Tue
Mar
24
5:30 pm - 7:15 pm
ET
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
5:30-7:15PM [In-Person]
Maria Rosa Brea, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Title: Through the Looking Glass of Communication: Analyzing Clinical Materials Through a Languaging Lens
Blurb: Clinical resources—from picture books to assessment handouts—do more than teach skills; they quietly define what counts as "legitimate" communication. This workshop invites practitioners and students to look "through the glass" of their materials to identify hidden ideologies (or beliefs/ biases) that privilege standardized language, monolingualism, and speech-only modalities. Moving beyond simple representation, participants will engage in an embodied activity and a hands-on "Inquiry Lab" to evaluate the assumptions behind provided tools. Attendees will leave with practical "talk-back" strategies to transform the use of traditional materials into affirming, multimodal opportunities for meaning-making that can be applied immediately in any clinical or educational setting.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Define "languaging" as an active, multimodal process and explain how this shift changes our goals from "fixing speech" to "supporting connection.
2. Identify three common language myths (standardization, speech-only bias, and monolingual norms) found in typical therapy books and handouts
3.Demonstrate a "talk-back" strategy to reframe materials into messages that affirm a child’s existing communication.
NYU provides reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Please submit your request for accommodations for events and services at least two weeks before the date of your accommodation need. Although we can't guarantee accommodation requests received less than two weeks before the event, you should still contact us and we will do our best to meet your accommodation need. Please email
Dr. Eric Jackson or call 212-998-5230 for assistance.
