As a New York State Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, I have seen the increased number of Spanish-speaking additions to our caseloads. However, the number of bilingual professionals remains limited. I felt there was a need for a series of short books and educational aids that would help facilitate learning basic Spanish. As busy professionals we do not all have the time and resources to get professional training in learning a new language. Our job is not to teach Spanish, however, we have an obligation to provide handouts and caregiver instructions in Spanish for intervention to be effective. I wanted to create ready-to-use materials for therapists who do not speak Spanish, but want to learn and use basic vocabulary and phrases related to our profession.

ESSENTIALSPANISH.COM currently has three products available in their product line-up. The first book is the Essential Spanish for the Speech-Language Pathologist Workbook. This 122 page book covers a plethora of important information that all Speech-Language Pathologists must have if they have Spanish speaking caseloads. The fist section of the book contains common category nouns with illustrations and bilingual text to help give a quick start on learning English or Spanish through visual identification.

The second book is the Essential Spanish for the Speech-Language Pathologist & Audiologist Dictionary a 44 page quick reference book with the most important terms needed for your Spanish speaking caseloads.

The third book is the Essential Spanish for the Occupational Therapist a quick reference book with the most important terms needed for your Spanish speaking caseloads.

It is shown in today’s culture that being bilingual offers many career opportunities that may not be available to people who do not speak a second language. ESSENTIALSPANISH.COM provides the tools for anyone who has the love of learning the chance to get the head start on their journey into becoming bilingual.

Penny Chesner-Morris, M.A., CCC-SLP