Evaluating Students who Speak a Language You Don’t, Working with Interpreters, Join Costa Rican Professionals to Learn about Local Approaches in Healthcare.

We begin the conference by walking you through the steps to evaluating students who speak a language you don’t and then diving into working with interpreters. These video-rich presentations will boost your confidence in evaluating multilingual children.

In the afternoon, participants will engage in a thoughtfully designed four-hour program that brings Costa Rica’s healthcare system to life through the lens of rehabilitation and speech-language pathology. The session begins with an interactive welcome that explores why rehab and SLP practice look different in Costa Rica—highlighting resource availability, referral pathways, and the critical role of community-based care. Participants will then hear directly from a local healthcare leader during a keynote and Q&A on how Costa Rica’s public health system functions, offering firsthand insight into care delivery in the Jacó region.

Difference or Disorder – Speech, Difference or Disorder – Language, Tarcoles River Boat Safari

One of the trickiest parts of evaluating bilingual students is understanding which of their speech and language patterns are typical for bilinguals and which patterns are indicative of a disorder. These courses will help you master this element of multilingual evaluations!

After the workshop, we’ll head out for a boat safari on the Tarcoles River, home to one of the world’s largest crocodile populations. Along the way, local guides will share insights into Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity, from scarlet macaws to iguanas, as we float toward the Pacific and back.

We’ll show you how to implement practical dynamic assessment approaches within your evaluations so you can be fully confident in your outcomes. Then we bust out the books and shift to literacy-based intervention .

The afternoon is free for you to design your own Costa Rican adventure. Options include surf lessons on Jaco Beach, a canopy zipline tour, exploring boutique shops and cafés in town, or simply unwinding with toes in the sand. Families and guests are encouraged to join in—there’s something for everyone.

In our final day of content, the cultural and linguistic diversity picture is made complete as we tackle curriculum-based intervention and how to engage families in the intervention process. We share intervention strategies that not only work with children from all backgrounds but accelerate growth in the classroom.

Alas, all good things come to an end! We will spend our last evening together celebrating new friendships and new knowledge with an oceanside dinner on the beach with a good dose of food, libations, music, and culture.

We know from our last few trips that the only way to make it better is to not let it end! Tack on a few days to see more of beautiful Costa Rica or neighboring countries.