Why Play Matters: Embodied Experiences That Build Thinking, Language, Literacy, and Relationships in Early Childhood

February 19th, 2026

7:00-8:00 PM Eastern

Reserve your
spot today!

This is an ASHA and ACE approved course!

Explain the role of play in embodied cognition.

Describe play development in the presymbolic period

Describe the role of symbolic play dimensions in thinking, language, literacy, and social relationships


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About the Webinar

In this talk play and play development will be described, as well as the role it plays in thinking, language literacy and social relationships. 



All LIVE attendees will

receive a handout!

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Carol Westby, PhD, CCC-SLP

Dr. Carol Westby, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a consultant for Bilingual Multicultural Services in Albuquerque, NM and holds an affiliated appointment in Communication Disorders at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. She is a fellow of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), has received the Honors of ASHA and the Kleffner Lifetime Clinical Achievement Award, and holds Board Certification in Child Language and Language Disorders. Dr. Westby has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Geneva College and the University of Iowa's Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and the ASHA Award for Contributions to Multicultural Affairs. She has published and presented nationally and internationally on screen time in the 21st century, theory of mind, narrative/expository development and facilitation, adverse childhood experiences/trauma, qualitative methodologies, assessment and facilitation of written language, metacognition/executive function/ADHD, and issues in assessment and intervention with culturally/linguistically diverse populations. Dr. Westby has a BA in English from Geneva College and an MA and PhD in Speech Pathology from the University of Iowa.

Register

Thursday

February 19th, 2026

7:00-8:00 PM EST 

Reserve your spot 

This is an ASHA and ACE approved course.