My Top 5 Speech Therapy PD Courses of 2025

What

The Power of Gesture in Language Development
Garrett Oyama & Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow

This episode took me to a whole new understanding of gestural symbology. I was rapt about the differences between sign language, home sign, co-speech gestures, and silent gestures. If you listen to one podcast from 2025, this should be it.

Assessment of Play Skills in Early Intervention
Janine Benner, MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL

If you are working in early intervention or preschools, this is the course to make sure you have a solid plan for play assessment. This is a great PD if you need help getting organized, writing goals, and approaching parent involvement with sensitivity. She provides helpful printables you can use right away.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Trina Becker & Beth Bergstrom

Trina and Beth presented enthusiastically and scaffolded information effectively. I really enjoyed learning about PRISM (Fish, 2011) and the Hierarchy of Word Shape Difficulty (Velleman, 2003). Finally, the Client Profile worksheet they provided is something I think you'll want in your assessment toolbox.

Communication Differences in Young Children with ASD
Dr. Nichole Mulvey, PhD, CCC-SLP

It doesn't surprise me that this course was one of Speech TherapyPD's highest-rated offerings of the year. Dr. Mulvey provides solid education about this sought-after topic. She expanded my understanding of eye contact as a method to initiate and terminate an interaction. Finally, I was grateful for her overview of elements of the ADOS-2 (and feeling inspired to get trained).

Brain-Based Language Networks and Individual Differences
Garrett Oyama & Dr. Evelina Fedorenko

This episode had me furiously taking notes. Dr. Fedorenko's explanation of processing musical and speech input was fantastic; she provided high-level information with enthusiasm. I learned so much related to my two areas of passion and am planning to listen to it at least 2 more times to make sure I don't forget a single idea!