Podcast
Beyond Words with Garrett Oyama
Hosted by Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP · EN
What lies beyond the words we speak? Hosted by speech-language pathologist, musician, and communication PhD student Garrett Oyama, this podcast explores the rich space where communication, music, neuroscience, and creativity converge. Through conversations, sound, and story, we go beyond the clinical and into the poetic dimensions of human connection.
Each episode of Beyond Words is worth 0.10 ASHA CEU when you complete the accompanying course on www.speechtherapypd.com.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Music, Voice, and Meaning with Greg Bryant
2w ago00:59:15Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 23 | Music, Voice, and Meaning: From Infant Speech to Social Signals with Greg Bryant, PhDGet ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD for this podcastIn this episode of Beyond Words, Greg Bryant, PhD, joins host Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP, to explore how the human voice carries meaning through prosody, musicality, and nonverbal vocalizations.Together, they examine how infant-directed speech uses exaggerated pitch, rhythm, and timing to capture attention and support early learning, and how these same acoustic patterns overlap with features found in music. Dr. Bryant connects infant communication, emotional vocal expression, and music within an evolutionary framework, highlighting how vocal behavior supports social bonding, coordination, and shared understanding.🎙️ Topics include:How listeners interpret emotion, intentionSocial context from vocal cues aloneCross-cultural researchHighlighting how vocal behavior supports social bondingProsody, pragmatics, and culturally responsive care
Transcribe →Active Infant Learning with Dr. Martin Zettersten
May 401:04:33Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 22 | Active Infant Learning: Curiosity and How Children Seek Words with Martin Zettersten, PhDGet ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD for this podcastIn this episode of Beyond Words, host Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP, welcomes Martin Zettersten, PhD, to explore how infants actively learn language through curiosity, attention, and everyday experiences. Dr. Zettersten shares insights from his work as Principal Investigator of the Language and Infant Learning (LIL) Lab at the University of California, San Diego, highlighting how children seek out and process information as they begin to build their early vocabularies.Together, they break down how attention and learning interact in early word learning, and what that means for how infants begin to connect words with meaning.🎙️ Topics include:How infants and children learn languageLarge collaborative projects and shared datasetsImprove confidence in infant development findingsDevelopmental evidence to inform the caregiverGuidance and early language supportResources:Agency and Cognitive Development (Oxford Series in Cognitive Development) by Michael Tomasello
Transcribe →Understanding Autistic Language with Dr. Rhiannon Luyster
Apr 2001:06:29Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 21 | Understanding Autistic Language Variability, Strengths, and Meaning with Rhiannon Luyster, PhDGet ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PDIn this episode of Beyond Words, host Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP, sits down with researcher and clinician Rhiannon Luyster, PhD, to challenge some of the assumptions baked into how we assess and interpret autistic communication.Dr. Luyster brings her research to life as she and Garrett explore why variability is not a problem to solve but a feature to understand. From the way caregivers naturally adapt their language in real interactions to how focused interests and unconventional word use can drive learning, this conversation reframes what “atypical” communication really means.🎙️ Topics include:Sources of variability in language development among autistic individualsUnconventional language features (e.g., neologisms, focused interests)Meaningful linguistic systemsClinical implications for assessment and interventionDeficit-based models of autistic language
Transcribe →Neural Encoding of Speech with Dr. Jill Kries
Apr 1301:00:04Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 20 | Neural Encoding of Speech: Insights from Aphasia with Dr. Jill Kries In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Jill Kries, cognitive neuroscientist, about how the brain transforms sound into language—and what this reveals about aphasia. They explore how aphasia may involve disruptions not just at the level of words and grammar, but in lower-level speech processing, including phoneme perception and acoustic discrimination. From EEG studies using natural story listening to concepts like lexical entropy, this conversation reframes aphasia as a breakdown across the full speech processing hierarchy.🎙️ Topics include: • Low-level auditory and phoneme processing in aphasia • Neural encoding of speech using EEG • Lexical entropy and real-time language processing • Implications for assessment and intervention • Connections to dyslexia and statistical learning Learn more about Dr. Jill's work: https://linktr.ee/jillkries Get ASHA CEUs: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/neural-encoding-of-speech
Transcribe →Comics and Visual Language with Dr. Neil Cohn
Apr 601:16:29Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 19 | Comics and Visual Language with Dr. Neil CohnIn this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Neil Cohn, cognitive scientist and director of the Visual Language Lab, about how drawings and comics function as full-fledged visual languages.They explore how visual narratives have structure, grammar, and vocabulary, and why understanding comics isn’t as automatic as we might assume. Dr. Cohn challenges the idea that language is purely speech-based, introducing a multimodal language faculty that includes vocal, bodily, and graphic expression.Along the way, they connect language to drawing, gesture, writing systems, and even AI, offering a powerful reframe of what it means to communicate.🎙️ Topics include:Comics as structured visual languagesMultimodal language faculty (speech, gesture, drawing)How children learn visual narrativesWhy image-based tasks may be misleading in assessmentVisual language and neurodevelopmental differencesImplications for speech therapy and AACLearn more about Neil and purchase his books here: https://visuallanguagelab.com/Get ASHA CEUs here: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/comics-visual-language
Transcribe →Brain-to-Brain Synchrony and Attention in Early Development with Dr. Sam Wass
Mar 201:04:30Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 18 | Brain-to-Brain Synchrony and Attention in Early Development with Dr. Sam WassIn this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Sam Wass, developmental neuroscientist, about how attention, arousal, and social interaction shape the developing brain.They explore how infants regulate attention in real time, how stress and environmental context influence learning, and what brain-to-brain synchrony between parents and children reveals about communication. They discuss neural entrainment, shared book reading, and the role of co-regulation in supporting language development. Along the way, they connect laboratory neuroscience to everyday parenting and clinical practice, reframing language learning as something deeply embedded in attention, physiology, and relationships.Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@GarrettBeyondWords Get ASHA CEUs: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/brain-to-brain-synchrony
Transcribe →Language as a Complex Adaptive System with Dr. Joan Bybee
Dec 1801:01:46Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 17 | Language as a Complex Adaptive System with Dr. Joan BybeeIn this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama speaks with Dr. Joan Bybee, pioneer of usage-based linguistics, about how language emerges through use, repetition, and social interaction rather than abstract rules.They explore why sounds don’t exist in isolation, how frequency and predictability shape speech and sound change, and what this means for child language development, speech therapy, and learning. Along the way, they connect language to music, motor practice, and improvisation, reframing speech as a dynamic, living skill shaped by experience.Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD Watch on YouTube
Transcribe →Speech Therapy in the Age of AI with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Dec 1201:01:37Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 16 | Speech Therapy in the Age of AI: Play, Screens, and Language DevelopmentIn this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett sits down with renowned developmental scientist Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek—professor at Temple University, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, bestselling author, and one of the leading voices in early learning, language development, and play.Kathy breaks down what quality language input really looks like, why back-and-forth interaction is the engine of learning, how play and boredom shape the developing brain, and what parents and clinicians should know about screens, e-books, and the rise of AI-powered toys.This conversation is packed with clarity, humor, and practical wisdom for anyone who works with children—or wants to understand how humans learn in a world overflowing with technology.Watch on YouTubeGet ASHA CEUs: SpeechTherapyPDKathy's work: WebsiteEinstein Never Used Flashcards Playful Learning Spaces
Transcribe →Before Words: Understanding Babbling with Dr. Kimbrough Oller
Dec 401:04:37Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 15 | Before Words: Understanding Babbling with Dr. D. Kimbrough OllerWhat do a baby’s coos, squeals, and growls reveal about the origins of language? In this episode of Beyond Words, Dr. D. Kimbrough Oller — a leading voice in speech and language development — joins Garrett Oyama to explore protophones, functional flexibility, and why spontaneous infant vocalizations may hold the key to understanding how language evolved.Topics include:What protophones are and why they matterThe Functional Flexibility HypothesisHow infant vocal play relates to evolutionWhat LENA recordings reveal about early speechWhy babies vocalize even when no one is listeningGet ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD Watch on YouTube
Transcribe →Inside the Language Network: Brains, AI, and What Words Really Mean with Dr. Blank
Nov 1101:01:01Tap to summarizeBeyond Words Ep. 14 | Inside the Language Network: Brains, AI, and What Words Really MeanIs language the same as thought? Dr. Idan Blank (UCLA) joins Beyond Words to explain why the answer is no — and why that matters for neuroscience, speech therapy, and AI. We explore the brain’s language network, how large language models learn, why Broca’s area is misunderstood, and what this all means for testing, development, and the future of cognition.Topics include:Why language and thought are separate systemsHow ChatGPT challenges our assumptionsWhat Broca’s area really doesImplications for speech therapy and assessmentWhat LLMs and infants both tell us about language learningJoin the Beyond Words Newsletter Get ASHA CEUs: Speech Therapy PD Watch on YouTube
Transcribe →