Pomona Unified Speech Therapists Explore Challenges, Treatment Strategies at Conference

Pomona Unified School District’s Special Education Department led local speech therapists in exploring strategies for helping students with communication challenges during a recent conference PUSD co-hosted with a non-profit organization.

Speech and language pathologists from Pomona Unified, neighboring cities and school districts convened Nov. 5 at the Village at Indian Hill Conference Center for the “Differential Diagnosis and Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech” workshop, sponsored by the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association District 7.

The program featured Dr. Edythe Strand, an international expert in apraxia of speech, a motor speech condition that significantly affects a child’s ability to produce sounds, syllables and words, hindering their ability to communicate and learn.

“Providing our staff with professional development that will enrich their skills in diagnosing and treating children with speech disorders is crucial to establishing a foundation of growth both for our staff and students,” said Board of Education President Andrew Wong. “We look forward to the advances our students will make.”

CSHA District 7 Director Beth Pioli, a recently retired Pomona Unified speech pathologist, said the conference and workshop offered a unique opportunity for speech and language pathologists from all over Southern California to attend and participate in a presentation by Dr. Strand.

“After years of dedication and service to the District as a language speech specialist, Beth Pioli carries on with her unyielding commitment in diagnosing and exploring treatment strategies for students with language-based learning disorders,” said Debbie Montoya, PUSD special education program administrator. “By bringing this level of expertise to the District, our staff will undoubtedly learn new skills and ways to improve student learning.”

Participants discussed how assessment procedures and data analysis can be used to determine which children have some degree of difficulty with speech. A number of treatment strategies were discussed and video examples were used to facilitate discussion.

“This program provided new and groundbreaking concepts that will assist District therapists when working with our students who have this disorder,” Superintendent Richard Martinez said. “Pomona Unified cares deeply whenever our students face challenges to learning and we strive to do everything we can to ensure that they are receiving high-quality education and services with their disabilities in mind.”