Congratulations to Kali Grumley, MA, CCC-SLP, for graduating from the Apraxia Kids Intensive Training Institute (Apraxia Boot Camp)!

I currently work in a rural hospital setting where I service a skilled nursing home, acute care, and outpatient facility. I enjoy the variety in settings and diagnoses that I am able to evaluate and treat, but I especially enjoy working with children who have childhood apraxia of speech and other speech sound disorders.

Kali offers services in Saint Marys, Pennsylvania, United States.

Check out Kali’s Apraxia Kids SLP Directory Listing to learn more.

Apraxia Kids: What are the top 3 things you learned from this training experience?
Kali: 1) Always consider evidence-based practice!  2) The importance of lifelong learning.  3) How much your inner tribe and community matter.

Apraxia Kids: How did the boot camp experience change or expand your network of colleagues/friends?
Kali: I made such great friends through this experience that I am in contact with almost daily. I feel like I found a tribe of colleagues that are not only supportive but have a similar passion for learning. They are continually inspiring me.

Apraxia Kids: How have you implemented the knowledge you gained at boot camp?
Kali: I currently have several children on my caseload who have immediately benefitted from new treatment techniques that I learned from boot camp. I have had a few older children that I felt were stuck in some fossilized patterns who have made gains from both ReST and SMC treatment approaches that are based on Principles of Motor Learning. Prior to boot camp, I had not used these approaches and was not consistently applying Principle of Motor Learning. While boot camp is geared toward children with CAS, I have also noticed use of some of the techniques have been able to be applied to some of my adult patients who have acquired apraxia of speech as a result of a stroke.

Apraxia Kids: What is an example of how you have been able to (or plan to) use your expertise as a local resource/support for other professionals and/or families since attending the intensive training?
Kali: I have had a few local professionals refer their clients to me due to suspected CAS and I have completed the evaluations and established treatment approaches for these other SLPs from surrounding areas. I have also supporting them in their growth of learning about CAS by offering them some resources from Apraxia Kids and directing them to some free trainings that are available and supported by research.

Apraxia Kids: What would you say to someone considering applying to boot camp next round?
Kali: I would encourage anyone to not be hesitant to apply for boot camp. It was truly a life changing experience for my career. It is a lot of work, but felt like a labor of love.