Assessment
It is never too early, or too late, to seek help or information if you have any concerns or questions about your child’s speech and language development or communication skills. The first step is to call Early Life Speech & Language to speak with a speech-language pathologist.
If your conversation leads one of our experienced therapists to recommend a speech-language assessment, we’ll schedule an appointment with you and your child. Here’s what you can expect:
During your child’s visit, a licensed and nationally certified speech-language pathologist will ask parents or caregivers questions, give your child appropriate standardized tests, and conduct an informal observation to assess your child’s abilities and determine if there is any communication delay.
The therapist also will incorporate dynamic assessment. This is an interactive method of identifying a child’s individual language skills in a way that is not influenced by different cultural or linguistic backgrounds.
Some of the skills the clinician will assess include:
Receptive vocabulary and grammar – What words and instructions does your child understand?
Expressive vocabulary and grammar – What words does your child use and how does he or she use them to communicate?
Articulation – What speech sounds can your child make? How clear is his or her speech?
The therapist also will note such things as your child’s voice quality, fluency, social skills, problem solving skills and attention span.
Following the assessment a written report will be provided to the family. The speech-language pathologist also will meet with you to discuss your child’s strengths and areas of communication difficulty. The clinician and family can then determine the treatment plan that is best for that individual child.