that meet students where they are, whether they are visual or kinesthetic learners, oral speakers or AAC users, engaged or distracted, from birth to age 21. With easy-to-navigate headings, examples, and visuals, this guide can be consulted on an as-needed basis. The suggestions and strategies are accessible and innovative, often not requiring any specialized supplies to implement.

The Treatment Companion offers both novice and experienced clinicians a valuable tool to support their clients in achieving the highest level of communication possible.

Key Features

• Language goals are divided into four levels that are aligned with developmental milestones
• Detailed figures feature examples of intervention resources and strategies (color versions provided on the companion website)
• Steps Toward Mastery outlines a progression for guiding students to mastery of a goal, from introduction of a skill to achieving independence and generalizing the skill
• Activities in Treatment offers suggestions for working on skills through specific therapy activities
• Demystifying Augmentative and Alternative Communication appendix provides an approachable overview and example scenarios for those new to AAC

Review

"Written by experienced speech-language pathologists (SLTs) and described as a speech-language pathologist’s best friend, the Treatment Companion serves as a therapy guide for SLTs working with children and young people who have communication delays and/or disorders.

The book is aimed at colleagues who are new to the profession as well as experienced SLTs. It not only contains a guide to gathering case histories, carrying out assessments, target setting and writing session plans but also provides a wide range of therapy ideas and strategies which would be useful for experienced therapists looking for fresh ideas.

Serving as a reference resource based on up-to-date evidence, the book outlines goals based on a developmental hierarchy, making it easy to dip in and out of with specific children in mind rather than reading it from cover to cover. It includes strategies for teaching a wide range of skills from developing a basic five-word vocabulary to more complex sentence structures and figurative language.

The Companion provides useful information addressing factors which affect treatment such as echolalia, physical disabilities, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and bilingualism. Under this section, there is some very basic advice for working with deaf children. It was encouraging to see that, as part of this advice, the authors have highlighted language deprivation as an area which should be targeted at an early stage by the introduction of sign language during the critical period for language acquisition. While this book is not specifically aimed at SLTs working with deaf children, it serves as a useful tool for therapists who possess the knowledge to adapt strategies for this client group.

This is an exceptionally detailed therapy manual and, as such, would be an essential addition to an academic or speech therapy service’s library."
—Deborah Gutteridge, Hadleigh Clinic, Essex, UK, in ENT & Audiology News (March/April 2024)

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Reviewers

I. Introduction: How to Use the Treatment Companion

Before You Begin
Where to Begin/Choosing Goals
Aligning to the Common Core State Standards
Targeting Goals

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

          References

II. What You Need to Know

General Guidelines

Meeting a Student for the First Time
Developmental Hierarchy
Assessment
Progress Monitoring
Prompt Hierarchy
Modeling Appropriate Communication

Student Factors Affecting Treatment

Echolalia
Perceived Negative Behavior
Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH)
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Physical Disabilities
Bilingualism and Multiculturalism

Helpful Tips

Building Relationships With School Staff and Parents
Setting Yourself Up: Organization
Suggestions of Supplies, Books, Toys, and Games

          References

III. Level I

Speech, Manual Signs, or Aided AAC?

                             Speech
                             Unaided AAC
                             Aided AAC
                             Note About the Goals in Level I
                   
                   Attention to Modeling

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Exploring

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Five-Word Vocabulary

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

10-Word Vocabulary

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

20-Word Vocabulary

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

50-Word Vocabulary

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

          References

IV. Level II

Two-Word Utterances

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Actions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Three-Word Utterances

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Expanding Vocabulary

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Sentences in Present Tense

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Concrete Simple Wh- Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Conceptual Simple Wh- Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

          References

V. Level III

Possessive ’s

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Prepositions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Pronouns

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Past Tense Verbs

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Attributes

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Grammatical Sentences

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Yes and No Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Short Narrative

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Simple Problem Solving

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

          References

VI. Level IV

Introduction to Complex Wh- Questions
Complex Wh- Questions: Why Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Complex Wh- Questions: When Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Complex Wh- Questions: How Questions

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Introduction to Detailed Narrative
Detailed Narrative: Story Grammar Markers

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Detailed Narrative: Narrative Recall and Retell

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Detailed Narrative: Sequencing

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Introduction to Verbal Analogies
Verbal Analogies: Categories

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Verbal Analogies: Object Function

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Verbal Analogies: Synonyms and Antonyms

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Verbal Analogies: Associations

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Introduction to Figurative Language
Figurative Language: Idioms

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Figurative Language: Multiple Meaning Words

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Compound and Complex Sentences

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Identifying the Problem

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

Identifying the Cause/Making Inferences

Steps Toward Mastery
Activities in Treatment

          References

Appendix: Demystifying Augmentative and Alternative Communication

What You Need to Know About AAC

The Right to Communicate
What Does AAC Include?
Dispelling Common Myths About AAC
Communicative Competence
Comprehensive Assessment Leads to Comprehensive Intervention
Choosing Words to Target

Fostering Collaboration         

                             Training

                   Creating a Culture of AAC
                   References

Index

 Purchase of Treatment Companion: A Speech-Language Pathologist’s Intervention Guide for Students With Developmental Delays and Disorders comes with access to supplementary resources on a PluralPlus companion website.

The companion website is located at:

https://www.pluralpublishing.com/publication/tcslpig

STUDENTS:

The student resources include color versions of the figures presented in the text.

To access the student resources, you must register on the companion website and log in using the access code located in the front of your textbook.

*Note for students: If you have purchased this textbook used or have rented it, your access code will not work if it was already redeemed by the original buyer of the book. Plural Publishing does not offer replacement access codes for used or rented textbooks.