Our Review Process

Every Talk Time Academy page is drafted by an editorial team, checked by a speech-language pathologist before it goes live, and read again on a fixed schedule after.

How a Page Gets Made

  1. Editorial Writes the First Draft

    A writer drafts against a topic brief that fixes the question being answered, the reading age, and the sources allowed. Drafting is assisted, and the byline names the writer separately from the clinician who reviewed the draft.

  2. A Speech-Language Pathologist Checks the Clinical Content

    Monica d’Errico-Franklin, M.S., CCC-SLP, who holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence, reads the draft against her clinical practice and against the source material. Anything she cannot stand behind is cut or rewritten before publication.

  3. Sources Are Checked Against the Original

    Every figure, milestone and age range is traced back to the body that published it. A number that cannot be traced does not run.

  4. Published Work Is Checked Again on a Fixed Schedule

    Each page carries a next-review date 12 months out. Guidance changes, and a page that was accurate at publication can quietly stop being accurate without anybody touching it.

What the Four Dates Mean

Four dates sit at the foot of a guide, and they do not mean the same thing. A single date would hide the difference between a guide somebody has actually re-read and one where a typo was fixed.

Published
The day a guide first went live.
Last reviewed
The day a speech-language pathologist last read a guide end to end and confirmed the clinical content still holds.
Last updated
The day the words last changed. A guide can be reviewed without being updated, which means somebody checked it and found it correct.
Next review
The date a guide is due to be read again, whether or not anything has changed by then.

Where the Information Comes From

Talk Time Academy draws on the bodies that set the standards clinicians work to, and names them in the text rather than gesturing at research in general. A parent who wants to check a claim should be able to find the original in one step.

  • American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationThe professional and certifying body for speech-language pathologists in the United States, and the source for communication milestones and scope of practice.
  • American Academy of PediatricsDevelopmental surveillance, screening intervals and referral guidance.
  • CDC Learn the Signs, Act EarlyMilestone checklists by age, revised in 2022 to the 75th percentile.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part CThe federal law governing early intervention eligibility and timelines.

Corrections

Errors are fixed in place rather than collected in a separate log. A parent who finds an error can write to Myfirstwords@talktimeacademy.org, and a correction that changes the clinical meaning of a guide moves the last-updated date and triggers a fresh clinical read.

What Talk Time Academy Does Not Do

Talk Time Academy does not diagnose, does not provide therapy, and cannot tell a parent whether their own child needs an evaluation. No amount of editorial review substitutes for a clinician who has met the child.

Talk Time Academy describes what is typical across many children. No child is the average, and a pediatrician or speech therapist that has sat with your child is the only person who can provide that answer.