This online course for SLPs was designed to be a comprehensive resource for therapy with emerging communicators. The course resources will help you develop the skills and confidence you need to love early language therapy.
You will earn eight professional development hours in this course and get access to THREE digital resources: The First Words Workbook, The Spanish First Words Workbook, and The Four Is Guide to Prelinguistic Skill Development.
The video modules, parent handouts, and guided learning were designed for both new and seasoned therapists.
You will learn new skills and interventions, obtain all of the research to support your therapy approach, and get access to over 100 parent handouts that will help you save time and make your therapy sessions more productive. Learn more about what's inside the course below!
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Ten Video Modules
You'll earn eight professional development hours and learn about the fundamentals of language development, general strategies to support communication skills, and specific interventions for children with language disorders.
The first part of the course contains bite-size lessons that are ideal for sharing with parents to support your therapy objectives. The lessons in the second half of the course go much more in-depth on specific interventions for children with communication needs. This includes late talkers and children with developmental language disorders, autism, and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.
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Easily Referenced Handouts
This course contains two resources.
The First Words Workbook features 50 pages of attractive, printable handouts to supplement the course topics. You can refer back to the workbook for a refresher on the four-step framework or print the pages individually by topic.
The Guide to Prelingusitic Skill Development includes over 70 pages of evidence-based interventions for children with language disorders. This is a great reference guide for accessing the content in the video modules in an easily digestible and organized format.
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Individual Support
In the exclusive forum for course participants, you'll receive instructor support via five weeks of guided learning. You can ask questions about the course, join group discussions, and access bonus lessons related to the course content. You can also get individualized feedback during the two live Q&As.
Guided learning is optional. This course is self-paced and you maintain access to all of the course materials for life.

Hi! I'm Laura Brown.
I'm a pediatric speech pathologist, early intervention specialist, and mom of two little boys. I have twelve years of experience working with young children. I always knew I wanted to be a pediatric therapist, but I didn't initially envision myself working with the tiny people. I fell in love with working on functional communication first which led me to my dream job in early intervention.
I created this course to be a practical resource for busy SLPs. I know how many constraints there are on your time. You will have access to comprehensive video lessons, while also having all the information organized and at your fingertips in the course workbooks. These workbooks contain over 100 pages of parent handouts to support your therapy objectives and make parent coaching a breeze!
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At-a-glance:
The First 50 Words Course for SLPs
You will earn eight professional development hours in this course. These hours can be used for ASHA certification maintenance under the definition of professional development. This course is not part of the ASHA CEU registry. Alternatively, you track these PD hours yourself, maintain a copy of the course completion certificate, and use these records to fill out your certification maintenance form at the end of your three-year cycle.
Learning Objectives: You'll learn the fundamentals of language development, general strategies to support communication skills, and specific evidence-based interventions for young children with language disorders.
Includes instructor feedback and support over five weeks of OPTIONAL guided learning.
The price is $225. Early bird pricing ($50 off) will be available for the first few days of registration.
This course is self-paced and you get LIFETIME ACCESS!
The First 50 Words Course for SLPs:
A Two-Part Course
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In Part One, you'll learn the fundamentals of language development along with general strategies for supporting communication skills. Lessons will cover the First Words Framework, which is a step-by-step approach for helping children say their first 50 words.
Part One contains short and straight-to-the-point video lessons that you can share with caregivers to support your therapy objectives. These video lessons are complemented by the First Words Workbook, which is full of detailed examples and actionable tips for each step of the framework.
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In Part Two, you'll learn about The Four Is: a research-based model for understanding prelinguistic skill development. The video modules break down each key area of prelinguistic skill development: interaction, intent, input, and imitation. Lessons on each area include skill checklists, current research, and specific interventions for children under three.
Part Two includes the Guide to Prelinguistic Skill Development which contains 70+ pages of evidence-based interventions for young children with language disorders.
Course Testimonials
See what other SLPs are saying about the course...

Marina, Pediatric SLP
This course was amazing! I was able to identify aspects of my clinical skills that are evidence-based and learn new interventions to better the approaches I use in my sessions. I enjoyed the video models and handouts provided for my own reference, as well as a form of education for my families. Additionally, the guided learning group was a wonderful place to work collaboratively with other SLPs to discuss the topics of the week and build additional resources to use as well!

Emily, Pediatric SLP
I've been a practicing SLP for 14 years and in that time a lot has changed within our field and the world. I've also been treating early intervention families for most of my career with play-based therapy being my passion. It was time for a refresher and the First 50 Words Course was everything I hoped it could me and more. It's been the perfect tool to take directly from my learning, into my private practice office. I love that there are included videos that I can watch in tandem with my clients and great handouts for families to keep at home as reference. This course has expanded my knowledge as a play-based SLP and I'm incredibly grateful for the learning.

Natalie, Early Intervention SLP
Overall, I feel like the content provided in this course was amazing. Not only were the evidence based strategies shared helpful, but the guided learning and videos were all helpful in allowing me to understand and process the information easily. I enjoyed the content and the handouts from the course workbooks are so clear and easy to understand. I can't wait to share them with my EI families!

Lauren, Pediatric SLP
I loved this course and was able to take away so much useful information. This course has allowed me to feel competent and confident in my clinical skills when working with early communication skills. The video lessons and handouts/workbook have provided me with useful knowledge that I can start using in treatment immediately. This course has really gotten me excited to work with limited verbal children and their families. Thank you so much for this course!

Stacia, Early Intervention SLP
This course was just what I needed! It has been almost 10 years since I worked in EI. I enjoyed the easy to follow format and materials provided to allow me to share information with the families that I currently serve. Utilizing the First Words Workbook in my sessions, I have already noticed a change in how I work with this age group and in the progress that the children on my caseload are making.
Join the Waitlist
The First 50 Words Course will open again in spring 2024.