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De Facto Leaders

Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan

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On the De Facto Leaders podcast, host Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan helps pediatric therapists and educators become better leaders, so they can make a bigger impact with their services. With over 15 years of experience supporting school-age kids with diverse learning needs, Dr. Karen shares up-to-date evidence-based practices, her own experiences and guest interviews designed to help clinicians, teachers, and aspiring school leaders feel more confident in the way they serve their students and clie ...
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Helping families feel involved in their child’s school experience is a challenge; and underrepresented populations may often feel like their voices aren’t being heard. While it can help if school staff buy in to the idea of family engagement, it’s difficult for schools to make it happen without the right systems in place. That’s why I invited Ari G…
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Finding the resources and funding for learning tools and enriching events is a consistent challenge for many districts. The PTO is often a largely underutilized resource, but most people cringe at the thought of having to attend one more committee meeting, especially in the evenings. Yet a well-run PTO can help take some of the load off of school s…
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Teachers and school leaders often feel like they have to be “everything to everyone”. Not only are educators expected to deliver high-quality instruction in traditional academic areas, they’re also expected to provide social-emotional support, vocational training, and everything in between. When it comes to supporting mental health, this can be a t…
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“Scaffolding” has become a buzzword when it comes to helping kids become more independent with academic and functional tasks, but it's only useful if people know what it means. Watching students or your own children struggle to transition or complete daily tasks can be uncomfortable for both the adults and children. As a result, it can be easy to g…
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For episode 196 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I talk through how to write language therapy goals that are both trackable and functional. This is just one of many Q & A sessions I’m planning on sharing where I talk through how to find the balance between focusing on external behaviors that allow us to document progress and inter…
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For episode 195 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I talk through ways to navigate evaluations; including considering a test's psychometric properties, how detailed it gets, and how to supplement with non-standardized protocols. In the second half, I talked about SLP career transitions and things to think about if you want to explor…
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Many therapists feel as though they have limited upward mobility in their careers. Graduate programs understandably focus on direct clinical practice and understanding evidence-based practices. Unfortunately, this leaves many clinicians unprepared to navigate policy work, salary negotiations, or running a business. This makes many therapists less c…
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Most people agree that the “online learning” that happened during COVID was a challenge for many students; especially those with disabilities. However, what happened during the pandemic wasn’t a true version of what “distance learning” or “telehealth” should be. There’s a difference between leveraging technology to enhance in-person experiences vs.…
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The writing process comes with internal resistance, even for strong writers. Most people who say they enjoy writing don’t enjoy the entire process; particularly the “getting started” part. This is why writing is a common challenge when executive functioning is impacted. Layer on issues with background knowledge, language, and decoding, and it becom…
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High-impact tutoring has a wide body of evidence to support its efficacy, but how do you know what is and isn’t “high-impact”? Is it better to brand yourself as an academic coach or an executive functioning coach? Should “executive functioning” be a class in school, or should it be embedded into all the classes? I invited my colleague David Schippe…
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Many of my colleagues working in the public sector are skeptical of companies selling products to school districts. I’ve felt some of this skepticism myself as I’ve seen certain approaches gain traction because they’re well-marketed (yet not evidence-based). So it’s understandable to me that people would question the motives of companies selling pr…
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Many people treat social skills groups as if they’re the complete package, when in fact they’re just one part of a bigger service plan. When we “lesson plan” we can’t think of our intervention as something that starts and ends with a 20-minute therapy session. Instead, we should think of it as a “planning” or a “priming” session. That’s why one of …
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Syntactic use is considered an “academic” skill that’s useful for reading comprehension and writing, but the impact of sentence comprehension goes way beyond school. Our ability to comprehend messages at the word and sentence level in oral and written language has a huge impact on our ability to function. So when clinicians ask me, “Should I focus …
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I regularly hear from therapists who ask me questions about how to evaluate language in a way that gives detailed, meaningful, and accurate information. Most people know standardized tests only show a small fraction of what we need to know when it comes to language and cognition, yet many clinicians still don’t consistently utilize a complete portf…
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Language evaluations are challenging enough; but when we’re evaluating multilingual and bilingual students, they become even more complex. When clinicians ask me about language evaluations, the questions are typically: What tools/protocols can I use? Who can I go to for help? How can I advocate for change if current policies don’t support best prac…
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In this interview, I revisit conversations surrounding the school-to-confinement pipeline, giving students’ the language skills to understand their rights, the link between language, literacy and “behavior problems”, and how to get started with policy work. I share my commentary on the following: ✅ Why students who’ve received repeated detentions o…
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In this interview, I revisit conversations surrounding the use of the term “dyslexia” in the schools, the use of technology, and equitable access to books. I share my commentary on the following: ✅Saying “dyslexia” in the schools: Both the positive and negative consequences ✅Educational technology definitions: What “counts” as technology? What’s th…
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How much do we need to know about morphology and etymology to effectively help students? Is etymology an essential component to spelling and reading instruction? Will phonics instruction bore students? Is exposure to interesting books enough to foster a love of reading for people who don’t have solid word decoding skills? I revisit my conversations…
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Many skeptics of the science of reading are concerned that structured approaches will bore kids and make it less likely they’ll enjoy reading. These concerns are unfounded for a number of reasons. First, structured approaches help reach students who don’t learn through implicit learning (which is a lot of kids). It’s hard to develop a love of somet…
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Students who meet the criteria for developmental language disorder (DLD) are often categorized as “speech only” in the school systems. In many cases, these students qualify for special education services under the eligibility category of “speech and language impaired”, which puts speech-language pathologists who serve as case managers in a difficul…
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There is a disproportionate number of individuals with communication disorders and reading disabilities involved with the justice system for both children and adults. Past research suggests that more than 40% of incarcerated people have some type of nonpsychiatric disability (Berzofsky et al., 2015; Bixby et al., 2022; Thompson, 2022) Additionally,…
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How can school leaders make informed decisions about reading curriculum when they know the home environments among their student body vary widely? I don’t envy people tasked with these kinds of decisions. My opinion is that schools should ensure students get their instructional needs met during the school day, because it’s difficult to control what…
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In 2015, the Office of Special Education Programs published a letter stating that school teams were “not prohibited” from using the term “dyslexia”. Unfortunately, this letter left many questions unanswered and is often misinterpreted. Parents seeking out services for their children are still unsure how to advocate for appropriate services in their…
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There are many “science of reading” terms being used right now (including the “science of reading” itself). Yet debates about how to help kids become literate continues; and part of that is because of common logical fallacies applied to education. That’s why I invited Anna Geiger to episode 177 of De Facto Leaders to define important literacy terms…
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The “science of reading” is trending; but in order for professionals to engage in effective instruction, they need to understand that literacy also includes spelling and writing. Writing, spelling, and reading are interconnected, and the growing body of research continues to show us that these skills need to be taught explicitly. That’s why I invit…
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