191. Play Dumb and Sabotage - Speech Pathologist Jeaneen Tang

Today we  sit down with speech-language pathologist and author Janine Tang to talk about her new book "Play Dumb and Sabotage: Mindfully Under-Anticipating the Child’s Needs and Creating Opportunities to Practice Language". Drawing from more than two decades as a therapist and her personal journey as a parent of a child with a brain injury, Jeaneen shares practical strategies parents can use every day to support speech development. We discuss the challenges families face in accessing quality speech therapy, how to advocate for services and why creating small opportunities for communication can have lasting impact. Jeaneen also opens up about her son’s diagnosis, how it shifted her perspective as both a mother and a professional and the importance of empowering parents to see that they are doing a good job. Jeaneen fills this conversation with hope, compassion and actionable tools for parents navigating speech development and early intervention. She reminds us that our children can achieve more when we give them space, support and belief in their potential. Website: https://www.playdumbandsabotage.com IG: @playdumbandsabotage Episode Transcript: https://ifweknewthen701833686.wordpress.com/2025/09/07/191-play-dumb-and-sabotage-with-jeaneen-yang/2/ Please follow us on X @ifweknewthenPOD, you can drop us a line on our Facebook page @ifweknewthenPOD or visit our website https://www.IfWeKnewThen.com to send us an email with questions and comments. Also join our mailing list there and get alerts of future podcast episodes. Thank you again and we look forward to you joining us on the next episode of IF WE KNEW THEN.