The Aligned SLP
Supporting overwhelmed school-based SLPs to use an educational model of service delivery, including inclusion, neurodiversity, a workload approach, multi-tiered systems of support, and true collaboration with teachers and other education colleagues - to increase a sense of belonging, creativity and to reduce stress and burnout.
https://sarahdowlingschoolslpcoaching.com
Episodes
11 episodes
Lesley Sylvan on her book and sabbatical
We explore how school-based SLPs can stop working in isolation and start building real MTSS change through shared responsibility for language across the school day. We unpack what makes innovation possible and what makes it sustainable so we ar...
Medical versus Educational Language
We challenge the medical-style language that keeps school-based SLPs stuck in isolation and overload, and we replace it with an educational, MTSS-aligned way of thinking. We lay out concrete language swaps and service design choices that help u...
Moving from the Outside to the Inside
We rethink what it means to belong as a school-based SLP and why the pull-out, referral-driven cycle keeps us feeling like outsiders. We connect curriculum, embedded systems like MTSS, and day-to-day collaboration to bring back purpose, equity,...
Interview with Zoë Watt
We trade the pull-out fix-it model for a collaborative MTSS approach that makes communication support part of everyday classroom learning. We share what it takes to build inclusive, sustainable school-based SLP services that respect teachers, c...
Interview with Pam Waterhouse
We unpack why school-based SLPs feel like they’re failing when the system is built for an impossible caseload and a pull-out “fix it” model. We explore a kinder, more inclusive way to work by building teacher capacity and shifting toward classr...
From Pull-Out Therapy To Classroom Impact
I share a mindset shift for school-based SLPs when a teacher says, “I don’t know what to do with them”, and I show how that moment can point to classroom needs not just student needs. We move beyond the pull-out-only default and into a workload...
Interview with Dr. Carl Anserello
We trace how a northern BC school district moved from isolated specialists and nonstop testing to true collaboration built on problem-solving and simple progress measures. We share practical ways to find your first opening for change so you can...
Moving Beyond Pull-Out Therapy Through True Classroom Collaboration
We ask where school-based SLPs truly belong and why that answer reshapes goals, service delivery, and impact in the classroom. I trace how the medical model became the default, then map a practical route toward collaborative, curriculum-connect...
Interview with Dr. Lesley Sylvan
We explore how SLPs can move from isolated caseloads to collaborative workload using a Multi-Tiered System of Support. Dr. Lesley Sylvan shares why prevention, data, and shared ownership at Tier One create clearer decisions, stronger inclusion,...
Introducing Myself
I introduce my professional journey whilst working in schools. • working more closely with class teachers• ideas and books that shaped a school-aligned lens• research training and university teaching influences• redesig...
Reimagining School SLP: Collaboration, Tiers, And Sustainability
We trace a path from isolated pull-out therapy to a collaborative, tiered model that centres students and restores SLP sustainability. Through stories, strategies, and systems thinking, we show how shifting from caseload to workload builds capa...