Assessment+Procedures

What do I do if I am concerned about a student's speech or language ability?
As a general classroom teacher, it is very important to be cognizant of a potential problem in a child's speech or language. Any concerns should be brought to the attention of the school speech-language pathologist to be further explored. For further information see "Reasoning and procedure for referrals for speech and language services" at the following link: What is Speech-Language Pathology?

Classroom Screening Procedures
To be formally tested for a communication disorder, the classroom teacher must make a referral to the speech-language pathologist. The speech-language pathologist must be made aware of specific speech/language difficulties which may indicate the need for further testing. Often times, the classroom teacher is required to submit a completed "communication" checklist of observed classroom behaviors to the speech-language pathologist when referring a student for speech/language services.

The following are examples of checklists for teachers:

[|Speech-language Screening Form 1]

[|Speech-language Screening Form 2]

Formal Assessment
If a child is suspected of having a communication disorder, the speech-language pathologist will perform a comprehensive assessment of the client's entire language system using formal and informal measures. //A comprehensive assessment includes//:

1. review of the client's case history information 2. administration of standardized assessment tools 3. elicitation of a speech/language sample 4. subjective evaluation of the characteristics of the child's speech 5. calculation of speech intelligibility (based on language sample) 6. administration of an oral-facial examination 7. informal evaluation of the child's reading and writing abilities 8. screening of child's hearing for speech perception
 * test __**both**__ speech and language systems
 * Available assessment tools: @http://www.asha.org/assessments.aspx
 * rate (fast, normal, slow?)
 * fluency (choppy or smooth?)
 * How much of the child's speech is understandable?
 * to determine normal structure and function of the facial and oral structures involved in speech production

@Bilingual Assessment
Reference: Shipley, K.G., & McAfee, J.G. (2009). //Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource// //manual// (4th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.