Date: Live on XXXXX.

Time (Duration):  (90 minutes)

Presenter: XXXX

Registration cost: FREE to WSLHA members

ASHA CEUs and clock hours available for attending or watching the entire event.

Date: Live on Tuesday, September 15, 2026; Recorded on-demand version available for two weeks as soon as the recording is available on September 15, 2026 through September 29, 2026.

Time (Duration): 6:30-8:30 pm PST (120 minutes)

Presenter: Sharlet Lee Jensen, CCC-SLP, C-AAIS

Registration cost: $50 Public/Non-members, $35 WSLHA Members, $0 Students

ASHA CEUs and clock hours available for attending or watching the entire event.

Register Here

Course Description:

Discover the unique niche of animal-assisted speech therapy and learn why it is growing in popularity as an effective way to connect with clients to target self-regulation, communication, and learning goals. Speech-language pathologists are among the health and educational professionals increasingly challenged by clients who struggle to participate in traditional therapy approaches due to anxiety, passivity, working memory challenges, or an apparent lack of motivation. Yet for some clients, including an animal specially selected for the right temperament can be the key to developing an effective therapeutic relationship. A wide variety of speech, language, and social communication goals can be targeted through thoughtful inclusion of a therapy animal, and in this presentation you’ll see that in action through curated video clips. Plus learn ways to build on a client’s love of nature through animal-related engagement even if you don’t currently have a suitable therapy animal candidate. A review of applicable research and resources to expand your knowledge will be included. Leave with an understanding of why the human-animal bond can be so powerful and inspiration to get started on your own journey towards safely and effectively providing animal-assisted speech therapy.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:

1. Describe 4+ ways a therapy animal can improve learning outcomes within a speech/language therapy session.
2. Identify 3+ characteristics of their specific client population that may pose challenges to incorporating a therapy animal into sessions and ways to mitigate that potential risk.
3. Identify the difference between active therapy animal inclusion, passive therapy animal inclusion, and animal-related engagement.

Assessment Type: Self-assessment

Think about what you've learned and report on the completion form how you will use your new knowledge.

Instructor Sharlet Lee Jensen, CCC-SLP, C-AAIS, is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) with 23 years of experience supporting children across diverse backgrounds in clinical, school, and private settings. She founded her own solo private practice in 2011, focusing on conditions such as autism, apraxia, dyslexia, and speech disorders. A key aspect of her work is animal-assisted therapy. For the past six years, Sharlet has integrated a variety of trained therapy dog partners into her sessions, capitalizing on the human-animal bond to support engagement, emotional regulation, and communication development. Combined with her holistic view of child development, animal-assisted therapy has become a central, innovative tool in helping her clients improve speech, behavior, and learning outcomes. Sharlet has been a leading voice in promoting Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) for the field of speech-language pathology and runs the “Speech Dogs” website to provide additional resources to interested professionals.

Financial Disclosures: Sharlet Lee Jensen, CCC-SLP, C-AAIS receives financial gain and royalties as the author of “Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice” (ASHA Press, 2024) and the owner of Speech Dogs (www.speechdogs.com), a small business which offers online coursework and affiliate links for financial gain. She also receives royalties as the author of autism treatment materials published through Pro-Ed, including Figurative Language Cards and the Early Functional Communication Profile. In addition, she is a volunteer member of the Association of Animal-Assisted Intervention Professionals' Certification Commission. She is receiving a voucher for a future WSLHA Continuing Education event as compensation for this presentation.

Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Content Disclosures: None

This course is offered for 0.2 ASHA CEUs, Beginner Level, Subject code: 7010 Service Delivery Associated with Speech, Language, Hearing and Related Disorders, or 2 PDH, or 2 Clock Hours. Please see the FAQ for instructions for reporting OSPI Clock Hours through PD Enroller.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by 11:59pm Pacific Time, September 29th, 2026.

Date: Live on Thursday, October 8, 2026; Recorded on-demand version available for two weeks as soon as the recording is available on October 8, 2026 through October 22, 2026.

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm PST (120 minutes)

Presenter: Sharlet Lee Jensen, CCC-SLP, C-AAIS

Registration cost: $50 Public/Non-members, $35 WSLHA Members, $0 Students

ASHA CEUs and clock hours available for attending or watching the entire event.

Register Here

Course Description:

Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) affects 1 in 23 children, making it more prevalent than Autism. However, early identification and coordinated care remain inconsistent across clinical & educational settings. This presentation explores current best practices in the evaluation and treatment of PFD, through the use of complex case studies. Many SLPs have only worked and trained within the silo of their own discipline. As a result, many SLPs do not understand how a multidisciplinary team is essential for the comprehensive evaluation and effective treatment of PFD. Heavily marketed feeding methodologies preach that their treatment is the only training needed for all children with PFD. These programs rely on protocols that encourage simplistic, step-by-step generic processes that do not take into consideration the presenting needs of the child being treated. This furthers confusion regarding what clinicians really need to be effective PFD providers, especially for newer clinicians. The need for a deep understanding of physiology, developmental norms, and the interaction between the swallowing mechanism and the rest of the GI tract, along with how trauma and overall health (including cardiac and pulmonary) impact eating ability, efficiency, and safety is rarely talked about, nor clinical thinking skills focused on. Only those PFD professionals who are fortunate enough to work within Children's Hospitals or multidisciplinary settings are exposed to and build an understanding of the complex and interconnected nature of PFDs. My purpose in developing this presentation has been to provide a review of oral motor and other developmental norms, to provide the attendee with a foundation to use later in the presentation in the hands-on, interactive evaluation of complex case studies. The focus of the case studies is to help clinicians build and apply clinical thinking skills to real cases.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:

1. Describe common barriers to early identification and referral for Pediatric Feeding Disorder across healthcare and educational settings.
2. Explain how underlying etiologies resulting in PFD include medical complexities, neurodevelopmental concerns, sensory issues, and disrupted feeding experiences as well as early birth and extended Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stays.
3. Explain how a thorough understanding of developmental norms across physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy are essential for recognizing missing or delayed acquisition of skills that support age-appropriate feeding.

Assessment Type: Self-assessment

Think about what you've learned and report on the completion form how you will use your new knowledge.

Instructor Barbara Coven-Ellis, CCC-SLP, CLE is a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and Certified Lactation Educator who recently earned her clinical doctorate from Northwestern University (2025). Barbara has spent her entire career working as an SLP in rural Washington State where she has split her time between inpatient adult acute care and outpatient medically complex pediatrics. Barbara is deeply dedicated to bringing high quality, comprehensive pediatric rehab care to rural communities. Barbara’s commitment to learning is reflected in her 14 ASHA Award for Continuing Education (ACE) awards. She is the 2026 recipient of the Rural Neonatal Therapy Scholarship for the Ignite Program through the National Association of Neonatal Therapists (NANT). She has presented at ASHA (2025), for the Pediatric Feeding Association (2026), Utah Pediatric Feeding Conference (2026), at the International Association of Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing (IAPFS) (2026), and for Talk Tools: Feeding First Virtual Conference (2021), as well as appearing on The Nourished Child, First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional, Speechie Side Up, and Melanie Potock’s “Picky Eater Help!” podcasts.

Financial Disclosures: Dr. Coven-Ellis receives royalty payments for the sale of her book "Tyler Takes a Taste: A Boy and His Family’s Journey Through 'Picky Eating' and Feeding Disorders" through Amazon. She is a PRN SLP in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ( NICU) and adult acute care at Saint Michael Medical Center where she receives compensation. She owns her own private practice, Chasing Unicorns Pediatric Speech, Language, & Feeding, LLC with clinics in Poulsbo and Silverdale, Washington. She volunteers for Feeding Matters and is currently working on the Physician Outreach Project.

Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Content Disclosures: None

This course is offered for 0.2 ASHA CEUs, Advanced Level, Subject code: 1040 Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (Dysphagia), or 2 PDH, or 2 Clock Hours. Please see the FAQ for instructions for reporting OSPI Clock Hours through PD Enroller.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by 11:59pm Pacific Time, October 22nd, 2026.

Date: Live on Tuesday, October 6, 2026; Recorded on-demand version available for two weeks as soon as the recording is available on October 7, 2026 through December 31, 2026.

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm PST (120 minutes)

Save the date and stay tuned for course details.