What makes a skilled reader? Dr. Hollis Scarborough, a psychologist and literacy expert, created the idea of the “Reading Rope” to visually represent each component of skilled reading as a strand of thread that is woven together with other threads to create a “rope” that is skilled reading. The components are divided into two main…
What if school didn’t have to look the way we’ve always imagined it? In this episode of More Than Words: Treating the Whole Child, Tristen sits down with Joe Casamassima of Fusion Academy to explore the one-to-one school model and how it redefines what learning can look like for students. From personalized pacing to built-in…
Parents today are doing more than ever to support their children, but what happens when all that support starts to feel like too much? In this episode of More Than Words: Treating the Whole Child, Tristen sits down with Casey Pina from Fusion Academy Alexandria to explore a powerful and often overlooked concept: capacity. While…
Starting a conversation with your child’s school can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re unsure how your concerns will be received. In this episode, we talk with Meg Shah about how parents can approach school communication in a way that builds trust, clarity, and true collaboration from the very beginning. Meg shares practical strategies and real-life…
When parents are overwhelmed, stressed, or running on empty, it does not just affect them. It impacts the entire family dynamic. In this episode of More Than Words: Treating the Whole Child, we sit down with therapist Stephanie Kaiser to talk about a topic that often gets overlooked: parent mental health. Instead of focusing only…
In this episode of More Than Words, we take a closer look at what actually happens during an AAC evaluation and why it is much more than choosing a device. Speech-language pathologist Carleton Levert walks us through the full process, from initial referrals and case review to device trials, observations, and recommendations. We also explore…
Psychoeducational evaluations can sound intimidating for families, but they are designed to do something very important: help us understand how a child learns. In this episode of More Than Words: Treating the Whole Child, host Tristen speaks with licensed school psychologist Megan Davis about what psychoeducational evaluations really are and how they help uncover the…
Episode Summary Why does it feel like kids forget instructions the moment they hear them? In this episode of More Than Words, host Tristen is joined by licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Erika Madison to unpack how executive function plays a critical role in memory. Rather than being a true “memory problem,” many everyday struggles with…
Oral health is about so much more than cavities. In this episode of More Than Words: Treating the Whole Child, Tristen sits down with Dr. Sheyda Maghsoudi, board-certified pediatric dentist and founder of Lansdowne Pediatric Dentistry, to explore how oral structure, airway health, and daily habits influence speech, feeding, sleep, behavior, and learning. Dr. Maghsoudi…
Episode Summary In this powerful episode, we’re unpacking what Speech-Language Pathologists really know, and wish they knew, about dyslexia. After interviewing dozens of SLPs and graduate students at the 2024 ASHA Convention, we discovered clear themes: misinformation, missing training, personal stories of struggle and resilience, and a deep desire for better tools to support dyslexic…