Review: SpeechTherapyPD.com
What SpeechTherapyPD.com?
Professional development and continuing education experiences with an online platform plus in-person events.
Our Rating:
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What Carrie Thinks:
I love the courses on this site though I would like to see a few feature updates before I give it a 5-star rating. Overall, the course variety and selection is great and I found some very interesting and engaging courses. I especially like that I can take longer, in-depth courses that give me a more cohesive knowledge base than piecing together one course at a time. And I like that they have several podcasts that they produce so you can listen to those on the go.
There are several tech improvements that I would like to see along the way that would improve the usability of the site, particularly on mobile and when on the go. But all in all, it’s a great platform with a lot of great information and amazing speakers. I am enjoying all that I am learning in these courses! With a few minor website tweaks, this will be a stellar resource!
Review:
As a practicing clinician, Darla Torkelsen, MS, CCC-SLP, saw a need for evidence-based, convenient, and cost-effective CEU opportunities. With a heart for service and a commitment to excellence, she founded Video Continuing Education, LLC in 2009. This new learning platform would:
- Make PD practical and engaging
- Make learning visual
- Make strategies immediately applicable to inspire and impact therapists to better meet the needs of their students and clients.
Continued growth and a life-long love of learning are integral philosophies of Video Continuing Education, LLC. In 2015, as the company began to expand, it became necessary to launch a speech specific division and SpeechTherapyPD.com was formed. Our members drive every aspect of development through feedback, participation, and presenter referrals and have created an unmatched support network for SLP professionals.
SpeechTherapyPD.com strives to be the leader in innovative professional development solutions for SLPs and SLPAs by:
Delivering cutting-edge strategies that can be applied in therapy immediately
Producing courses that vary in learning modality, content, and depth
Recruiting presenters who mirror best practices for therapy and teaching
Developing a supportive network of inspired practitioners
Understanding the value of member-driven collaboration
This service is great for speech-language pathologists in any area of our field as they do a great job of including courses and events for all areas. There are courses for working with adults as well as children. Plus, SpeechTherapyPD.com also holds in-person events, including one on a cruise ship!
What Is It?
Courses and Live Events that are provided for continuing education credit. Video Continuing Education is an approved continuing education provider for the following: American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), California Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board, and some courses are registered with the Illinois Early Intervention Training Program.
SpeechTherapyPD.com is SLP owned and operated. They offer video and weekly podcast courses, a blog full of SLP resources, a yearly conference at sea, and stellar customer service. They also support professionals and future SLPs by providing graduate-level credit to help you climb the pay scale, and discounted student subscriptions for CFYs.
Topics Covered:
- Augmentative/Alternative Communication
- Adult Topics
- Aphasia
- Apraxia
- Articulation
- Audiology
- Auditory Processing
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Bilingual
- Central Auditory Processing
- Childhood Language
- Cognition
- Common Core
- Concussion
- Dementia
- Dysarthria
- Dysphagia
- Early Intervention
- Fluency
- Hearing Impaired
- Literacy
- Neurogenics
- Orofacial Myology
- Pediatric Topics
- Phonology
- Supervision
- TBI
- Trachs & Vents
- Voice
Quality:
I’ve taken many courses now from SpeechTherapyPD.com and there are some really amazing ones! The variety of topics covered is great and you can find varying lengths of courses depending on your needs. I do wish there were some tech improvements in the usability of the website but I am told that many of those changes are coming. In particular, I would like to see the following:
- The site itself is not very mobile-friendly so I had trouble navigating it on my phone (though it works great on desktop).
- I am a big fan of doing my continuing ed while I travel or work out, so I would like to see the ability to download all of their content to watch on the go instead of just the podcasts.
- I wouldn’t mind the ability to listen at 1.5x speed (to get through them a little faster) like you can do on a podcast app.
- I would like an option for the system to save your place in a video in case you have to pause and come back later. I was taking a 15-hour course and didn’t have time to finish it all at once so each time I stopped I had to scroll back through to find my place.
Price:
At the time of writing this review, SpeechTherapyPd.com has membership levels at $89/year and $189/year with discounts if you have a larger group. You can also purchase courses individually if you only need one or a few courses. Students and CFs can get memberships for as low as $30.
SpeechTherapyPD.com has been gracious enough to grant all of the members at The SLP Solution $10 off any membership level! To claim your $10 discount, become a member!
How to Purchase:
You can browse through the courses and sign up for a membership plan on their website at https://www.speechtherapypd.com.
How is it Delivered?
Unless you go to a live event, the courses are all online so you will get instant access once you sign up.
Refund Policy:
If you find that a purchased course does not meet your training needs, you may request a full refund or course exchange within 30 days from your date of purchase so long as the final exam has not been attempted. Prior to attempting the final exam, your full purchase price will be refunded or the course can be exchanged for another course. After the final exam has been attempted, we are unable to issue a refund or course exchange due to the initiation of the accreditation process.
SpeechTherapyPD.com is very responsive to customer service requests. Here is their current policy:
We truly value our customers, and desire to make your experience as positive as possible. If there is anything we can do to better serve you, please contact us! When a question or concern is brought to our attention during business hours, we attempt to solve the problem immediately. If the problem cannot solved immediately, we collaborate internally to find a solution. If there is ever an issue regarding CEUs, you will directed to the CE Administrator. All other concerns are directed to our CEO. We hope to have any questions or issues resolved in less than 2 business days, but if that’s not the case, we will continue to work together until you are completely satisfied.
Facebook Reviews: 5/5 Stars (3 Reviews)
TrustPilot.Com Reviews: 4.4/5 Stars (35 Reviews)
Mamma.com Reviews: 5/5 Stars (35 Reviews)
SLP Solution Members’ Ratings:
Want to know what the members of The SLP Solution think of SpeechTherapyPD.com? Join the membership to view members’ reviews and ratings inside. Plus, get $10 off any membership level!
On SpeechTherapyPd.com’s Website: This company offers course bundle packages that will allow you to save on purchasing more courses at once. They also have their membership levels which will allow you to save on unlimited courses.
Student and CF Discounts: Much like The SLP Solution, they have special deals for graduate students and CFs
$10 Off For SLP Solution Members:
Members of The SLP Solution get $10 off any membership level at SpeechTherapyPD.com! To get your $10 off, join the membership below and go to the “discounts” section of our membership site for the promo code:
How Will This Improve My Job?
Overall Job Improvement Score:
37
What Does This Number Mean?
Here at The SLP Solution, we’re all about keeping it real and helping make your job a little easier. So we include a “job improvement rating” with every review that we do. For reference, a score of zero would mean that it doesn’t really improve the quality of your job any, but it may still be fun to have. A score of 100 would be the equivalent of hiring someone else to do your job for you while you sipped piña coladas on the beach. We’ll let you know we find a product like that! Check out how The Marshalla Guide can improve your job below:
Not knowing what to do in therapy can be very stressful. So if you’re feeling stressed about knowing what to do to help your clients, then SpeechTherapyPD will definitely help with that piece. However, as we all know, there are plenty of other stressors in our jobs as well so this won’t take all of it away, but it will help with this one piece.
About half of planning and prepping your therapy sessions is knowing how to treat specific problems and knowing what strategies to try. The other half is prepping the actual materials, resources, and activities that you’ll use during the session. This resource will definitely help you with the “knowing what to do” part. The part I love about this company is that their courses are packed full of practical therapy strategies you can use right away in therapy! So the planning and prepping will be half done once you finish your course.
Taking courses for your continuing education requirements definitely takes time. That’s just part of it. But getting your continuing education from this company will save you time over traveling to a large conference or searching out other online courses one-by-one. This company has everything you need in one place with no travel time required. And there are some podcourses that you can listen to on the go as well. You’ll also save time if you choose longer courses because you won’t be stopping to take a quiz after each hour, you’ll just have one at the end. I would love to see some additional time-saving features added in like the ability to download all courses for on-the-go watching and the ability to play courses at 1.5 times speed for a faster viewing.
This service isn’t about helping you with your paperwork. There may be some suggestions in specific courses that relate to paperwork in a certain area, but those would be topic-specific. This company does not provide resources to help you with paperwork directly (nor do they claim to). We love them for other reasons!
Here’s where this service is really going to help you out! Need to know more about a specific type of therapy or a certain disorder? SpeechTherapyPD.com has you covered! They have short courses if you just need a refresher as well as long courses for more in-depth training. I’m currently taking one about feeding, speech, and mouth function by Diane Bahr that is AMAZING and is a 15-hour course. It is exactly what I needed during this continuing ed. cycle so I’m thrilled they have these longer, in-depth courses. I’ve already learned a lot from the courses available and I am confident they will boost your knowledge and confidence in whatever areas you need as well!
When you know better, you do better! Once you’ve boosted your knowledge and skills in a particular area, you should be able to translate that into better therapy. The courses at SpeechTherapyPD.com try to include as many practical therapy ideas as possible so you have resources and ideas that you can take right into your therapy sessions. But ultimately, it’s up to you to be able to retain the information and follow through. So I won’t say it’s a given that you’ll automatically do better therapy just because you watched some courses, but it’s sure going to help!
How to Get $10 Off:
Darla Torkelson of SpeechTherapyPD.com has kindly agreed to give all of the members of The SLP Solution $10 off at SpeechTherapyPD.com! We are so grateful! To claim your $10 off coupon (and many other great discounts), click the button below to become a member!
Disclosure: Carrie Clark and The SLP Solution received a free membership to SpeechTherapyPD.com for this review. No other financial relationship exists.
