Hi there, I’m Karen Dudek-Brannan!

I’m a Professional Development Specialist, SLP, and founder/owner/operate of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on empowering therapists and educators to design interventions that support language, literacy, and executive functioning. In my current role, I develop engaging professional development and products that help school teams work together to get better results.

On the De Facto Leaders Podcast, I share up-to-date evidence-based practices, my own experience, and guest interviews designed to help pediatric therapists, educators, and aspiring school leaders design services that support social, emotional, and academic growth and set kids up for success in adulthood. Whether you want to learn effective strategies for your therapy session or classroom, be an influential leader on your team, or find creative ways to use your skills to advance in your career, I’ve got you covered. You can listen to the De Facto Leaders podcast on most popular podcast directories, and can scroll through past episodes on this page here.

Latest Episodes

Developmental language disorder: Impacts on literacy and life beyond school (with Dr. Karla McGregor)

Students who meet the criteria for developmental language disorder (DLD) are often categorized as “speech only” in the school systems. In many cases, these students qu...

The relationship of literacy and language skills and involvement with the justice system (with Dr. Shameka Stewart)

There is a disproportionate number of individuals with communication disorders and reading disabilities involved with the justice system for both children and adults.P...

Increasing book equity and fostering a love of reading (with Susan Brady)

How can school leaders make informed decisions about reading curriculum when they know the home environments among their student body vary widely?I don’t envy people t...

Are we allowed to say “dyslexia” in the schools? (with Tom Parton)

In 2015, the Office of Special Education Programs published a letter stating that school teams were “not prohibited” from using the term “dyslexia”. Unfortunately, thi...

Debunking reading myths and defining literacy buzzwords (with Anna Geiger)

There are many “science of reading” terms being used right now (including the “science of reading” itself).Yet debates about how to help kids become literate continues...

More Episodes »