Marisha

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Marisha: [00:00:00] It's the beginning of the school year, and it feels like we've got ages before progress reports roll around, and it's easy to tell ourselves, "Oh, we'll figure this out later. We'll set up our data system or refine it later. We have time." But right now is the best time to get started instead of having to scramble and piece together progress notes from sticky notes and just pure vibes.

~Um, ~So today we're chatting about defensible data, and defensible data doesn't mean fancy. It just means consistent, usable data that helps us explain student progress clearly and in a way that can be understood by ourselves, by parents, administrators, advocates, potentially lawyers if they get involved, ~um, ~and also for the purposes of billing.

And we do not need to collect every possible data point and constantly have [00:01:00] our data binders out to have, quote-unquote, "defensible data". We need to be collecting the right kind of information consistently enough to support our decisions and to be able to document that students are making progress, and if they're not making progress, showing some of that clinical decision-making in how we are supporting students towards being able to make that progress.

So we should be able to answer four questions with our defensible data and documentation. ~So ~One, what were we targeting? Two, how did the student perform? Three, what level of support did they need? And four, what's the next step? What's our plan going forward? And this is a simple list of questions, and it hopefully helps reduce our anxiety because we don't need to have perfect documentation. We just need clear documentation.

And there's a really [00:02:00] easy way to make this happen. It doesn't have to be stressful or intense or difficult. ~Um, ~We just need a simple system that we can actually use.

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to build that system and get all of our data on the same page, ~um, ~in a nice clean system, ~um, ~to make everything easier from progress notes, IEPs, if we ever get requests for our data or ~if there's... ~if there are advocates involved, having this data system set up from the beginning of the school year will make it so much easier and so much less stressful when things do come up. So we want to make sure that we have a place to keep track of our students' goals, the data for those goals, ~um, ~and have easy, quick session notes, ~um, ~and just a routine to help us take that data and to bill or process it in whatever way we need to.

~Um, ~And then we also need a way to flag [00:03:00] students who are meeting their goals or maybe who aren't making progress or who need closer monitoring, ~um, ~and our documentation is a great way to do that. So we wanna make sure that we're keeping it practical. We can't have a system that takes too long, that isn't feasible in our sessions.

One year, ~um, ~I really wanted to be able to take data for a group of students on one sheet of paper, but my district required individual data sheets, and ~I just, ~I hated having to flip between a bunch of different data sheets ~uh, ~during the session. So I ended up creating this sticker system where I had all of my students' goals on one page, and then I attached labels to it and wrote the data on the labels, and then I was supposed to transfer them to the individual data sheets. ~Let me tell you, ~I got so behind, and then I also had to do billing, and then at progress note time I was trying to catch up. It was just a mess. ~Um, ~So ~the, I think ~the system that makes it easy to take data [00:04:00] in groups but have them saved at the individual level, ~um, ~and just make this process as seamless as possible, I really think digital is the way to go, and I know that a lot of us are like, "I can't go digital, I'm too old school," ~or whatnot, ~but ~I ~I promise you that this is the most efficient way to take data, and, ~um, ~it's ~really, ~really simple and easy to get set up and then to actually do the documentation. You can easily take data.

~Um, ~You don't have to do any mental math. It calculates the accuracy for you. It automatically plugs it in, ~it, um, like into your... the data for-- It adds it to your student's goals, ~adds the data to your student's goals, and then it also automatically generates a note based on the information that you're plugging in.

~Um, ~And then you can take just a quick second to jot down any additional analysis. But it is so, so easy, and it makes it possible to get that defensible data [00:05:00] during a session within the session. And it's ~um, ~really time efficient, and you can get it all done within the session. So we have a digital data boot camp that walks you through exactly how to set up all of this.

~Um, and so it- ~If you go to slpnow.com/ddb, it stands for Digital Data Boot camp, so ddb. ~Uh, ~If you're wanting some handholding ~um, ~in getting this set up, ~uh, ~this is a great place to start and we just walk you through how to get everything set up. ~It'll make-- ~It'll automatically generate graphs for you.

You'll have all of your attendance logged, so if there's any questions, ~um, ~you can easily document ~like ~when students were absent or when sessions were missed ~to var- ~due to various reasons, which will be really important to be able to easily pull up if there's any legal questions or whatnot.

The goal behind collecting this data is to help ourselves [00:06:00] make clinical decisions. ~And We, in terms of what that looks like, the way that I've found ... ~And everyone can end up having a slightly different system, but I recommend creating a strategy for yourself, ~um, ~and then using that consistently and making sure that you're being consistent with your data collection.

~Um, so ~I'm just going to share what works for me, ~um, ~but you don't have to do it the exact same way. There's plenty of ways that you can set up your data collection that ~um, ~will meet all of the legal requirements and make your job easier. But I like to rotate through my goals. So every session, each student has a primary goal.

So if I have three students in the group, we might be targeting three different goals if they don't have any overlap. But I start the session, we review the students' goals, we pick our primary focus, and I grab a quick probe for one goal per student, and that gives me really clean data. It shows me ~what, ~where the student is at.

~Um, so ~Let's say I have a group of three students, ~just to make it easy to keep track of, let's say ~A, B, C. [00:07:00] A is working on producing K, B is working on naming items and categories, and then C is working on producing narratives, ~whatever it might be. ~So we run through a quick probe for each of those goals.

~So ~Student A will produce some K words if that's what the level that their goal is written at, then B ~will, ~will give them ~like ~a quick visual to, ~um, ~identify items and categories and then student C, for some of the goals, ~I might-- ~like producing a narrative that might make more sense just to do a rubric and collect that data in the context of the session.

~Um, ~So like I said, we can be flexible, but depending on the goal, I will grab a quick probe or use a rubric to collect data in context, and the goal would be written that way if it's that type of goal. ~But I-- ~By seeing where the students are at without any support, ~um, ~I'm able to document that accuracy, so that gives me some of that defensible data.

And then that lets [00:08:00] me know what the student needs. And so I can document, okay, because they were at zero percent accuracy, we spent the majority of the session focusing on teaching, and that's showing that I'm meeting the student where they're at. ~Where-- ~However, if they're at seventy percent accuracy, they're nearing mastery, and I want to give them the opportunity to practice that in context.

So getting that initial probe data is really helpful for me, and then I'm able to document that I'm using that data for my clinical decision-making. And if you're using SLP Now for your data collection, you can easily see students' graphs, ~um, ~and it makes a trend line. If their baseline is zero percent accuracy and you want them to be at eighty percent by the end of the school year, ~um, ~there's a trend line that shows where we would expect students to be at any point in the school year.

And of course, skills don't always follow this l-linear trajectory. But if I keep seeing a student at zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero for [00:09:00] months on end, that tells me that I need to try a different strategy or I didn't write a good goal and I need to adjust the goal. ~Um, ~Having access to that data makes it really easy to make those decisions.

So going back to the main point, I like to start with a quick probe at the beginning of the session, and then that informs how we approach the rest of the session. And then if the session is primarily focused on teaching, I might document the level of support that the student needed ~um, ~in very structured kind of teaching activities.

Or if they are at a higher accuracy and we're doing a more contextualized activity, I would still document the level of support. And in SLP Now, we have a dropdown menu with ~some kind of ~predefined levels of support, but you can add in your own things to that dropdown so you're not having to type out the same things over and over ~and over.~

~Um, ~You can customize what's in that menu, and then [00:10:00] you just click for the description that works best for your student. ~Um, ~So that is a great way to document that level of support as well. You can easily see the past levels of support too, so that if you can't remember, ~oh, darn, ~what worked well for this student last time, you can quickly reference that and use that in future sessions as well.

So you're having that defensible data, but it also makes your job easier and helps you better support the student. ~Um,~

And then, ~um, ~I didn't address this in a lot of detail, but I mentioned that I like to do a quick probe at the beginning of the session, and these are super short, usually about five questions.

In SLP Now, if you use our goal bank, we have probes attached to every single goal, so you don't have to create any or have a system to keep track of them. They're all linked in your sessions to your student's goals. So you just click ~to take data on, like ~to take [00:11:00] probe data. It launches the stimulus items, and then you just click plus, minus, plus, minus, and that's your probe data.

And we like to use the same probe over time. ~I end up, if they ... ~Most students have a handful of goals, ~um, ~and then we end up ~targeting each goal about, ~formally targeting each goal about once a month. So I have a data point for each goal about once a month. ~Um- ~But then I use the same probe as a way to measure progress, and I'm not using the probe items in treatment.

They're just different stimulus items than we are using in treatment, so it is an opportunity to measure generalization. ~Um, ~So that's what that looks like. ~Um, ~The probe data is really nice because then we know exactly how students are responding and exactly what they've been given.

So if there's ever a legal question or an advocate is involved, you can show your probe as needed and give [00:12:00] context of like, okay, this is what they were expected to do. ~Um, ~Instead of just having sticky notes with tally marks and trying to figure out what that means, ~um, 'cause yeah. ~So we know that we're having high quality, consistent data.

The goal is not to have more data. We just want data that is faster, consistent, and easy to stand behind. And ~every note that you write now, like ~every note that you write now, every piece of data that you plug in is helping your future self. ~Um, ~Any data point that you enter into SLP Now can be used to generate billing notes, to generate progress notes automatically, to help build your present levels.

~And alternatively, it, ~If we are collecting our data in a different way, it can be creating a scavenger hunt for ourselves. ~Um, ~So what do you want your Medicaid billing and your progress notes and your present levels to look like? Do you want to have to be ~s- ~going on a scavenger hunt looking for the pieces of data, or do you want a system that automatically pulls them [00:13:00] together for you and helps you automatically write those billing notes, progress notes, present levels?

~All of that. Um, and ~Automatically pulling trends, summarizing growth, generating clear Medicaid summaries without having to write everything from ~stra- ~scratch. Being able to share graphs with parents and administrators, advocates. ~Um, ~to document the progress that a student is making, why goals are changing, why we should continue services, why a student is ready to exit.

Having that clear data makes all of those decisions way easier.

And what this looks like in practice, ~um, ~I start my session with a quick probe, and then I focus on being the best therapist that I can be for the remainder of the session. And then as we're closing out the session, I ~um, ~document the level of support that I provided. I click the button to generate the session note, and then I [00:14:00] will plug in any additional details of anything that I think is relevant that came up during the session and what I want to do next.

And if the student is absent, I can document that in the session, and I can document the reason, and then SLP Now will automatically generate a attendance chart.

So if there are any questions about, "Okay, why did you miss this number of sessions?" Then I can say, "Okay. Well, they were on a field trip this time. The student was out sick this time." You have all of that data ready to go. ~And yeah. So, um,~

When we have that type of system, we, again, get to have way easier Medicaid billing, progress notes.

Like Janelle said, "I fly through progress notes. I'm notoriously the first one done, and I have way more students than any of the other special education teachers, and I always know that I'm in a solid place because all I [00:15:00] have to do is use my laptop. I don't have to lug a bazillion binders around."

So that's what a good system does. It turns billing and progress notes and writing IEPs from a crisis into a fun, pleasant, exciting review. We get to see our students making progress, and we get to celebrate that in this documentation, and it gets to be a really fun thing versus something that we dread.

So in terms of practical takeaways for this episode, Here's a couple things that you might try. One, create a repeatable probe for a goal that you target all of the time. ~Um, ~Find a simple way to document your cueing or support level. ~Um, ~We have a Level of Support Rubric that might be helpful.

I'll add that in the show notes, ~um, ~a link to the level of support rubric as [00:16:00] well. ~Um, ~If you Google SLP Now level of support rubric, you can find that there too. ~Um-~

And then a third suggestion is thinking about a routine that you can use in your sessions and at the end of the day to make data collection easier.

You don't have to overhaul everything. Just make sure that you are thinking ahead and try setting up a system so that future you isn't stuck going on a scavenger hunt trying to decode ~um, ~a pile of sticky notes.

I hope that this episode helps make documentation and defensible data feel a little bit lighter and a little bit easier. You've got this. You're an amazing SLP, and I really hope this helps.

[New Feature] Keyboard-Controlled Data Tracking

August 7, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

Another feature request from our amazing members has come to life! You can now use your keyboard to log data in the live data collection tool. Here are the keyboard shortcuts for even quicker data collection:

To track Accuracy, type –

Q – Incorrect response

W – Correct response

To track Accuracy with Support, type –

O – Incorrect response

P – Correct response

Here’s what it looks like:

We also created a way to differentiate between keyboard and tablet use so that our tablet and smartphone data collectors can still track data seamlessly. Simply select “Tablet Mode” or “Keyboard Mode” when you open the Data Collection modal based on the device you’re using or how you’d like the goals to appear when logging data.

Keyboard Mode will allow you to take advantage of keyboard-controlled data collection, which automatically minimizes the goals you aren’t tracking data for. Tablet Mode will give you the same functionality as before, which will allow you to see all of your goals maximized as you collect data.

Why Having Materials Isn’t the Same as Having a System

July 28, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

Having a thousand beautifully laminated flashcards just means you own a lot of stuff. Having a system means you have a repeatable, streamlined process for selecting those materials, executing the session, collecting data, and documenting the results without losing your mind.

If you’re a school-based SLP in the thick of it, you already know the drill. You have hard drives full of PDFs and cabinets overflowing with board games, yet you still hit Friday afternoon feeling completely drained, scrambling to figure out what to do with your Monday morning mixed group. More materials won’t fix that. A smarter system will.

The 35% Problem: Why More Materials Won’t Save You

The real reason your therapy materials aren’t saving you time is that direct therapy isn’t the only thing eating your schedule. It’s the massive administrative load sitting on top of it.

If you feel like you’re drowning in paperwork, you’re not imagining it. A national survey of school-based SLPs found that roughly a third of their work week goes to documentation, assessment, and other non-direct-service tasks, not the therapy itself (ASHA Schools Survey data, reported in Cronin et al., 2024). No amount of additional resources can fix the fact that a third of your week is taken up by data logging, Medicaid billing, and IEP writing.

When you only have a materials library, you’re forced to mentally bridge the gap between the activity you chose, the data you need to take, and the documentation you have to file. A true system connects those dots for you. Your materials, your data collection, and your planning all work together. No manual bridging required.

Systematizing Your Therapy Planning

The Power of Literacy-Based Intervention

A therapy system links your materials directly to evidence-based frameworks, which reduces planning time while improving student outcomes at the same time.

Literacy-based therapy is a strong example. Research shows that simultaneously targeting speech sounds and literacy skills profoundly benefits children with speech sound disorders (Cabbage & Algeo-Nichols, 2024). A 2024 systematic review published by ASHA confirmed that embedding speech sound intervention into phonological awareness activities improves both speech production accuracy and literacy skills concurrently.

Building these multi-layered sessions from scratch every single week, though, is a fast track to burnout. When you work within a unified system rather than a folder of disconnected materials, you don’t just get a book or an activity. You get a pre-built unit: evidence-based targets, vocabulary lists, and comprehension questions already mapped out. You stop endlessly searching for ideas and start executing clinical frameworks that are ready to go.

Data Collection: The Probe-First System

One of the most practical shifts you can make is adopting a probe-first approach: a quick, unsupported probe administered right at the start of your session.

We’ve all been there, trying to run a game while simultaneously calculating percentages on a sticky note. A true system separates the teaching from the testing. By collecting probe data first, you capture clean, accurate data on the student’s independent skill level before any instruction happens.

Once that data is logged, the pressure is off. You can spend the rest of the session doing what you actually went into this field to do: teaching, scaffolding, and connecting with your students. No clipboard juggling required.

Ready to Build a System That Actually Works?

If you’re tired of spending your Sundays piecing together plans for the week ahead, it might be time to work from a smarter foundation.

SLP Now gives you therapy materials, planning tools, and caseload management in one place, built specifically for the reality of school-based practice. Start your 14-day free trial today and see what it feels like to walk into Monday morning with a plan already in place.

References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2020). Schools Survey, as reported in Cronin, S., et al. (2024). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549507.2024.2404035

Cabbage, K. L., & Algeo-Nichols, D. (2024). Literacy-based intervention for children with speech sound disorders: A review of the literature. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_persp-24-00025 (available to ASHA members)

SLP Now. (n.d.). How to Use Probe Data & The Probe-First Data Collection System. SLP Now Blog.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Have you ever found yourself [00:00:05] searching for materials right before a group? Maybe quickly purchasing something on Teachers Pay [00:00:10] Teachers or scouring Pinterest for the perfect [00:00:15] therapy materials for an upcoming group? If you have, you are [00:00:20] absolutely not alone, and I am excited to dive [00:00:25] into today's episode to help us solve [00:00:30] this problem for the rest of our careers, [00:00:35] essentially.
The problem isn't that we need better materials. [00:00:40] It's that we're trying to use materials without a system. So we [00:00:45] can find the right material for one session, but if we keep [00:00:50] using that process, we're going to be spending a ton of time and [00:00:55] money putting together the materials for the specific session over [00:01:00] and over and over.
However, when we have a system, [00:01:05] we have a process for planning, data, [00:01:10] and progress monitoring, all of that built in ready to go, and [00:01:15] we don't have to find ourselves scrambling for the right materials [00:01:20] for the student and the group. This significantly reduces [00:01:25] our mental load and makes everything so [00:01:30] much easier when it comes to providing therapy for our students.[00:01:35]
So the difference in the types of questions that [00:01:40] we're asking. So if we are focused on materials, [00:01:45] we're focused on, okay, what am I using with this upcoming [00:01:50] group? What therapy materials are we using today? When we have a [00:01:55] system, we're asking, okay, what are we targeting? Where do my materials [00:02:00] live? How am I collecting data? What am I doing in the next session?
And [00:02:05] we can have amazing materials and still feel [00:02:10] incredibly scattered if those materials aren't connected to a repeatable [00:02:15] workflow.
So some things that we might be seeing if we have [00:02:20] materials but not a system. We have folders, bookmarks, [00:02:25] downloads everywhere, and we're scrambling before sessions to [00:02:30] find that right material. We spend more time [00:02:35] selecting our materials than actually using them in therapy. We're seeing a lot of [00:02:40] materials flop, especially ones that you quickly purchased and put [00:02:45] together and were super hopeful about, and then it's a complete flop. If your data is [00:02:50] living on sticky notes or scraps of paper or in your memory. If you're [00:02:55] wrapping up sessions and you're thinking that went okay, but you don't have any clear [00:03:00] steps, and when you're writing progress reports and it feels [00:03:05] like detective work and you're having to fill in the blanks.
And [00:03:10] if you are noticing these things, it's not that you're [00:03:15] unprepared, it's that your prep isn't organized into something [00:03:20] repeatable.
We have helped countless SLPs streamline [00:03:25] this process and solve this problem. Here are some examples. So Courtney [00:03:30] said, "I've been able to gather my materials, collect my data live, and have a graph to [00:03:35] show how students are making progress." Mary said that she saved forty [00:03:40] hours a month after streamlining her planning and documentation with [00:03:45] SLP Now. Robin said she's having a lot less anxiety about planning for [00:03:50] therapy, and she's better at it and enjoying it more.
So what does this [00:03:55] actually look like? 'Cause those sound like really great stories, right?
We want [00:04:00] to shift from collecting materials to building that workflow.[00:04:05]
So a simple system includes [00:04:10] planning, first of all.
This is where we have a predictable session structure, so we're not [00:04:15] always reinventing the wheel. If you go to the [00:04:20] SLP Now Academy. If you're not an SLP Now member, you can sign up for a free [00:04:25] trial and access the Academy totally for free. But we have a course on [00:04:30] Session Structure, and we walk you through how to set up your own session [00:04:35] structure.
And so that is the first part [00:04:40] of this simple system.
The second part is materials, [00:04:45] and we want to make sure that we have goal-aligned resources that are easy to [00:04:50] find and reuse. So we want to have our core set of [00:04:55] materials that we use over and over and over again.
I have my [00:05:00] skill-based materials that I've been using for ten years, and some of them have gotten a little [00:05:05] bit of a refresh as I've learned and done more professional development and all of that. [00:05:10] But they are tried and true, and I still have some of my [00:05:15] very original materials that I use because they work.
[00:05:20] Making sure that we have those skill-based materials, so that we have [00:05:25] visuals and tools to actually teach skills and break [00:05:30] them down for students. And then on top of that, we layer thematic [00:05:35] units. The cool thing is we also have courses in the Academy to [00:05:40] dive into how to build your starter kit of [00:05:45] materials to make sure that you have all of those goal-aligned resources for your caseload. [00:05:50] We have tools inside SLP Now. We have all of [00:05:55] the materials. We also have tools to make it really easy to gather those for your students. So [00:06:00] you don't have to do a bunch of digging. There's a way to run your [00:06:05] students through, create their goals, and [00:06:10] then export their probes and their visuals and everything that you need [00:06:15] for those core materials, including evidence-based strategies to help you [00:06:20] target those goals because you are your best therapy tool.
We walk you through how to do that. [00:06:25] And then Thematic Units, we have a course on that and how to set those up for your [00:06:30] caseload. We don't have time to dive into all of the details on that. But those [00:06:35] two little shifts in terms of having your starter kit and picking [00:06:40] monthly thematic units will significantly reduce your planning [00:06:45] time. You're infusing evidence-based strategies into every single thing that you [00:06:50] do in your sessions.
You'll start to feel way more confident as an [00:06:55] SLP.
Then the third part of the system is data. [00:07:00] We want to make sure that we have quick probes and simple progress monitoring built into our [00:07:05] session. The goal is not more paperwork. It's easier decisions. And when we [00:07:10] start the session with a quick probe, it helps us determine [00:07:15] where the session needs to go. Like, does this student need initial teaching, or are we ready to [00:07:20] dive into more practice? Are they heading towards [00:07:25] generalization? It gives us the exact information that we need to drive the session, but then it [00:07:30] also gives us a really nice data point that we can use for progress monitoring to make [00:07:35] sure that students are making adequate progress towards their goals.
We can also document what [00:07:40] types of supports are helpful. Once we move on from that initial probe, [00:07:45] we just focus on therapy and are able to describe what supports actually [00:07:50] benefit the student, and that makes for a really [00:07:55] high-quality note. In SLP Now, it's so easy. You can [00:08:00] do this all within your session. We have dropdown menus to make it really [00:08:05] easy to populate that note, and you enter your data, use the [00:08:10] dropdown to select your support, and then you can [00:08:15] automatically generate the note with our note template. It's all really easy and [00:08:20] efficient, but it gives you really high-quality documentation.
And then the fourth [00:08:25] step is follow through. We want to make a note for our future [00:08:30] self as we're wrapping up the group because we do our best therapy planning [00:08:35] inside the session when we're with the students and everything is fresh. I jot down a [00:08:40] note in terms of what I'm thinking for the next session, [00:08:45] and it's easy to view that in SLP Now.
The next time that [00:08:50] I see this group, I can see what note I left last time, and that gets [00:08:55] carried forward, and then it makes my whole therapy planning process [00:09:00] really streamlined and efficient and evidence-based.
To recap the [00:09:05] four steps, we have planning, materials, data, and follow [00:09:10] through.
This system helps us streamline all [00:09:15] of the aspects of therapy planning and providing really [00:09:20] high-quality therapy.
As a CF, I walked into a therapy room that [00:09:25] was packed to the brim with games and [00:09:30] puzzles and worksheets and therapy books and so many [00:09:35] materials.
I also was a digital materials hoarder. I [00:09:40] purchased a lot of digital materials. I also downloaded any freebie that I could [00:09:45] find. I spent so much time organizing all of these digital [00:09:50] materials.
And then I moved out of [00:09:55] state a few years into my career, and I started at a new school, and there [00:10:00] were no materials there, and I hadn't shipped all of my [00:10:05] stuff from the previous state. So I had zero [00:10:10] materials, but it was amazing how much better my [00:10:15] therapy was, because I wasn't overwhelmed by all of [00:10:20] the options.
At that time, I had my skill-based materials, and I was [00:10:25] doing those thematic units, and things were just so much easier. So [00:10:30] more materials is often not better. They can [00:10:35] actually increase our overwhelm. We don't need to have [00:10:40] a ton of stuff. If you're feeling like, "I don't have materials," [00:10:45] you don't need a ton of materials.
If you have a solid [00:10:50] workflow, everything becomes so much easier. With a strong [00:10:55] system, like I've been describing, we just need to gather a couple different things. And [00:11:00] like I said, SLP Now will help you with that entire process [00:11:05] of gathering those materials and then giving you the pieces of the system that you need [00:11:10] for your therapy plans, for your data collection, [00:11:15] for your notes, all of that good stuff.
I want to make sure that this [00:11:20] episode is super actionable. I shared a lot of different things that you can do [00:11:25] in terms of planning, materials, data, and follow through. Pick one thing. So if [00:11:30] you feel like planning is the biggest hurdle for you right now, [00:11:35] check out SLP Now and do that Session Structure course.
Or [00:11:40] if you're like, "Okay, I feel like I have a decent session structure, but the materials are driving me [00:11:45] crazy," then check out the Thematic Units course in [00:11:50] SLP Now or the Therapy Planning course would help you build [00:11:55] those materials. Pick one action item from this episode [00:12:00] to implement and start from there.
If you're wanting to [00:12:05] revamp your data collection, you can take the Data Collection course in SLP Now [00:12:10] and test it out with a group.
If your materials aren't making life easier, [00:12:15] the answer may not be new materials. The answer may be building [00:12:20] a system around the ones that you already have and evaluating them [00:12:25] and kind of trying to make sure that they fit what you need.
That [00:12:30] is our episode for today, and if you are tired [00:12:35] of patching things together, you don't have to work harder.
We [00:12:40] just need a system that works with you, and it is totally feasible, [00:12:45] totally possible. I shared the stories of three SLPs who implemented [00:12:50] this and are experiencing relief, and I know that you can too. [00:12:55] So I would love to see you in SLP Now. We'd love to support [00:13:00] you and help you reduce your workload.
That's a wrap, and hope to see you [00:13:05] soon.

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Why Therapy Planning Feels So Exhausting (It’s Not a You Problem)

July 28, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever ended a school day feeling like your brain is completely fried, even though you “only” ran therapy sessions, I want you to hear this first: it’s not a personal failure.

Burnout among speech-language pathologists is a well-documented problem, and in Rand Corp.’s recent national survey of the teacher workforce, 55% of teachers reported frequent, intense job-related stress in 2026, compared to 34% of similar working adults in other industries. School-based SLPs share many of the same structural pressures as classroom teachers: fixed schedules, high caseloads, and heavy documentation demands. Those aren’t small numbers, and they’re not a coincidence.

I’ve talked to so many SLPs who think the answer is a better planner, a new app, or just pushing through lunch to catch up. But here’s the thing. When your schedule doesn’t add up to the demands on your plate, the problem usually isn’t you. It’s the system you’re working inside of.

Burnout in this field isn’t a passion problem. It’s a capacity problem. And there’s actual brain science behind why.

Burnout Is an Access Problem, Not a Feeling Problem

We usually talk about burnout in emotional terms. Exhausted. Checked out. Like you’re just going through the motions. Those feelings are real, but they’re not the whole story.

Burnout is what happens when your brain loses access to the part of it that plans, decides, and problem-solves. That’s your executive function, and it lives in your prefrontal cortex. Bilinguistics describes this well: burnout doesn’t mean you’re worse at your job, it means your executive system needs new supports.

When you’re burned out, things that used to be easy suddenly feel huge. Picking a therapy target for a student you’ve seen for years takes way longer than it should. Starting a report feels impossible. Your brain isn’t broken. It’s just out of fuel, because it’s been running on nonstop demand with zero structural support.

And here’s the part that matters most: working longer hours doesn’t fix this. It makes it worse. More demand without more structure just drains your tank faster.

Why Your Brain Gets So Tired (Cognitive Load Theory, Made Simple)

There’s a framework that explains this really well. It’s called Cognitive Load Theory, and a researcher named John Sweller came up with it back in 1988. The idea is simple. Your working memory, the mental space where you hold and process information in real time, can only handle about four to seven things at once.

Go past that, and things start to slip. Mistakes happen. Focus falters. Everything gets harder.

Sweller broke mental load into three types, and every one of them is competing for space in your brain all day long.

Type of Load	What It Is	What It Looks Like for an SLP
Intrinsic load	The load that comes with the job itself	Analyzing a student’s syntax, diagnosing a language disorder, understanding an AAC device
Extraneous load	The load that comes from clunky systems, not the clinical work	Searching five websites for a material, cross-referencing a paper binder with a digital IEP
Germane load	The good kind of effort, the kind that builds real clinical skill	Adjusting your approach mid-session, connecting a student’s progress to a new strategy

Here’s the key part: these three loads add up, and your total capacity is fixed. So every bit of energy wasted on extraneous load is energy stolen straight from your clinical thinking. If you’re spending your mental energy hunting for materials or remembering which goal belongs to which kid, you have nothing left for the actual therapy.

There are two other pieces of this worth knowing. The Redundancy Effect happens when you’re forced to log the same information in multiple places, like a paper log, a Medicaid portal, and a spreadsheet, for no real benefit. And the Expert Reversal Effect explains why rigid, overly detailed templates that help a new clinician can actually slow down a veteran, because they interrupt clinical instincts you’ve already built. A good system should flex with your experience level, not fight it.

The Real Culprit: Too Many Separate Tools

Most of us try to solve overwhelm by adding more tools. A new app here, a new spreadsheet there. But when none of those tools talk to each other, you end up doing all the connecting work yourself.

Think about your actual planning process. Maybe you’re searching a marketplace for an activity, scrolling social media for ideas, checking a district IEP system for goals, opening a separate lesson plan doc, and grabbing a paper clipboard for data. That’s five different systems for one plan.

There’s a name for the mental toll this takes: the split-attention effect. It happens when you have to hold information from one place in your head while working with information from another place. Like reading a student’s IEP goal, then trying to mentally stretch a generic worksheet to fit it. Your brain is doing the bridging work that a good system should be doing for you.

Then there’s context switching, which is what happens every time you jump from one task or app to another. Research out of UC Irvine found it takes over 23 minutes to fully refocus after a real interruption, and just three switches a day can cost you over an hour of productive time. In a scattered digital workspace, that adds up fast. Trying to multitask across documentation and planning has also been shown to spike error rates dramatically.

So every time you go from your planning app, to an email about a schedule change, to a Medicaid portal, your brain has to drop what it was doing, load a whole new set of rules, and then try to remember where it left off. That’s not laziness. That’s just how brains work.

When your tools don’t connect, you become the connection. You’re the one remembering where everything lives, translating a paper data sheet into a digital report, making sure the activity you picked actually matches the legal goal in another system. That invisible work is using the exact same brain space your clinical reasoning needs. Research on physician task load and burnout shows this pattern isn’t unique to SLPs. Any clinical role that forces people to bridge clunky systems by hand sees the same climb in workload and burnout risk.

Why Mixed Groups Feel Like Mental Gymnastics

If you’ve ever tried to run a group with four kids working on four completely different goals, you already know this in your bones.

A common approach is scrolling endlessly through a marketplace looking for “the perfect activity.” It feels productive, but it’s actually exhausting. You’re evaluating hundreds of options for how clinically useful they are, how long they’ll take to prep, whether kids will actually engage. That’s called decision density, and too much of it leads to decision fatigue, where your brain just gives up and either freezes or grabs whatever’s easiest. This is sometimes called the paradox of choice: having endless unvetted options doesn’t make planning easier, it makes it harder.

Now picture the actual session. Student A is working on past tense verbs. Student B is on WH-questions. Student C is working on their /r/ sound. Student D is on complex sentences. Without a shared structure, you’re holding all four goals in your head at once, shifting your attention constantly, managing behavior, and trying to collect accurate data for each kid.

That’s not “winging it” because you’re bad at your job. That’s your brain doing an impossible juggling act. And something always slips, whether it’s the data, the engagement, or you. If this sounds like your Tuesday morning, I’ve written more about running mixed groups without winging it, including the exact structure that makes it work.

What Actually Helps

Here’s the good news. Once you understand that this is a systems problem, you can actually fix it. Not by trying harder, but by changing how the work is structured.

Bring everything into one place. The fastest way to kill the “toggle tax” is to stop bouncing between five different tools. When your therapy materials, your planning, and your data collection all live in one system, like the one we built at SLP Now, you’re no longer the one gluing everything together. Your brain gets that energy back.

Use language-rich thematic units. Instead of building 50 separate lesson plans every week, group your caseload into broader categories, like early elementary language or upper elementary narrative. Pick one anchor activity (a book, an article, a video) for each group and use it for the whole month. Planning time drops from hours to minutes. And because everyone’s using the same rich material, one student can answer a WH-question about it while another practices a target verb and another works on articulation, all inside the same context. This works especially well paired with Literacy-Based Therapy, where you move a group through the same predictable arc each month: activating pre-story knowledge, reading the text, checking comprehension, practicing the skill, then generating a parallel story with the new skill built in. If you want to try this yourself, our free Literacy-Based Therapy Challenge walks you through it step by step.

Lean on a predictable session structure. A repeatable framework does the heavy lifting so your brain doesn’t have to figure out what’s next every single time. Here’s a simple 5-step version that works well:

Step	What You Do	Why It Helps
1. Check In	Review expectations, students name their own goals	Gets kids’ brains primed for the session too
2. Assess	Grab quick probe data right at the start	Clean data before fatigue sets in, then the data sheet goes away
3. Teach	Introduce the skill clearly, with visuals	Breaks a complex skill into manageable pieces
4. Practice	Apply the skill inside your shared activity	Builds real repetition and generalization
5. Wrap Up	Reinforce what you covered, document	Planning doesn’t follow you home

Give students visual supports. Visuals act like an extra brain for your students. A pacing board, a cue card, or a goal-specific visual from the SLP Now Visuals Binder lets a student reference their own target without waiting on you to redirect them every 30 seconds. Structured visual frameworks help too. The SWBST strategy (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) gives students a visual roadmap for summarizing a story, so they’re not holding the whole narrative in their head. You can read more about using a narrative graphic organizer here. The CLEAR method (Context first, Label the part of speech, Explain the meaning, Anchor with visuals, Repeat) does the same thing for multiple meaning words. Both take pressure off you during mixed groups, because the student can lean on the visual instead of on you.

Automate your data collection. Tapping through pre-loaded goals in a digital session beats tracking pluses and minuses on paper while also trying to prompt and manage behavior. Let the tool do the math so your brain can stay on the kid in front of you. I go deeper on documentation strategies here.

Use checklists instead of memory. Trying to hold every step of an IEP or evaluation in your head is a guaranteed way to burn out and make mistakes. A simple, standardized checklist means you never have to wonder what’s next. Templates and go-to phrases for common report language do the same thing: they save your energy for the parts that actually require clinical judgment. I share more paperwork time-saving strategies here.

Try the single-folder system. All the paperwork for one student lives in one folder, sorted by due date, most urgent up front. When you get a surprise 15 free minutes, you don’t waste them deciding what to work on. You just grab the front folder and go. Here’s exactly how I set this up.

Caseload Isn’t the Whole Story

One more thing worth naming: caseload size alone doesn’t tell the real story. A caseload of 60 kids who mostly need articulation support in groups is a completely different job than 60 kids who need AAC programming, behavior support, and constant meetings.

ASHA has pushed for years to shift from a “caseload” model to a “workload” model, one that actually counts everything: direct therapy, testing, report writing, meetings, billing, travel. If you track your time across those categories for even ten days, you end up with real data, not just a feeling of overwhelm. That data is what makes it possible to advocate for real change, whether that’s a caseload cap, SLPA support, or protected paperwork time. I wrote a whole post on why you’re not the problem here if you want to dig into this more.

The Bottom Line

You are not burned out because you don’t care enough or because you’re bad at managing your time. You’re burned out because the systems around you are asking your brain to do more than it’s built to handle.

When your tools are scattered and your sessions are unstructured, your brain spends all its energy just holding everything together, and there’s nothing left for the deep clinical work you actually trained for.

The fix isn’t working harder. It’s building systems that protect your brain’s limited bandwidth: one place for your planning, predictable routines for your sessions, visuals that carry some of the weight, and checklists that hold what your memory shouldn’t have to.

You deserve a workday where your energy goes toward your kids, not toward being the human glue holding five different tools together.

x Marisha

FAQ

How does Cognitive Load Theory explain SLP burnout?

Working memory can only hold so much at once. Burnout often happens when "extraneous load," the mental effort wasted on fragmented tools and searching for materials, crowds out the "germane load" your brain needs for real clinical thinking.

What is the split-attention effect in speech therapy planning?

It's what happens when you have to divide your focus between two disconnected sources, like a student's IEP goals on one screen and a worksheet you're trying to adapt on the fly. That constant mental bridging drains your energy.

How do language-rich thematic units help with mixed groups?

One shared activity, like a picture book, works for a whole month across different groups. That cuts down on decision fatigue and gives multiple students a shared context to target different goals at once.

What are the steps in the 5-Step Session Structure?

Check In, Assess, Teach, Practice, and Wrap Up. Each step gives your brain a predictable next move instead of reinventing the session every time.

Why does caseload vs. workload matter for school-based SLPs?

Caseload only counts how many kids you see. Workload counts everything: therapy, paperwork, evaluations, meetings, billing. Burnout comes from workload, which is why tracking and advocating for it actually matters.

Why Speech Therapy Data Tracking Feels Overwhelming (And How Integration Fixes It)

July 28, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

You take data during the session. Then you retype it into your Medicaid note. Then, weeks later, you dig back through it to write a progress report. Then you copy pieces of that into the present levels section of an IEP.

Same data. Four different places. Four different times you had to touch it.

If data tracking feels like it takes more energy than the actual therapy does, that’s not a sign you’re bad at documentation. It’s a sign your systems aren’t talking to each other.

The Real Problem Isn’t Data Collection. It’s Re-Entry.

Most SLPs don’t dread collecting data in the moment. Marking a plus or minus during a session is fast. What drains you is everything that happens to that data after you collect it: transcribing it, remembering it, re-typing it into three other places.

This isn’t unique to speech therapy. It’s a well-documented pattern across healthcare more broadly. A 2025 scoping review on electronic health records found that when a system’s task sequence doesn’t match how clinicians actually work, they build workarounds, like exporting to a spreadsheet and retyping results back into the record, and that this repeated re-entry is a direct contributor to burnout and documentation errors. Other research on clinician documentation burden points to the same root cause: redundant, duplicate data entry adds real cognitive load, on top of whatever mental effort the clinical work itself requires.

Translate that into an SLP’s week. Probe data goes on a sticky note or a paper sheet, then gets transferred into a spreadsheet for the billing note, then gets pulled again for the quarterly progress report, then gets summarized once more for the IEP. That’s the same information, retyped four separate times, with four separate chances to lose it, misremember it, or run out of time before you get to it.

We touched on this same dynamic (constant re-deciding and re-doing draining your mental energy) in Paperwork Time Savers for School-Based SLPs. Data tracking is really the same problem wearing a different hat.

Why “More Organized” Doesn’t Fix It

A lot of SLPs respond to data overwhelm by trying to get more organized (a better binder, a color-coded folder system, a new spreadsheet template). Those things help around the edges. But if the data still has to be manually copied from one place to another, you haven’t removed the workload. You’ve just made the workload tidier.

The actual fix isn’t a better container for the same repeated typing. It’s removing the re-typing itself.

What Integration Actually Means (and Why It’s Different)

“Integration” gets used loosely in edtech marketing, so here’s what it means in practice for data tracking specifically: the data you collect during a session is the same data that shows up in your billing note, your progress report, and your IEP present levels, without you retyping it.

That’s the difference between a data collection tool and a data collection system. A tool captures the data. A system also carries that data forward to everywhere else it needs to go.

In SLP Now, this looks like:

You collect data once, during the session, attached to the specific goal you’re targeting that day.
That same data automatically builds your progress graphs, so you can see trends over time without manually plotting anything.
Billing notes generate directly from what you already documented, instead of asking you to summarize the session a second time in a separate system.
Present levels and progress report language pull from the same data, so IEP season doesn’t mean starting from a blank page and hunting for old numbers.

The point isn’t that any single one of these steps is impressive on its own. It’s that none of them require you to re-enter information you already typed once. That’s what actually reduces the overwhelm, not a prettier spreadsheet, but fewer total times you have to touch the same piece of information.

For a closer look at how this plays out specifically for evaluations and assessment data, we broke that down in Streamlining SLP Assessment: Best Practices and Tools.

What to Look for If You’re Evaluating Any Data Tracking System

Does data collected during a session automatically populate your other documentation (billing notes, progress reports, present levels), or do you still have to copy and retype it?
Can you see a student’s progress over time without manually building a chart yourself?
Is your therapy plan connected to your data, so the system knows what goal you were targeting when you collected that data point?
Does the system reduce the number of places you have to look when you’re prepping for an IEP meeting, or does it just add one more place?

If the answer to most of these is “I still have to do that part manually,” you likely have a data collection tool, not a data tracking system.

The Bottom Line

Data tracking doesn’t feel overwhelming because SLPs are bad at data. It feels overwhelming because most systems ask you to enter the same information multiple times, in multiple formats, for multiple audiences. The fix isn’t more discipline or a better binder. It’s a system where your data only has to be typed once.

Ready to stop re-entering the same data four times?

Start your free two-week trial of SLP Now and see how connected data, planning, and reporting can feel. No credit card required.

Sources

Scoping review on EHR usability and documentation burden (2025): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jep.70189
Systematic review/meta-analysis, EHR use and clinician burnout, JMIR Medical Informatics (2024): https://medinform.jmir.org/2024/1/e54811

FAQ

Why does speech therapy data tracking feel so overwhelming?

It's usually not the act of collecting data that's the problem. It's re-entering the same data multiple times, into a billing note, a progress report, and an IEP, that adds up to real mental and time burden.

What does "integrated" data tracking actually mean?

An integrated system means data collected during a therapy session automatically carries forward into your other documentation, instead of requiring you to retype it in each separate place.

Does using a data tracking app automatically reduce documentation time?

Not necessarily. Some apps only make data collection itself faster but still require manual transfer elsewhere. Real time savings comes from data flowing to your other documentation without re-entry.

No-Prep Speech Therapy Games You Can Start Right Now

July 24, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

Some days, the materials don’t print. Or you’re covering someone else’s caseload with zero notice. Or you just need something quick to close out a session that ran long on paperwork talk.

That’s what this list is for. No materials, no printing, no setup. Just you, your students, and a few minutes.

Why Keep a No-Prep Back Pocket

I always keep two or three of these games ready to go, not because I don’t love a well-planned session, but because plans fall apart. A sub day, a fire drill, a kid who forgot their folder again. Having something you can start cold saves the session, and honestly, it saves your energy too.

Talking Games

These need nothing but a group willing to talk.

Fortunately, Unfortunately – Students build a story together, one sentence at a time, alternating between sentences that start with “fortunately” and “unfortunately.” It’s silly, it moves fast, and it’s a great way to work on narrative sequencing and sentence formulation without a worksheet in sight.

Tall Tales – A student favorite built around generating stories with unexpected plot twists. Great for higher-level language groups working on narrative structure and inferencing.

Word Chains / I’m Going on a Picnic – Each student repeats the growing list before adding their own item. A fun, low-stakes way to target auditory memory.

Movement Games

For groups that need to get up and move before they can focus again.

Freeze Dance – Music plays, students dance, music stops, everyone freezes. Simple, but it works every time as a reset.

Secret Dancer – One student secretly leads the moves while the group copies. Great for building attention and social observation skills alongside the movement.

Zip Zap Zop – A version of hot potato using words instead of a ball. If you’ve got a student targeting /z/, this one doubles as an articulation warm-up.

Group-Connection Games

Good for the first few minutes of a group session, especially with students who don’t know each other well yet.

Name Game – Students pair alliteration and adjectives with their name to help the group remember each other. Built-in language practice disguised as an icebreaker.

Jedi Numbers – The group tries to count up to a target number without two people speaking at once. No talking strategy allowed, just reading each other’s nonverbal cues. Great for social communication goals.

Silent Interviews – Pairs try to learn something about each other using only nonverbal communication. A fun, low-pressure way to build pragmatic language awareness.

Adapting These for Mixed-Goal Groups

Most school caseloads mean mixed-goal groups, which can make a single game feel like it only serves one student. The trick is layering your scaffolds into how you run the game rather than picking a different game for each goal.

For example, in Zip Zap Zop, you can add a regulatory scaffold by reviewing the group’s goals before you start (“Remember, we’re all working on staying on topic today”). You can add a response scaffold for a student who needs more support by modeling the first round before asking them to lead. And you can add a linguistic scaffold by recasting a student’s response with the correct grammar as you keep the game moving.

If that idea of layering support into an activity is new to you, our post on scaffolding in curriculum-based therapy breaks down structural and interactive scaffolds in more detail, including regulatory, response, and linguistic scaffolds specifically.

Bringing It All Together

Keep two or three of these bookmarked or written on a sticky note in your therapy bag. You’ll be glad you have them on the days when nothing else is going according to plan.

Looking for online and printable options too? Check out our full round-up of free speech therapy games and activities for ideas across every setting.

And if you want a full system for planning sessions like this, join our Free Literacy-Based Therapy Challenge. It’s a 5-day challenge with daily 5-minute tutorials, a workbook, and free materials to help you plan a month of therapy in less than 10 minutes a day.

FAQ

What are no-prep speech therapy games?

Games that need no materials, printing, or setup. You can start playing with just your voice and a group of students, anywhere.

When are no-prep games most useful?

On chaotic days, when you're covering for another SLP, when materials didn't print, or when you just want a quick warm-up or closer for a session.

Can no-prep games target real therapy goals?

Yes. Many of these games can be adapted to target specific goals just by changing what you ask students to say or do during the game.

Free Teletherapy Games for Speech Therapy (No Downloads Needed)

July 24, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

Teletherapy comes with its own set of constraints. You can’t hand a student a physical spinner. You can’t pull a bin of toys off the shelf mid-session. Everything has to work through a screen, load fast, and hold a student’s attention without you being able to lean over and redirect them in person.

The good news is there are plenty of free tools built for exactly this. No downloads, no printing, just open a tab and go.

What Makes a Game Teletherapy-Friendly

Before we get into the list, here’s what I look for:

It loads fast. If a game takes 30 seconds to load, you’ve lost your student’s attention before you’ve even started.
It works through screen share or mouse control. You need a way for the student to interact, not just watch you play.
It doesn’t need an account for the student. The fewer logins and passwords, the fewer interruptions.
It’s flexible enough for any goal. A game you can reuse across artic, language, and social goals saves you from hunting for something new every session.

Games for Group Turn-Taking

If you’re running a virtual group, you need a way to pass control between students without losing momentum.

Wordwall – Search over 10,000 speech-therapy games already built by other SLPs, filterable by sound and skill. Hand mouse control to one student at a time, or let the group take turns calling out answers while you click.

Pink Cat Games – Build a monster, run a race, or spin a wheel while targeting speech and language goals. Great for keeping a group engaged between turns since everyone can see the board.

Toy Theater – Classic games like tic-tac-toe that translate naturally to screen share, plus teacher tools like dice and spinners built right in, so you’re not juggling a second tab.

Self-Checking Games for Independent Practice

These work well when you want a student to practice on their own during a session, or as carryover between sessions.

Boom Learning – Hundreds of free, self-checking Boom Cards decks tagged for speech therapy. Use the “Find Free” filter in the store to browse without spending points. Since the cards check themselves, students get immediate feedback even when you’re working with someone else in the group.

Movement and Brain Breaks for Virtual Sessions

Sitting still in front of a screen is its own kind of exhausting. A short movement break can reset attention fast.

Go Noodle – Movement breaks, dance choreography, and mindfulness exercises. The Call & Response dances double as a language activity since students have to listen and imitate.

Quick Spinners and Randomizers

Sometimes the simplest tool is the one you’ll actually use every session.

Wheel of Names – A free, no-signup spinner. Load it with articulation targets, categories, or turn order and spin. No account, no download, just type in your list and go.

Bringing It All Together

You don’t need five different tabs open every session. Pick one or two of these that fit your caseload’s goals, and keep them bookmarked so you’re never scrambling mid-session to find something engaging.

Looking for in-person and printable options too? Check out our full round-up of free speech therapy games and activities for ideas that work outside teletherapy as well.

And if you want a full system for planning sessions like this (not just a list of games), join our Free Literacy-Based Therapy Challenge. It’s a 5-day challenge with daily 5-minute tutorials, a workbook, and free materials to help you plan a month of therapy in less than 10 minutes a day.

x Marisha

FAQ

What makes a game good for teletherapy?

It should load fast, work through screen share, and let you hand mouse control to a student without a lot of setup. Games that need printing or a physical board don't translate well to virtual sessions.

Can I use these games with a group on teletherapy?

Yes. Most of these support turn-taking through mouse control or shared screens, so they work for groups, not just one-on-one sessions.

Where can I find in-person or printable options too?

Check out our full round-up of free speech therapy games and activities, which covers online, printable, and material-free options for any setting.

Scaffolding in Speech Therapy: Types + Examples for SLPs

July 24, 2026 by Marisha 1 Comment

I know what you’re thinking. We already struggle to make drill-based activities feel meaningful. So how are we supposed to help our students succeed in context, too?

The answer is scaffolding.

Scaffolding means giving students the exact amount of support they need to succeed, then pulling that support back over time. Instead of picking activities students can already do on their own, we pick activities that stretch them a little, and we provide as much support as they need to get there. The goal is always to decrease that support as the student gets stronger.

This approach works so well because it starts in a purposeful context. We’re not just building a skill in isolation. We’re preparing students to actually use that skill in the classroom.

So how do we do this? There are two main types of scaffolds: structural and interactive (Ukrainetz, 2006).

Structural Scaffolds

Structural scaffolds happen before the session starts. We plan ahead and make purposeful decisions about the context and materials we’ll use. This might look like:

Setting up predictable routines within a session or unit
Choosing treatment materials with intention (like pulling content straight from the classroom)
Using tools such as visuals, pictographic sketching, semantic webbing, or audio recordings
Changing the order you present tasks (for example, starting with a complex activity, moving into focused skill practice, then closing with a complex activity that pulls it all together)
Adjusting the environment (a quieter room, a smaller group, compensatory tools in the classroom)
Bringing in peer support

Structural scaffolds are the foundation. They set the stage before a student ever walks in the door. If you’re building out curriculum-based therapy sessions, this guide to curriculum-based therapy planning walks through exactly how to set that foundation.

Interactive Scaffolds

Interactive scaffolds are more reactive. Instead of planning them ahead of time, we respond to what’s actually happening in the moment to support our students.

Ukrainetz (2006) breaks interactive scaffolds into three categories: regulatory, response, and linguistic.

Here’s what that looks like in a session with a group of 6th graders working on language skills in the context of a reading passage.

Regulatory Scaffolds

Regulatory scaffolds keep students engaged in the task.

I start the session by reviewing the students’ goals and building awareness of why we’re working on them.
If we’re starting a new unit, we talk about what students already know, connecting new content to prior knowledge.
Throughout the session, I comment on how students are doing.
If a student is distracted or struggling to stay on task, I step in with redirection.
We close the session by reviewing how the student performed.

Response Scaffolds

Response scaffolds help students actually produce a response.

Depending on where a student is at, I might model the response, provide part of the answer, ask a leading question, or point to a visual. Repeating and emphasizing key points can also nudge a student toward the answer without giving it away completely.

Linguistic Scaffolds

Linguistic scaffolds support accuracy with the specific language target, like grammar or sentence structure. Modeling, recasting a student’s response with the correct grammar, and using directed questions all fall into this category. For a deeper dive into specific linguistic scaffolding strategies, this breakdown of syntax strategies shows exactly how to model and recast in real sessions.

Why Scaffolding Actually Works

Scaffolding isn’t just an SLP-specific idea. It’s backed by decades of research across education and language development. A large research review found that scaffolding is effective when it’s contingent (matched to what the student needs in the moment), fades over time, and gradually shifts responsibility to the student (Van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen, 2010). That’s exactly what structural and interactive scaffolds do together: structural scaffolds set up the right context, and interactive scaffolds adjust in real time as the student shows you what they need.

Putting It Into Practice

You don’t need a fancy system to start scaffolding well. Start small:

Pick one skill you’re targeting this week.
Choose one structural scaffold to set up ahead of time (a visual, a routine, a material choice).
Pick one interactive scaffold from each category (regulatory, response, linguistic) to have ready in your back pocket during the session.

Then watch what happens. You’ll likely notice students engaging more, producing more accurate responses, and generalizing skills faster because the support was built right into the session instead of bolted on after the fact.

If you want more structure around planning sessions like this, this guide to getting started with curriculum-based therapy is a great next step.

Which scaffolds are you using in your therapy sessions? I’d love to hear which ones feel most natural to you and which ones you want to build into your routine.

External References

Ukrainetz, T. A. (2006). Contextualized Language Intervention: Scaffolding PreK-12 Literacy Achievement. Pro-Ed.

Van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in Teacher-Student Interaction: A Decade of Research. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 271-296. Open access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-010-9127-6

FAQ

What is scaffolding in speech therapy?

Scaffolding is giving a student the right amount of support to succeed at a task, then gradually reducing that support as they get stronger. It helps students build skills in context instead of in isolation.

What are the two types of scaffolds SLPs use?

Structural scaffolds and interactive scaffolds. Structural scaffolds are planned ahead of time (routines, materials, environment). Interactive scaffolds happen in the moment, in response to what the student needs.

What are the three types of interactive scaffolds?

Regulatory scaffolds keep students engaged. Response scaffolds help students produce an answer. Linguistic scaffolds support accuracy with the specific language target.

Why is scaffolding important in curriculum-based therapy?

Scaffolding helps students apply skills in real, meaningful contexts, like classroom materials, so the skills actually transfer beyond the therapy room.

Free Speech Therapy Online Games and In-Person Activities

July 24, 2026 by Marisha 2 Comments

This is a guest blog post by Holly, a school-based SLP. She compiled a list of free online, print-and-go, and material-free games below.

How to Include Play-Based Games in Your Speech Therapy Sessions

Embedding play into therapy can support engagement, make speech sessions more memorable, and give students a chance to generalize communication skills to everyday contexts.

It’s not hard to see why games are such a hit with our students. Whether you’re doing virtual, in-person, or hybrid speech therapy, we’ve rounded up ideas to keep the fun going, all for free. Check out our round-up of online, printable, and material-free games below.

Free Online Speech Therapy Games

There is emerging research showing that “serious games” (digital games designed to target skills) can improve communication skills in some student populations (Tsikinas & Xinogalos, 2019).

Luckily, there are a ton of educational sites offering free games you can use in your sessions. You can use these as a way to reinforce your teletherapy sessions. While you’re at it, check out these speech therapy apps for even more ideas.

Computer-based games work whether you’re sharing your screen during teletherapy, using a device with a student, or projecting for a group. Since there’s no setup or cleanup, this option is a breeze to add into sessions.

ABCya – Educationally relevant games from Pre-K to 6th+ grade, many involving spatial concepts and curriculum-based learning (full access without ads requires a subscription).

Disney Games – Coloring pages, arcade games, and sticker books. Great reinforcers if your students have a favorite character.

Fun Brain – Quick, intuitive digital games. When Pigs Fly and Penguin Drop work well as brain breaks.

Go Noodle – Movement breaks, dance choreography, and mindfulness exercises. Check out the Call & Response dances or the Blazer Fresh channel for language-related videos.

Guinness World Records | Kids – Great for working on superlatives, plus memory games and puzzles.

Highlights Kids – The Hidden Picture scenes are a language gold mine. The Jokes section is packed with multiple-meaning words.

PuzzleSnap (formerly I’m a Puzzle) – Turn any picture into a digital jigsaw puzzle. Handy for customizing activities to a student’s favorite interests or curriculum topics.

Language Playroom – 100% free hub of games organized by developmental level and communication domain (articulation, language, social, fluency).

National Geographic Kids – Check out Funny Fill-In stories and the Crack the Code activity, plus tons of animal photos and videos.

PBS KIDS – Games that build educational skills and social-emotional awareness with favorite PBS characters.

Pink Cat Games – Build a monster, run a race, or spin a wheel while targeting speech and language goals (full access requires a subscription).

Poki & Poki Kids – Digital versions of classics like four in a row, yahtzee, and air hockey. Preview games ahead of time since there are countless options.

Quia – A database of educator-created online games. Play Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Battleship, and more, filtered by skill.

SLP Video Games – A free “Get Rid of Red” game on Erik X. Raj’s site that targets speech/language skills within gameplay (full access requires a subscription).

Toy Theater – Classic games like tic-tac-toe and pinball, plus language-related activities and teacher tools like dice, spinners, and timers.

New This Round

Wordwall – Search 10,000+ speech-therapy games already built by other SLPs (filterable by sound and skill), or build your own in a few clicks.

Wheel of Names – A free, no-signup spinner. Load it with articulation targets, categories, or turn order and spin.

Boom Learning – Hundreds of free, self-checking Boom Cards decks tagged specifically for speech therapy. Use the “Find Free” filter in the store to browse without spending points.

Blooket – Turn any word list or question set into a fast-paced review game. SLPs use it for articulation carryover, vocabulary, and comprehension checks.

Printable Games

Next up, printable games and reinforcing activities you can use during sessions. This ties into a previous post, A Year of Free Open-Ended Reinforcers, so check that out for even more options.

100 Trial Challenges – Themed and holiday sheets by Peachie Speechie, easy to tie into sessions.

Coloring Pages – Crayola’s sheets sorted by season, character, and place.

Crafts – Kid-friendly tutorials for origami and paper airplanes, or SLP Now Crafts that tie into our themed materials.

Free Printable Board Games – A large list of board games, bingo boards, and other printable activities.

Reinforcer Sheets – SLP Now members can browse dozens of printable bingo boards, dice games, spinners, and coloring pages on our site.

Material-Free Games

This last list only needs you and your students, the kind of games you’d play at camp or on a road trip.

While setup is simple, there may be extra cognitive demands to follow directions and stay attentive. Feel free to add written or picture-based instructions and visual aids.

Name Game – Work on alliteration and adjectives while helping students remember each other’s names.

Jedi Numbers – Students count up to a number without interrupting each other. Great for reading nonverbal cues and sharing talk time.

Tall Tales – A student favorite built around generating stories with plot twists.

Fortunately, Unfortunately – A storytelling game exploring the benefits and consequences of situations, with humor.

Word Chains / I’m Going on a Picnic – A fun challenge for students working on auditory memory.

Silent Interviews – Using nonverbal communication, pairs try to learn something about each other without talking.

Super Smile – Pass contagious smiles around the circle as fast as possible.

Zip Zap Zop – A version of hot potato using words instead of a ball. Great for articulation goals targeting /z/.

Freeze Dance and Secret Dancer – Great ways to get students moving.

Telephone – A classic game built on communication skills.

Did we miss any of your go-to games? What’s your style? Adding play throughout the session, or as a break at the end?

How to Incorporate Games and Activities into Speech Therapy

Join our Free Literacy-Based Therapy Challenge and learn how to incorporate these games and activities into an evidence-based framework.

This 5-day challenge gives you:

Daily, 5-minute tutorials on the core steps for making literacy-based therapy work with your caseload
A workbook and templates to streamline planning
Free, tested therapy materials to make lesson prep easy

Plus, you’ll walk away with a month-long therapy plan, created in less than 10 minutes a day.

Click here to join today.

References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Telepractice. Practice Portal. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/telepractice/

Tsikinas, S., & Xinogalos, S. (2019). Studying the effects of computer serious games on people with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorder: A systematic literature review. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 35(1), 61-73. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcal.12311

50+ Student Strengths for IEP Writing [Free Cheat Sheet]

July 23, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

When writing an Individualized Education Program (IEP), it’s easy to focus on a student’s challenges. But what if we flipped the script? A strengths-based IEP shifts the focus from what a student can’t do to what they can do, leveraging their strengths, interests, and abilities to support their growth.To explore this approach, we’re joined by Stephanie DeLussey, a dual-certified special education teacher, IEP coach, author, and mentor. With years of experience working with students across grade levels and educational settings, Stephanie is passionate about making the IEP process more effective, collaborative, and student-centered. In this guide, we’ll break down why strengths-based IEPs matter, how to implement them, and practical strategies to make the process easier.

What Are Examples of Academic Strengths for an IEP?

Examples of academic strengths for an IEP include strong decoding skills, rich vocabulary, math reasoning, good recall of facts, following classroom routines, joining discussions, and persistence on hard tasks. Write each strength specifically and connect it to how the student learns best, so the team can build on it.

Let’s dive into the power of student strengths and how they can transform the IEP process for both students and educators.

Stephanie’s IEP Resources:

Staring at the present levels section, trying to describe a student’s strengths without repeating “the student is a hard worker” for the fifth time this week? You’re not alone, and you don’t need to reinvent the wording every time.

Below is a quick-reference cheat sheet of student strength phrases, organized by category, so you can find the right wording fast and get back to the parts of your job that actually need your clinical judgment. Download a PDF version here.

Quick-Copy Cheat Sheet: 50+ Student Strengths for IEPs

Academic Strengths

Strength	Ready-to-Use Phrase
Reading comprehension	Demonstrates strong reading comprehension and enjoys independent reading
Decoding	Decodes unfamiliar words easily using phonics strategies
Retelling	Summarizes and retells stories with key details included
Written expression	Expresses ideas clearly and organizes thoughts before writing
Creative writing	Enjoys creative writing and generates original story ideas
Number sense	Understands number patterns and relationships
Problem-solving	Shows strong problem-solving skills in math tasks
Hands-on learning	Engages well with hands-on math activities and manipulatives
Pattern recognition	Quickly recognizes patterns and sequences
Inquiry	Asks insightful questions during science and class discussions
Verbal explanation	Explains concepts clearly to peers
Listening comprehension	Comprehends well when listening to audiobooks or read-alouds

Communication and Language Strengths

Strength	Ready-to-Use Phrase
Vocabulary	Uses age-appropriate vocabulary across settings
Initiating conversation	Initiates conversation with peers and adults
Clarifying questions	Asks clarifying questions when confused
AAC/gestures	Communicates effectively using gestures, signs, or AAC
Repair strategies	Repairs communication breakdowns by rephrasing when not understood
Following directions	Follows multi-step directions independently
Sequencing	Retells events and stories in sequential order
Context clues	Uses context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words
Conversational turn-taking	Maintains appropriate eye contact and turn-taking in conversation
Self-advocacy	Advocates for communication needs (e.g., asks for repetition or more time)

Functional and Executive Functioning Strengths

Strength	Ready-to-Use Phrase
Organization	Keeps track of assignments and materials independently
Routines	Follows classroom routines with minimal support
Independence	Completes tasks with minimal prompting
Transitions	Transitions between activities smoothly
Planning tools	Uses a planner or checklist independently
Help-seeking	Asks for help when needed
Adaptability	Adjusts well to changes in schedule or routine
Time management	Manages time effectively during independent work

Social-Emotional Strengths

Strength	Ready-to-Use Phrase
Empathy	Shows empathy and concern for classmates
Kindness	Demonstrates kindness toward peers
Resilience	Recovers quickly from setbacks and stays motivated
Collaboration	Works well with peers in group activities
Leadership	Shows leadership in group settings
Self-regulation	Uses coping strategies to manage emotions effectively
Self-awareness	Shows awareness of personal strengths and areas of need
Friendship skills	Builds and maintains friendships with peers
Patience	Shows patience with peers and adults

Personal Interests and Talents

Strength	Ready-to-Use Phrase
Artistic ability	Shows strong artistic ability and enjoys drawing or design
Music	Shows musical talent or strong interest in music
Curiosity	Demonstrates curiosity about how things work
Building/construction play	Enjoys building and construction-based play
Physical skills	Shows strong physical or athletic ability
Focused interests	Shows deep knowledge and passion for a specific topic
Helpfulness	Enjoys helping others and volunteering for classroom tasks
Humor	Uses humor appropriately to connect with others

That’s 52 ready-to-use strength phrases across five categories. Bookmark this section so you can come back to it every time you sit down to write present levels.

Why Strengths-Based IEPs Matter

It’s easy to build an IEP that reads like a list of everything a student struggles with. But flipping the frame, starting with what a student can do, changes the whole document.

We talked through this with Stephanie DeLussey, a dual-certified special education teacher, IEP coach, and founder of The Intentional IEP, on the SLP Now podcast. Her take:

“Instead of emphasizing challenges and deficits, or what the child can’t do, the strengths-based IEP approach is really going to celebrate what the student can do, and then it builds upon what they can do to promote growth and progress within their IEP.”

According to Stephanie, this approach tends to increase student motivation and engagement, strengthen collaboration across the IEP team, and lead to a more positive, empowering process overall. It doesn’t mean ignoring a student’s needs. It means building the plan on top of what’s already working.

“When the whole team puts this emphasis on what the child can do, you start seeing more possibilities rather than seeing limitations. And when you approach it in this manner, parents get a lot more buy-in, because they’re like, ‘my gosh, I never thought about it this way.'”

Where Strengths Actually Go in the IEP

Strengths aren’t just a checkbox. They should show up throughout the document.

Start in the Present Levels (PLAAFP). This is where all your data lives, and it sets up everything that follows. Stephanie describes it well:

“When you’re writing an IEP, you’re always going to start with writing the present levels. The present levels is where all of your data is going to be, and it’s going to leave breadcrumbs throughout the rest of the IEP.”

Let strengths inform the goals. Instead of “Student struggles with writing tasks,” try framing built on what the student already does well: “Student communicates ideas clearly through verbal storytelling and benefits from dictating ideas before transcribing them into written form.”

Use strengths to shape accommodations. If a student loves drawing, that’s not just a fun fact, it’s a tool. Stephanie’s example: a student who loves to draw but struggles with verbal retells might show comprehension through a four-panel comic strip instead. A student who loves storytelling but struggles with handwriting might benefit from voice-to-text so they can get their ideas down before worrying about spelling and mechanics.

Where to Get This Information

You don’t have to guess at a student’s strengths from memory. Stephanie recommends sending brief input forms to the whole IEP team, including parents, teachers, related service providers, and the student when appropriate, about 30 to 45 days before the IEP meeting. That gives you time to fold the answers into your present levels well before the meeting, instead of scrambling the night before.

“You also want to make sure that the student is a part of the IEP process. You need to know what their interests are, their preferences, what their aspirations are.”

For younger students or those who communicate differently, simple visual scales (like a happy face, neutral face, and sad face for rating how they feel about a task) can make it easier for them to share input in their own way.

A Few Things This Approach Is Not

Strengths-based doesn’t mean softer data or lower expectations. As Stephanie put it, the numbers are still the numbers. A student’s accuracy score on an assessment doesn’t change based on how you frame it. What changes is how you write about what those numbers mean, and what you build from them.

It also isn’t extra work stacked on top of your existing process. It’s a shift in where you start and how you word what you already know.

The Bottom Line

A strengths-based IEP doesn’t ignore a student’s needs. It builds the plan around what the student already does well, which tends to mean better engagement, stronger parent buy-in, and goals a student can actually see themselves succeeding at.

Next time you sit down to write present levels, start with the cheat sheet above, pick the phrases that actually fit your student, and build from there.

Want more support like this?

Start your free two-week trial of SLP Now and get access to a full goal bank, therapy planning tools, and caseload management built for the realities of school-based practice. No credit card required.

Related resources from SLP Now

Transcript

Marisha (00:01.281)

Hey there and welcome to the SLP Now podcast. I am super grateful to have Stephanie DeLessie with us here today. She is a dual certified veteran special education teacher, IEP coach, author, teacher, mentor. She does all the things and I'm really excited. I was looking for someone to have a conversation about strength-based IEPs with and just

from following her on social media and checking out her resources. I thought she would be a perfect person to have that conversation with. So hello, Stephanie.

Stephanie (00:39.656)

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Marisha (00:41.663)

Yeah, I'm really grateful for your time and just generosity today. But before we dive into all things strengths, strengths based IEPs, I'm curious to hear just a little bit more about you and your story. Like what kind of led you through this journey? Because you have a site now like the intentional IEP. So you do a lot around IEPs. I'm just curious to hear how that all came to be.

Stephanie (01:10.188)

Yeah, so I'm one of those people who has always wanted to be a teacher. And I don't remember how old I was. I don't, couldn't pick this person out of a lineup, but I remember being at Walmart of all places with my mom and she met one of her friends was there. Like we saw them in passing. And I just remember hearing, you know, this person saying, my son needs more supports. He needs more supports. And so that's kind of how I got into special education instead of just doing

general education, although I am dual certified in special ed and gen ed. But, you know, I taught in the classroom for seven and a half years, I believe, and ended up leaving due to my own mental health. This was pre-COVID, but I've taught pretty much everything from kindergarten through 12th grade. I've done inclusion. I've co-taught, done resource, self-contained.

I've taught extended school year for a couple of summers for an intermediate unit, and I've taught in both public schools and charter schools. in a couple of different states, I lost count of how many states now, but yeah, so I've kind of run the gamut of all the things. And so when I left the traditional classroom setting, I had already built Mrs. D.Scorner, so I was kind of doing that, but I was like, I, there's something else. Like I just felt like something was missing from me that I was missing of not being in the classroom.

I am that weirdo that really likes all the paperwork that comes with IEPs. And I'm fully aware that I am like one of like out of every 1,000 special educators and IEP team members who's like, yes, hand me all the paperwork. I'm ready to go. And so I took that and that is kind of where the intentional IEP was born. And so now I do Mrs. D's corner, but I also do the intentional IEP. So the intentional IEP is more where...

I do all the IEP things and then Mrs. D's Corner's more resources classroom things.

Marisha (03:06.987)

I love that story. So cool. I can, so I don't know, I, especially as a new SLP paperwork was a little bit overwhelming and I'm kind of a perfectionist. So I wanted to do it perfectly, which kind of adds to that, but it is a cool opportunity. Like the IEP is a really powerful document. And so even if...

Stephanie (03:22.669)

Yeah.

Stephanie (03:29.635)

Yes.

Marisha (03:32.757)

If someone who's listening isn't a lover of paperwork and all the things, I think it is really helpful to think about just how powerful these documents are and how amazing they can be for our students, especially when they are needing those supports and we're able to set them up.

Stephanie (03:50.452)

Yes, we can make such a big difference with a 40 page document or a 12 page document depending upon where you are and what format you're using for IEPs, but they are so important and we can do so much good for our students with them.

Marisha (04:03.029)

Yeah. So it might be a little bit of a cringy topic for some people, but we can make the most of it. And I'm really excited Stephanie, because I think you can help make this even easier for us. But we're focusing on strength-based IEPs today. So let's just make sure we're all on the same page. What is a strength-based IEP? Why is it important?

Stephanie (04:16.194)

Yes, I'm ready for it.

Stephanie (04:25.494)

Yeah, so strengths based IEP, that is a mouthful by the way, strengths based IEP to get that to come out in the right way. It really focuses on the individual. So you're leveraging a student's strengths, their abilities, their interests, their preferences, as really the foundation for what support you're going to use for addressing that student's needs and helping them with their learning. So instead of emphasizing on challenges and deficits or what the child can't do,

The strengths-based IEP approach is really gonna celebrate what the student can do, and then it builds upon what they can do to promote that growth and progress within their IEP.

Marisha (05:08.247)

Love that. And why is this an important approach to take? Why does it matter?

Stephanie (05:14.348)

Yeah, so when you start working in this manner and you start thinking about it from the strengths-based approach, so you're focusing on what they can do, not what they cannot do, you're really gonna see an increase in student motivation and an increase in their engagement because the students sitting there thinking, I can do this and we're gonna do examples and all of the things of like, how do you do this? What does this look like? But when you see it in action, students are gonna be again, more motivated, more engaged.

They're gonna make more connections to what they're currently learning because you're using what they already know and what they already can do to gain that new knowledge. And so they're gonna be able to make more connections to what you're doing in the classroom based on this. And then in full collaboration mode, cause I am very much a, the whole entire IEP team matters. It's not, a lot of times special educators feel like an island of one and we truly are, I have been there, I have felt that.

But the IEP team truly is a whole team. There's a whole bunch of people sitting at that table. And so when the whole team puts this emphasis on what the child can do, you start seeing more possibilities rather than seeing limitations. And when you approach it in this manner, parents get a lot more buy into what you're doing because they're like, my gosh, like I never thought about it this way.

So it really does, there's so many benefits to just strengths-based IEPs.

Marisha (06:42.923)

Yeah, I love that. I just started a separate, well, it's a little, it's been out for a little bit by the time this episode airs, but I have a podcast where I interview special education leaders. And that's been a huge focus on like navigating all of that. So my brain was just like, Ooh, but yeah, I love that. And I think that makes a lot of sense if we're meeting, it's a better way of meeting students where they're at.

And if we can meet them where they're at, they'll be more engaged and we see more of that progress and all of that. Okay. Awesome. So I think we're all sold. I hope we are. So what does this actually look like? Can you walk us through some like tips, strategies?

Stephanie (07:14.552)

Yeah.

Stephanie (07:20.543)

Hahaha!

Stephanie (07:30.156)

Yeah. So when you're writing an IP, I'm going to start at the basics just to give us all in true special ed terms, a good baseline. So we're all on the same page. So when you're writing an IEP, you're always going to start with writing the present levels. And so the present levels is where all of your data is going to be. Every piece of information on that student is going to be in the present levels. The present levels is then going to leave breadcrumbs is the analogy that I like to use throughout the rest of the IEP as to

what IEP goals you should write, what supports you should put in. And then from there you do the service minutes and then you go into the LRE. So everything stems from that present levels. And so when you start there, that's where you're gonna begin highlighting the student's strengths, their talents, their preferences, what they like to do, how they best learn, what their learning style is. And so once you start there,

that's going to bleed into the rest of the IEP and really set you up for success in terms of, okay, well, how can I, I have these goals that I know the student needs to work on, these skills for these IEP goals. What supports does this child need? And so moving from the present level, so start there, put all of your strengths-based wording, which we're gonna talk about here in a minute, into the present levels, then move into your IEP goals. your,

If you have an IEP goal and an objective, there has to be a need written in the present levels. And so that's your connection from present levels to IEP goals and objectives. And so once you go from present levels to goals, you're going to write them in a way that is not only positive, but it also addresses the need because we still do need to do that. But we're not gonna do it in that deficit-based language, right? Which again, we'll get to, I'm gonna share an example for you here in a minute. So for example,

Let's say that a student loves drawing. The student is not me, because I'm a terrible drawer. But let's say that this student loves to draw and they have a need in math. So let's just say maybe they're working on, you could even focus this also into ELA. So let's just say they love drawing. They have a need for comprehension and we're working on math as well. We have some skills we have to work on in math. So if a student loves drawing,

Stephanie (09:51.916)

we maybe instead of having them verbally retell us a story, maybe we're gonna have them draw the story out in maybe four blocks, or maybe we're gonna have them do like a summary comic or something along the lines that lets them use their strength of drawing something they love to do to show what they've learned. And so same with math, instead of maybe using manipulatives instead of counters or little bears,

Maybe you can still do that, but maybe have the student draw the counters. You can laminate them, have them reuse them, or on a piece of paper, have them draw it out instead of writing out the numbers or something like that. It all depends on the student. But using their strength, their focus, and their just love of drawing, you can map that out over into pretty much any academic area or even social skills behaviors.

And so you're using that strength to harness learning new content. Doesn't have to be done for every single lesson that you're doing or activity, but if you're wanting to collect data, that might be a really good place to start. And that's going to be written into your accommodations and modification section. Drawing would be an accommodation, but you can then use their strength again to work on gaining mastery of a skill that they're working on in their goals.

And so you do that again through highlighting the present, the highlighting the strengths in the present levels, you're writing your goals, you're choosing your supports, you're using that positive language. You also wanna make sure that the student is a part of the IEP process. And I know when I say this, because I have not done this in the past. And so again, I've worked with K through 12. I've worked through the whole transition process. I've worked with the kindergartners, first graders.

You can integrate them in throughout the IEP process in different ways and it's going to look different student to student, but include their voice in the IEP wherever possible. Again, you need to know what their interests are, their preferences are, what are their aspirations? You know, maybe in kindergarten they want to be a basketball player, right? Because kids all want to grow up and be singers and I want to be Taylor Swift and...

Marisha (12:02.349)

Thank

Stephanie (12:06.614)

I want to be Michael. I don't think Michael Jordan is the thing where I don't watch basketball, but I just know Michael Jordan was the big thing growing up. I just aged myself. my gosh, but they all have these aspirations and they change over time when they get into new things and when they learn new things and different ages, you know, when they're in high school, they're not really into blues clues anymore. So we have to keep them included every single year and update all of this in the present levels. You also want to make sure

that you're using a collaborative approach. So not only is the student involved, but you want to make sure that the family's involved and that you're asking them to share their insights, share their child's strengths that they're seeing through their eyes and their perspective, their lens. What's motivating at home? What's motivating in the community? What do they like doing? How can we harness that in the classroom to get them to learn content, to master skills that they need to work on?

This also goes for working with therapists or related service providers. So working with the speech therapist, working with the OT, the PT, working with outside service providers as well, if that's an option for some of your students. But really having that collaborative approach is going to help you in building that strengths-based IEP one, because everyone's going to be engaged, because again, they're thinking, there's possibilities. We're not talking about

limitations or my student can't do this, we're thinking about, well, they can do this. So how can we help them do this based off of where they are now? And so you're going to have more engagement in the IEP process, but also then you're not writing the IEP alone. You don't have to come up with, okay, well, the student loves drawing. So how can I, as the teacher, integrate that into ELA and math and art class and music class and in all of these different places?

You don't have to think about that all by yourself because you have a whole team to come up with those opportunities for growth. And then the last thing is, and it kind of goes back until, you know, why is this important? The strengths-based IEPs are really going to build self-confidence, not only in the student, but also in the IEP team. Because once you see the growth that's going to come from this, you're going to be like, my gosh, like we need to do this with everyone. Right. And so.

Stephanie (14:33.772)

The students really gonna feel valued. Your IEP team members are gonna feel valued because they're part of the team. You're using that collaborative approach, but your students are really gonna feel valued. They're gonna feel capable because they're working on things based off of what they can already do. And so we see a lot of students who shut down immediately because like, can't do this. And I'm the same way when there's something really hard, like, I'd rather pay somebody to come do this for me than me learn how to do it.

But if I even, now I'm gonna coach myself here, if I started thinking about it in a way, how can I get this done based off what I'm good at, what I already know, I'm gonna foster that growth mindset and be like, okay, I can do this. It might take me a couple extra minutes, but I know that I can get it done because I have the skills to get there. Might look a little different than how somebody else is getting there, but I'm still gonna get there. And so that was a lot of information, but.

All in all, it's really just about focusing on what the student can do and leveraging that to build those positive outcomes for students for things that they cannot yet do.

Marisha (15:42.155)

Yeah, I love that. And I'm curious too, if you have any, cause I feel like you're kind of like, I feel like you might be like a process gal like me. If you love paperwork, you probably have a bunch of like templates and systems and things for everything. But what suggestions do you have? Because I love the like strategy mindset of, okay, we're

Stephanie (15:52.387)

I do.

Yes.

Marisha (16:07.223)

Like we're starting with the present levels and thinking about including students strengths and we'll use that throughout the whole IEP. And we get to focus on, like we get to include the students strengths and interests and get the perspective from parents and the team. But do you have any favorite, maybe like just in the interest of time, some of your favorite strategies to actually collect this information?

Because I mean, obviously we work with our students and we get to know them. So a lot of it might just be like, do you have a list of questions that you ask yourself or do you send out forms or like what types of things do you think could help make this easier for ourselves?

Stephanie (16:50.134)

Yeah, so I love a good form, which not everybody does, but I will send out typically anywhere from the 30 to 45 days out from the IEP meeting. I'm gonna send out, I call them input forms, they're the questionnaires, but I'm gonna send them out to everyone on the IEP team, but then I'm also either gonna give one to the student or do one with the student. So for a lot of my students when I taught self-contained, it was, had questions predetermined.

Marisha (16:53.473)

Mm-hmm. You too.

Stephanie (17:17.486)

And then I had three different smiley faces. So there was like a happy face, a sad face, and then like the stalled, I'm indifferent face. And so I would ask them a question and then they would pick up whichever smiley face they felt about how to answer that question and hand that to me. And that would be their response. And so then I could take that data and put that into the present levels. And then all of the data that I got from all the gen ed teachers, the related service providers, my paraprofessionals, from the parents, the caregivers, the guardians,

I would throw that all into the present levels as well. And that's why I always start there. So I send out the forms 30 to 45 days out because that gives me time to start working on the present levels and input data that I've collected in the classroom. But then I give them about a week or two to send that form back to me. And I'll give a gentle reminder here at like the one week mark. I'm like, hey, do you need me to send you another form? like, do you have questions? Or is there anything I can help with?

And then once I get that form back then, because my part of the present levels is already done, I did that while I was waiting for the other forms to return, then I can input that information into the present levels. And then I'm very big on sending out that draft IEP a couple of days before the IEP meeting, so parents are on the same playing field. But that also then, once I have that back, I can determine proposed IEP goals.

for that draft IEP. And so in that draft, I'm only sending out the present levels, because that's all fact. Data is fact, it's not going to change. And then I'm proposing IEP goals based off of all of the data in the present levels. And then from there, we have the IEP meeting and we do all the good IEP meeting stuff.

Marisha (19:03.403)

Yeah. Yeah, and I think forums are a really great way to collect that feedback. like we can obviously enter anything that we've learned over the course of interacting with the team members and families and students, but it is nice to have that on paper and it's a good way to make sure we're covering all the bases. And then I'm curious too, so do you do anything differently?

If we're using a strengths-based approach, do you report your classroom data in a different way or are the numbers always the numbers? I'm just curious if you do that a little bit differently.

Stephanie (19:43.118)

For me, the numbers have always really been the numbers. just is like when you're reporting the data. So it really depends. So if we're talking about progress reports and like that annual IEP and how we're putting it into the IEP, the numbers are the numbers, right? Like those numbers aren't gonna change. It's how we are reporting, I guess, like after we've analyzed the numbers and analyzed the data, it's how we verbally or how we write down.

that information or share that information with the team. It could be, you know, here's an example. So let's just say Stephanie has difficulties with writing tasks, right? She can't do them independently. So that would be more of like deficit-based language or deficit-focused language. And that could very well be what the data is showing. Like Stephanie...

is not doing very hot when it comes to writing tasks. So she has difficulty with it. And then you would include other data, like maybe it's because of XYZ. So instead of maybe saying that, you could say something more along the lines of Stephanie has really good verbal communication, and she benefits more from dictating to you or verbally telling you what's in her brain or what she wants to write or the ideas that she has.

before transferring them into writing. So then you could use that as the accommodation, right? So maybe the first step before she writes is she's going to, maybe she's just gonna speak them into like her phone, cause you're gonna be voice to text, put them into a voice to text option and then throw that into a Google doc. And then from there, she's gonna edit what she said to write the writing task or to complete the writing task.

So it's just all about flipping.

Stephanie (21:40.088)

the verbiage, I guess, when it comes to strengths-based IEPs, because the numbers aren't gonna change. They are what they are. They're going to tell you how the student is doing with that skill. It's all in how you present that data and write about that data in the IEP, in the meetings, in your progress reports.

Marisha (21:54.413)

Yeah.

Marisha (21:58.539)

Yeah, that makes sense. I think so. Like if we give whatever classroom based assessment or whatever it is, we can well obviously just report the number as it is. then because even if writing is a struggle, like there's aspects of writing that a student is mastering. So we can say like the student like the student scored this on the assessment. They

demonstrated strengths in these areas, like they did this, and we can analyze the task and we can say what, like if we do some dynamic assessment, we can talk about the supports that are helpful. So there's lots of ways to, instead of just being like, they scored this and they did all of these aspects wrong, we can include. There's so much more to talk about. And it's so much more helpful. Like when it comes to,

Stephanie (22:42.318)

They did not make progress. This is not at baseline. Yes. Yes.

Marisha (22:55.733)

writing goals, setting up accommodations. Like if we, like we've been talking about this whole episode, but yeah. Okay. So thank you for going down that train of thought for me. I think that's super helpful. Is there anything that you want to add?

Stephanie (23:06.199)

Yes!

Stephanie (23:13.748)

No, I think we covered a good starting place for all of the things, just general starting place for like writing IEPs, but really turning it into like that strengths-based focused IEP instead of focusing on what students can't do.

Marisha (23:30.993)

I love that. And then if listeners are wanting to find out more about you and what you do, what are some good places to go? And I'll share all of these links in the show notes. The show notes will be linked in the episode description. But yeah, where can they hang out with you?

Stephanie (23:47.532)

Yeah, so if they want to follow me for all or find me or ask questions about IEP things, I'm at The Intentional IEP on pretty much everything except TikTok. I can't TikTok. I don't get it. But Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, I am at The Intentional IEP.

Marisha (23:59.007)

Thank

Marisha (24:06.637)

Perfect. And then you have your intentional IEP website and you have, gets a, isn't it a, is it a membership?

Stephanie (24:10.381)

Yes.

Stephanie (24:19.042)

Yes, so the intentional IEP, we have our blog, which is a lot of free advice. And then we also have our membership, includes a, it's a goal bank, but it's so much more than a goal bank. It's so hard to elaborate on, but it's essentially a goal bank that's spiraled with all of the skills from grade to grade. And then you can put in like what your student is struggling with and it'll recommend IEP goals for you based off of that.

And then we have IEP screeners inside of our goal bank. So anything that is pre-K through grade six, that's an academic skill. We have our IEP screeners, which are your baseline data assessments. You can use them for collecting data on that specific skill. The membership also includes a member library with lots of different IEP printables and things that you can use and also member trainings. So we have.

I've lost count, over 150, maybe probably almost 200 different trainings for special education teachers and team members. So that's all included inside of membership.

Marisha (25:22.709)

I love that. That's awesome. And it is more focused for special education teachers.

Stephanie (25:28.512)

It is, but we do have some parents that are also part of the membership and other related service providers. So it's not solely for the IEP goal bank, I would say is solely for IEP team members and teachers to use, not necessarily parents, although I have had parents and I've walked parents through locating goals inside of the goal bank to help them based off of data they've gotten or things they want to work on with their kids.

Marisha (25:56.983)

Love some active parents and some ownership. That's amazing. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Stephanie. This was so helpful. And thank you to listeners for, if you listen this far, I hope this was super helpful. And yeah, thank you again.

Stephanie (25:58.574)

It is awesome.

👉 Join to Download Following Directions Skill Pack

FAQ

How do you write strengths in an IEP?

Begin with the Present Levels of Performance section by highlighting what the student can do rather than focusing on deficits. Use positive, specific language to describe academic, functional, and social-emotional strengths, then connect them to goals, accommodations, and instructional strategies throughout the IEP.

What are the strengths of a student?

Student strengths vary widely and can include academic strengths like reading comprehension or problem-solving, functional strengths like following routines or self-advocacy, social-emotional strengths like resilience or empathy, and personal interests and talents like artistic ability or leadership.

What are strengths, interests, and preferences in an IEP?

Strengths are what the student does well, interests are the activities and topics that motivate them, and preferences are how they learn best. Together, these guide goal-setting, accommodations, and instructional strategies for a more personalized IEP.

What are the strengths of students with disabilities?

Students with disabilities have a wide range of strengths just like any other students, including adaptability, perseverance, strong social skills, and cognitive abilities like memory, pattern recognition, or verbal expression.

How to Organize Curriculum-Based Therapy Materials

July 15, 2026 by Marisha Leave a Comment

If you’ve been implementing curriculum-based therapy, you already know the appeal. It’s contextualized, it’s relevant to what your students are actually doing in class, and it tends to hold their attention better than an isolated worksheet ever could.

You also probably know the catch: it takes real setup to make this work. Curriculum-based therapy touches a lot of moving pieces at once. Your therapy materials, your data collection, and whatever the classroom teacher hands you that week all have to work together, or your planning time disappears fast.

This post walks through what curriculum-based therapy actually is (with the research behind it), and then gets into the system: how to organize your materials, your data, and your classroom-shared resources so this approach is sustainable, not another thing adding to your plate.

What Curriculum-Based Therapy Actually Is

“Curriculum-based” gets used loosely, so it’s worth being precise. Curriculum-based language intervention means you’re targeting a student’s speech and language goals using the content, vocabulary, and materials they’re already working with in the general education classroom, instead of using isolated, unrelated materials.

This isn’t a new idea. ASHA has asked school-based SLPs to be contributors to the educational curriculum for years, and SLPs are well positioned for this role given our language and literacy expertise. It also lines up with how special education law works. IDEA calls for students to be educated in the least restrictive environment, and for many students with language needs, that means services connected to what’s happening in their actual classroom, not pulled out and disconnected from it.

In practice, this looks like:

Using a book the class is reading to target vocabulary and narrative goals
Pulling grammar or syntax targets from a current social studies or science unit
Collaborating with the classroom teacher so therapy reinforces (instead of duplicates) what’s already being taught

Why the Research Supports This Approach

The push toward curriculum-based and classroom-connected therapy isn’t just a trend. It’s backed by federal law and professional guidance. ASHA’s practice portal on service delivery notes that restricting SLPs to one format, like pull-out only or classroom-only, prevents the IEP team from building a program that actually fits the student’s needs. Service delivery is meant to be dynamic. The setting, dosage, format, and provider can all flex based on what a student needs.

There’s a practical reason this matters for organization, too. ASHA’s own guidance on caseload and workload points out that large caseloads often limit the time SLPs have to get familiar with the curriculum and standards across every grade level they serve. In other words, the more grades and content areas you’re pulling from, the more your system has to carry that weight for you. That’s the whole point of the organization approach below. It’s not about perfect Pinterest bins. It’s about building something once so you’re not reinventing your process every single week.

The Organization System

Here’s how I keep curriculum-based therapy manageable, broken into the three pieces that have to work together.

1. Teaching Materials

Start with a core set of skill-based materials you can pair with whatever the curriculum throws at you that week. Rather than building brand-new activities from scratch every time a new book or unit comes up, keep a flexible set of visuals, activities, and skill packs that can attach to almost any content.

Inside the SLP Now membership, I organize these using this system: visuals in hanging folders, assessments in a binder, and card decks in a small labeled box. The goal is that when a teacher hands you a new unit on Wednesday, you’re not starting from zero on Thursday.

If you’re building this system from scratch, these organization tools can help you set up bins, folders, and labels that actually hold up over a school year.

2. Data Collection

Curriculum-based therapy still needs the same data rigor as any other approach. I keep a simple data binder with tabbed dividers for quick access to student probes, and I take digital data using SLP Now so it’s tied directly to each student’s file.

If mixed groups or big classes make data collection feel chaotic, this breakdown of collecting probe data in mixed groups walks through a goal-card routine that keeps things moving without losing accuracy.

3. Classroom Materials

This is the piece that’s unique to curriculum-based therapy: you need somewhere to put what the classroom teacher shares with you. A single folder for current curriculum materials, whether that’s a unit outline, a shared worksheet, or notes from a quick hallway conversation, keeps that information from getting lost in your bag or your inbox.

I use SLP Now to plug specific activities directly into my therapy plans, so the connection between “what the class is doing” and “what we’re doing in speech” doesn’t live only in my head. If you’re also managing big groups with different goals pulling from different classroom content, this guide to running effective therapy when time is tight is worth a look.

Where SLPs Get Stuck

A few honest friction points worth naming:

Curriculum access is inconsistent. Not every teacher will proactively share materials with you, and that’s one of the real barriers to CBLI implementation identified in the research. If this is your situation, a short, standing check-in (even five minutes every couple of weeks) tends to work better than waiting for materials to come to you.

It’s easy to let this eat your paperwork time. Curriculum-based therapy adds planning steps on top of everything else already competing for your week. If paperwork is already the thing keeping you up at night, this framework for paperwork planning and this approach to caseload vs. workload are good next reads.

The evidence base is still growing. Curriculum-based language intervention is well-supported in theory and by law, but researchers are candid that more evidence is still needed to guide exactly how it’s best implemented in early elementary settings. That’s not a reason to avoid it. It’s a reason to keep your own data collection tight, so you can see what’s actually working for your students.

Start Small

You don’t need to overhaul your entire practice this week. Pick one piece, your materials, your data system, or your classroom-materials folder, and set it up first. Once one piece is solid, the next one is a lot easier to build.

References

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 2004; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). School-Based Service Delivery in Speech-Language Pathology. https://www.asha.org/slp/schools/school-based-service-delivery-in-speech-language-pathology/

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Caseload and Workload. Practice Portal. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/caseload-and-workload/

Meaux, A. B., & Norris, J. A. (2018). Curriculum-based language interventions: What, who, why, where, and how? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49(2), 165–175. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_LSHSS-17-0057

FAQ

What is curriculum-based therapy in speech-language pathology?

It's an approach where a school-based SLP targets a student's speech and language goals using the content and materials from their general education classroom, like a current book, unit, or lesson, instead of unrelated, isolated materials.

Is curriculum-based therapy required by law?

Not exactly, but it connects closely to IDEA's least restrictive environment requirement, which calls for students to be educated alongside their peers and curriculum whenever appropriate.

How do I organize materials for curriculum-based therapy?

Most SLPs need three organized pieces: a flexible set of core teaching materials, a data collection system tied to student goals, and a dedicated place to store whatever the classroom teacher shares with you.

What's the biggest challenge with curriculum-based therapy?

Inconsistent access to what's happening in the classroom. A short standing check-in with teachers tends to solve this better than waiting for materials to come to you.

Following Directions Speech Therapy: 6 Strategies That Actually Work

July 15, 2026 by Marisha 12 Comments

If your students struggle to follow directions—whether it’s a simple “get your notebook” or a multi-step classroom routine—you’re definitely not alone.

Understanding and carrying out directions is a foundation for success in language, academics, and social interaction, yet it’s one of the trickiest skills for many students on your caseload.

In this guide, we’ll explore six evidence-based strategies you can use to assess, teach, and practice following directions in speech therapy. You’ll learn how to identify what’s really behind a student’s difficulty, discover engaging activities that boost comprehension, and walk away with ready-to-use materials to make your sessions smoother.

Quick answer: Most students who struggle to follow directions aren’t struggling with attention. The real barrier is usually one of three things: vocabulary (not knowing a key word in the direction), syntax (not understanding the sentence structure, like clauses with “before” or “after”), or working memory (losing track of multi-step directions). Figuring out which one is driving the breakdown, before you pick an activity, is what actually moves the goal forward.

Let’s start by looking at why following directions is such an essential part of every student’s communication and learning journey and how we can set them up for success from the very first session.

Why Following Directions Is Foundational in Speech Therapy

Following directions is about far more than compliance; it’s a core language skill that supports nearly every academic and social task a student faces. From understanding classroom routines to playing games with peers, a child’s ability to process and act on directions impacts listening comprehension, executive functioning, and overall independence.

In speech therapy, we often see that students who struggle with following directions aren’t just “not paying attention.” Instead, they may be missing key vocabulary, syntactic cues, or the working memory skills needed to hold multi-step instructions in mind. As Wallach (2014) notes, therapy for school-age children should always focus on “real-world language use” rather than isolated tasks—so targeting this skill contextually is crucial.

That’s why every SLP’s toolkit should include visuals and structured activities that make direction-following more accessible and engaging.

Following Directions Visual Checklists

Following Directions Skill Pack

Evidence-backed visuals, assessments, and activities to help students master following directions.

Research summary highlighting six evidence-based strategies
Informal assessment to establish a solid baseline
Visuals to help you teach following directions effectively
Leveled practice with a variety of visual supports
Activity guide to facilitate generalization across contexts

Everything you need to assess, teach, and generalize following directions — all in one place.

How to Teach Following Directions in Speech Therapy (6 Strategies)

Every student is different, so there’s no single “right way” to teach following directions in speech therapy. But research gives us a clear roadmap. Studies show that effective intervention blends assessment, strategy instruction, movement, collaboration, and contextualized practice (Cirrin et al., 2010).

When we look closely, students who struggle with directions usually need support in one or more of these underlying areas:

Vocabulary: Understanding key words in the direction (e.g., temporal and spatial concepts).
Syntax: Understanding relative clauses (e.g., Touch the one that is red.), reversals (e.g., Before you go play, put on your socks.), etc.
Executive functioning: Paying attention, remembering the steps, and staying focused on completing the task.

The good news? By using structured, engaging activities that target these components directly, we can make lasting progress.

In the sections that follow, you’ll learn six evidence-based strategies drawn from current research and practice, each paired with examples and printable supports from the Following Directions Skill Pack.

Strategy 1: Assess and Identify the Root Cause

Before choosing materials or setting goals, start by identifying why a student struggles to follow directions. A thorough assessment helps you decide whether the barrier is vocabulary, syntax, memory, or attention and which intervention strategies will help most.

A differential assessment (Gill et al., 2003) can break this down by analyzing a student’s responses to one-, two-, and three-step directions.

A dynamic assessment adds another layer, letting you observe how quickly students improve when given cues or modeling.

Together, these approaches help you pinpoint underlying language or cognitive factors instead of assuming a “listening” problem.

SLPs can also gather classroom observations or teacher reports to see how the student follows directions across environments. This data informs more functional IEP goals and ensures therapy targets the real root of difficulty.

Following Directions Skill Pack - Assessment Overview

Following Directions Skill Pack - Observation Page

Use the Assessment Overview and Observation sheets from the Skill Pack to document how students perform with one-, two-, and three-step directions and note which strategies help most.

Strategy 2: Incorporate Movement-Based Learning

Sometimes the best way to improve a child’s ability to follow directions isn’t at the table; it’s through movement. Research shows that pairing language with movement helps children retain and comprehend instructions more effectively (Kosmas et al., 2018; Mellor & Morini, 2023). When students physically act out what they hear, they engage multiple systems—language, memory, and motor planning—which makes learning more meaningful.

Incorporate movement by turning everyday therapy sessions into interactive games and challenges:

🪜 Obstacle Courses: “Hop to the blue square, crawl under the chair, and touch the wall.”
🔎 Scavenger Hunts: “Find the red crayon before you pick up the green one.”
🎵 Action Songs: Combine rhythm with sequential directions (“Clap twice, spin around, and sit down”).
🎯 Conditional Directions: Practice “if directions” with visuals and real-world actions.

These hands-on activities are especially powerful for students who struggle with complex or out-of-order directions, since movement allows them to “see” and “feel” the structure of the sentence.

Following Directions Skill Pack - Quick Helper

Following Directions Skill Pack - Practice Page

Students use “Quick Helper” and “After / Out of Order” visuals to understand conditional directions like before and after while completing physical tasks.

Strategy 3: Teach and Model Explicit Strategies

Even after assessment and movement-based practice, many students still need explicit instruction in how to follow directions. Research suggests that directly teaching and modeling these strategies can help students strengthen working memory and self-monitoring skills (Gill et al., 2003).

Here are a few strategies to model and practice in therapy:

🗣️ Rehearsal: Encourage students to repeat the direction out loud (“First touch your head, then pick up the pencil”).
👀 Visualization: Teach students to “make a movie in their head” of what they need to do next.
✏️ Drawing or Icons: Have students sketch or mark icons to represent steps in multi-step directions.
🙋‍♀️ Clarification: Model how to ask for repetition (“Can you say that again?”).
🧠 Check for Understanding: Pause between steps to confirm comprehension before moving on.

When these strategies are modeled consistently—and reinforced by teachers—students begin to internalize them and apply them independently.

Following Directions Skill Pack - Teacher Strategies

Following Directions Skill Pack - Student Strategies

Teacher and student strategy visuals help students rehearse, visualize, and self-cue during direction-following tasks.

💡 Reinforce Strategy Use Across Settings
The Following Directions Skill Pack includes printable Teacher Strategies and Student Strategy cards that make it easy to model, post, and share key strategies—so students can apply what they learn across the classroom, playground, and home.

Strategy 4: Collaborate with Teachers for Carryover

Following directions doesn’t stop in the speech room. To make real progress, students need consistent reinforcement across the school day, which is why collaboration with teachers is one of the most powerful steps you can take.

When teachers understand and use the same strategies introduced in speech therapy, students get more opportunities to practice—and their success transfers naturally to classroom routines.

Research supports this kind of team-based approach. Co-treatment and shared strategy implementation have been shown to improve concept development and generalization (Lund, Young, & Yarbrough, 2019).

Here are a few ways to make collaboration easy and effective:

Chunk Directions: Encourage teachers to give 1–2 steps at a time, pausing for processing.
Visual Supports: Post visuals like “before/after” or “first/then” cards around the room.
Cue Attention: A simple “eyes on me” cue before giving instructions helps students reset focus.
Reinforce Student Strategies: Teachers can prompt students to rehearse or visualize before responding.

These small adjustments make a huge difference in how students understand and execute directions across contexts.

Teachers can use the “Check for Understanding” and “Cue to Direct Attention” visuals from the Skill Pack to reinforce direction-following strategies during daily routines.

Strategy 5: Contextualize Practice and Generalize Skills

Even the best therapy session won’t make an impact if students can’t carry what they’ve learned into real life. To create lasting change, we need to design activities that reflect authentic classroom and social contexts. This is what Ukrainetz (2015) calls contextualized language intervention.

In other words, therapy should look and feel like the environments where students actually need to follow directions (e.g., the classroom, the playground, and at home). Instead of isolated drill work, embed direction-following into literacy-based tasks, crafts, and everyday routines so students can practice comprehension, sequencing, and planning in meaningful ways.

Here are a few examples you can build right into your sessions:

📚 Literacy-Based Therapy: Read a short passage and ask students to follow related instructions (“Underline the title, circle the author’s name, then draw a star next to the main character”).
✂️ Crafts: Hands-on projects like the Weather Man Craft from the Skill Pack combine visual, verbal, and fine motor steps.
🧪 Science Experiments: Have students perform multi-step actions using direction words like before, after, while, and if.
🏫 Classroom Routines: Practice real directions used during transitions (“Hang your backpack, put your folder in the bin, then line up at the door”).

These activities promote generalization by connecting the therapy room to the real world—and they make sessions more engaging and memorable for students.

Strategy 6: Provide Feedback and Reinforcement

Once students are engaged and practicing meaningful tasks, the next key step is consistent feedback and reinforcement.

According to Cirrin et al. (2010), therapy is most effective when feedback is immediate, specific, and tied to functional outcomes. For following directions, this means giving students clear information about how well they executed each step—not just whether they got it right.

Here are a few research-backed tips you can integrate into your sessions:

✅ Recast and Re-Model: Repeat or model the correct direction sequence after errors (“First circle the star, then draw the line”).
💬 Highlight Accuracy: Instead of “Good job,” say, “You remembered to do all three steps in order!”
📋 Visual Feedback: Use worksheets or cards that show completed steps so students can track progress.
🎯 Gradual Challenge: Start with 1-step directions, then move to multi-step directions as accuracy improves.

Reinforcement builds confidence and helps students internalize strategies like rehearsal, visualization, and self-monitoring. These are skills they’ll need to succeed in more complex environments.

Students complete a “nest” worksheet that targets multi-step and conditional directions using icons and visual sequencing.

💡 Reinforce Success With Visual Practice
The Following Directions Skill Pack includes printable worksheets and visual templates designed to build comprehension through feedback and repetition. Each sheet supports 1-, 2-, and 3-step directions with clear visuals students love.

Writing Effective IEP Goals for Following Directions

Once you’ve identified the root cause of difficulty and implemented teaching strategies, the next step is to write clear, measurable IEP goals that reflect a student’s true language needs.

Rather than writing narrow goals like “Student will follow multi-step directions,” focus on the foundational language systems that make following directions possible—syntax, vocabulary, and morphology. These are the building blocks that allow students to understand, process, and act on increasingly complex directions.

As Wallach (2014) reminds us, goals should emphasize functional language outcomes rather than rote task completion. Effective intervention shifts away from isolated “compliance” goals and toward addressing the underlying language systems that support comprehension, attention, and academic success.

🧩 Reframing “Following Directions” Goals

While direction-following assessments provide valuable insight into a student’s performance, they should be viewed as a lens for uncovering underlying language weaknesses—not as an endpoint. Targeting syntax, vocabulary, and morphology helps students develop the comprehension and reasoning skills that transfer to real-life learning situations.

🧱 Foundational Goal Examples

🧩 Syntax Goals
Focus on understanding sentence structure, which supports processing of complex directions.

Receptive Syntax:
Given a short passage or oral direction, the student will identify and explain the meaning of sentences containing embedded clauses (e.g., “Before you circle the picture, underline the word”) with 80% accuracy.
The student will follow directions that include temporal and conditional clauses (e.g., “After you color the circle, draw a line”) by demonstrating understanding of the sequence of actions in 4 out of 5 opportunities.
Expressive Syntax:
The student will produce complex sentences using subordinating conjunctions (e.g., before, after, because) to describe sequences of events in 4 out of 5 opportunities.
When given a simple direction, the student will restate it using appropriate syntactic structure to demonstrate understanding of relationships between actions.

🧠 Vocabulary Goals
Focus on key concepts, verbs, and relational terms critical for following academic and functional directions.

The student will demonstrate understanding of spatial concepts (e.g., above, between, next to) by identifying or acting out directions containing those terms with 80% accuracy.
The student will define and use common classroom direction verbs (e.g., underline, match, circle, label) appropriately in structured activities in 4/5 trials.

🔠 Morphology Goals
Support comprehension of morphologically complex forms that alter meaning within directions.

The student will identify and explain the meaning of morphological endings that affect direction verbs (e.g., coloring vs. colored) with 80% accuracy.
When given oral or written directions, the student will demonstrate understanding of plural, tense, and comparative markers (e.g., draw two smaller circles) in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

🧾 Sample Direction-Following IEP Goals

Once you’ve built those foundational skills into your plan, you can also include functional direction-following goals that reflect applied comprehension:

1-Step Directions:
Given visual and verbal cues, the student will follow one-step directions related to classroom routines with 80% accuracy across three consecutive sessions.
2-Step Sequential Directions:
The student will follow two-step sequential directions using visual supports (e.g., “Pick up your pencil and draw a circle”) with 75% accuracy as measured by SLP data collection.
3-Step / Multi-Step Directions:
Given conditional and out-of-order directions (e.g., “Before you underline the title, circle the author’s name”), the student will complete three-step tasks with minimal verbal prompts in 4/5 opportunities.
Generalization Goal:
During classroom activities, the student will apply taught strategies (rehearsal, visualization, clarification) to follow teacher directions with 80% accuracy as measured by teacher observation.

These examples build naturally from the earlier strategies—teaching foundational skills, incorporating visuals, and expanding to real-world contexts that encourage carryover.

💡 Simplify Your Goal Writing
The Following Directions Skill Pack includes assessments, progress-tracking sheets, and visual documentation tools so data collection and goal writing have never been easier.

Example Following Directions Activities by Complexity

When targeting following directions in speech therapy, think of each “level” not as a checklist of tasks—but as a way to systematically build the underlying language and cognitive skills that make direction-following possible.
These activities still progress from one- to multi-step sequences but are designed to strengthen comprehension, working memory, and linguistic processing—not just compliance.

Example directions by level

1-step: Put the crayon in the box. · Give me the red block. · Put the book under the chair. · Throw away your napkin.

2-step (related): Get your coat and put it on. · Pick up the pencil and give it to me. · Open the book and find the dog.

2-step (unrelated): Clap your hands, then touch the table. · Put the car in the box and stand up.

3-step: Stand up, push in your chair, and line up at the door. · Get a crayon, color the star yellow, and put your paper in the folder. · Take out your math book, turn to page 10, and write your name at the top.

Conditional: If you have a pet, raise your hand. · If the circle is big, color it red. If it’s small, color it blue.

Temporal (before/after): Before you color the apple, write your name. · After you circle the dog, underline the cat.

Level 1: One-Step Directions — Build Concept & Vocabulary Foundations

Early instruction should target basic concepts and receptive vocabulary—the building blocks of comprehension. Focus on spatial, quantitative, and descriptive words students must understand before multi-step tasks can succeed.

Therapy ideas:

Concept sorting: Have students follow single-concept directions (“Put the big square under the table,” “Point to the longest pencil”).
Action-verb practice: Combine visuals with motor actions (“Wave,” “Jump,” “Circle”).
Concept stories: Read a short story and give one-step directions related to the text (“Find the red apple in the picture”).

Level 2: Two-Step Directions — Strengthen Syntax & Working Memory

At this level, focus on sentence structure and order processing. Students begin linking two ideas using conjunctions such as and, then, before, after.
This supports both syntax comprehension and working-memory sequencing.

Therapy ideas:

Sequential play tasks: “Before you put the block on top, pick up the blue one.”
ABA-style chaining: Use two-step routines like “Touch your nose and clap twice,” prompting rehearsal and visualization.
Sentence reconstruction: Give students two picture cards and have them act out the correct order.

Level 3: Multi-Step & Complex Directions — Integrate Syntax, Morphology, and Executive Function

Once students can follow two connected ideas, you can integrate temporal, conditional, and morphologically complex forms (e.g., before, after, while, if, plurals, and comparatives).

These directions mirror real classroom language and push both comprehension and planning skills.

Therapy ideas:

Conditional sequencing: “If you see the triangle, color it blue; if you see the circle, underline it.”
Morphology in motion: “Draw two smaller circles before coloring the largest one.”
Academic integration: Embed multi-step directions into science or literacy projects (“After you label the diagram, write the definition and tape it on the wall”).

Reinforcing Progress with Printable Following Directions Worksheets

While the most powerful way to target following directions is through contextual, hands-on learning—such as crafts, literacy units, and classroom activities—printable visuals and worksheets can play a valuable supporting role. They’re especially useful for reinforcing concepts after structured practice or for assigning quick carryover tasks.

Printable materials provide a structured format for review and progress monitoring, giving SLPs a way to track comprehension across 1-, 2-, and 3-step directions. When paired with visuals, these resources can help students apply strategies like visualization, sequencing, and self-checking.

To maximize impact, combine worksheets with interactive practice. For example:

Use a worksheet as a warm-up before a craft or science task.
Review worksheet visuals together, then act out the same steps with real materials.
Send them home as short practice assignments that reinforce classroom learning.

Wrapping Up: From Research to Practice

Helping students learn to follow directions is about far more than getting them to “listen.” It’s about supporting the language and executive functioning skills that make them confident, independent learners.

By combining assessment, explicit strategy teaching, movement, and contextualized practice, you can create therapy sessions that don’t just check a box; they change how students understand and use language every day.

The evidence is clear: when we make direction-following interactive, visual, and meaningful, students not only meet their goals—they begin to thrive in the classroom and beyond.

🎯 Ready to Make Following Directions Easier for Every Student?

Download the Following Directions Skill Pack to get everything you need:

Assessments to identify the root cause of comprehension challenges
Visual cue cards for 1-, 2-, and 3-step directions
Printable worksheets and contextual activities for practice
Teacher + student strategy visuals for seamless carryover

All research-backed, classroom-ready, and included in your free trial.

References

Cirrin, F. M., Schooling, T. L., Nelson, N. W., Diehl, S. F., Flynn, P. F., Staskowski, M., Torrey, T. Z., & Adamczyk, D. F. (2010). Evidence-based systematic review: Effects of different service delivery models on communication outcomes for elementary school–age children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(3), 233–264. View study

Gill, C. B., Klecan-Aker, J., Roberts, T., & Fredenburg, K. A. (2003). Following directions: Rehearsal and visualization strategies for children with specific language impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 19(1), 85–103. View study

Kosmas, P., Ioannou, A., & Zaphiris, P. (2018). Implementing embodied learning in the classroom: Effects on children’s memory and language skills. Educational Media International, 55(4), 324–339. View study

Lund, E., Young, A., & Yarbrough, R. (2019). The effects of co-treatment on concept development in children with Down syndrome. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 40(3), 165–174. View study

Mellor, L., & Morini, G. (2023). Examining the relation between exercise and word learning in preschool-age children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(10), 4004–4015. View study

Ukrainetz, T. A. (2015). Contextualized language intervention: Scaffolding preK–12 literacy achievement. Thinking Publications. View book

Wallach, G. P. (2014). Improving clinical practice: A school-age and school-based perspective. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. View study

Transcript

Hello there, and I hope you are in the mood for some talk about syntax. Last week, we talked about compound sentences and I wanted to continue the conversation with more types of syntax, like passive voice and relative clauses. Before you hit pause because you're like, well, I work with kindergartners or I work with second grade,this is still a relevant thing to target with our students. There was a study by Owens et al in 2024. They reviewed conversational language samples for 196 children, ages five to 10 years, 11 months, They found that five year olds are using an average of 1.25 subordinate clauses and 2.05 coordinate clauses, so even five year olds are using complex syntax and the number continues to increase with age. So if we are seeing our students only use simple sentences, that is a sign that they may need support with syntax and we might want to look into it a little bit for further. It's easy to hear if they're using simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and all types of clauses.

If we're not seeing this in their communication, they may be struggling to comprehend that complex syntax as well. And that is an absolutely age appropriate skill for our school age students. Approximately half of five year olds are able to comprehend reversible passive sentences, and that's from Owen's 2016.

And 90% of children between the ages of seven and a half and eight are able to comprehend reversible passives. So very early on in the school age years, this is something that's typical and something that we might want to support if our students are struggling with it.

So hopefully you're still intrigued. I am going to be sharing strategies that we can use in our assessment and intervention when targeting these types of goals. The first strategy, and this has been a common theme, but we want to start with a thorough assessment. Collect language samples and consider multiple contexts because we use different types of syntax when generating narratives, retelling narratives, describing a picture, summarizing a text, explaining how to do something, trying to persuade someone.

So all of those types of samples will elicit different syntax. We want to consider different language samples. We will also want to observe in the classroom because the language that we're hearing in the classroom will be a little bit different. We can look at work samples and look at their writing.

And we can also collect parent and teacher report. And then we can also do a more structured assessment of the comprehension and production of syntax.

In terms of actual treatment strategies, I'm pulling a lot of these from Zipoli 2017. I'll share the citation in the show notes. Lessons should begin with clear explanations of the target sentence structure and give the purpose of the lesson so we can model comprehension and production of sentence structures. We'll want to use clear, concise, and consistent language as we're doing that.

When we're providing demonstrations, we'll give multiple examples and use visual and auditory cues to make the syntactic features more explicit. There's a lot we can do to support the teaching of that. One strategy is focused stimulation.

This is one that applies to all grammar goals and that I have found to be incredibly impactful. This is a little bit more implicit, but this is when we provide frequent models and recasts in a variety of activities. So, when we're modeling the passive voice or a relative clause, we highlight that naturally in conversation. When we recast, we might correct what the child says or modify it. If they produce a simple sentence in our literacy based therapy activity, I can recast the student's sentence and add in that relative class.

Using those models and recasts is what they call focused stimulation in the research and we can incorporate that in all of our therapy activities. That is a great way to implicitly target some of these skills.

Other strategies we might use for passive voice are using directed questions to enhance and scaffold comprehension. So if we have a sentence like Diego was found by Rebecca. We can say who was found and who did the finding, and ask some questions about that statement.

And we can use pictorial support as well and asking students to draw pictures to represent those sentences. The example I gave was with the passive, but we can also do this with a active voice. So instead of Diego was found by Rebecca, we can do Diego found Rebecca. And in SLP Now we have syntax activities attached to the majority of our literacy based units. We embed these strategies in the activities for passive voice, for example. So we have a sentence, with pictures and visual choices to help the students.

We have pictorial support as well, and we give you statements and questions so that you have support as you're implementing these types of strategies. For verbal clauses, which is another type of syntax we might want to target, we can use sentence starters.

This is an effective technique for helping students understand and write more elaborate sentences. If we give them a starter, they can fill in the sentence and create more. We also have picture sequencing. If we have pictures of the different items, for example, before I take the test, I will study. You can have a icon representing studying and taking the test, and you can do that practice using those adverbial clauses. In SLP Now we have icon cards for the conjunctions that you would use with the sentence starters.

We also have pictures to practice and support that understanding. We give you tools for sentence starters and picture sequencing. In terms of relative clauses, two more evidence backed strategies are to use sentence combining, which we talked about last week.

This is where we're combining two or more simple sentences. You can use simple sentences from whatever book or article you're reading and then use our conjunction cards to help students combine those. The other strategy we talked about last week is sentence decomposition, where you take a complex sentence and break it down into simpler sentences.

All you need is the book or article you're reading and identifying those simple, complex, and compound sentences. That is a quick blitz of some strategies we can use for our syntax goals. Check out the show notes for references and more detail about the resources if you want help implementing this.

I hope that this was a helpful review for you and we'll see you in the next one.