Speech Therapy in the Public Schools

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Speech Therapy in the Public Schools

• Questions Answers

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What is the role of the Speech Therapist?

• A speech therapist may work with an individual on
  a multitude of problem areas.
• These may include difficulty in the areas of
• Articulation
• Language/Pragmatics
• Fluency
• Voice
• Auditory skills 

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How is it determined if a child needs help in
speech or language?

• Either a parent or teacher may request that a
  child be screened for speech.
• If it is determined that a child displays
  difficulty, then a Child Study meeting is called
  and the Child Study Team meets to determine a
  plan of action.
• This may  include monitoring within the
  classroom, strategies for at home, or a request
  for evaluation.

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Articulation The production of speech.

• Good articulation skills are required for verbal
  expression in all curricular areas.
• Multiple articulation errors can indicate a
  disordered phonological system which could impact
  on spelling and reading.
• Noticeable differences in speech production can
  have a negative impact on
• Self-confidence
• Peer relationships
• vocational/career opportunities.

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Language

• Language Form
• This refers to the grammatical structures present
  in connected speech. 
• Language Content
• This refers to the meaning of language. This area
  looks at how a child organizes and  relates to
  language.
• Language Use
•  This refers to how we use language in a social
  way.
• Another name for this is pragmatics.

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PragmaticsSocial Language Skills

• Good pragmatic skills include
• Social appropriateness of interactions
• The ability to use nonverbal communication
  appropriately
• The ability to make inferences
• The ability to use executive functioning
• The ability to use critical thinking
• Deficits in
  these skills affect
• 
  Listening skills
• 
  Problem solving skills
• Reading comprehension
• Study skills
• Decision making
• Oral and written language
• Social relationships

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Below is a general list of pragmatic behaviors
you would expect most children to have

• The child is able to appropriately
• Respond to greetings
• Make requests
• Describe events
• Take turns
• Follow commands
• Make eye contact
• Attend to tasks
• Maintain a conversational topic
• Initiate and ends conversations

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Fluency (Stuttering) 

• This refers to children who display disruptions
  or breaks in their speech patterns. 
• Dysfluency can
• Inhibit participation in classroom and
  extracurricular activities
• Affect peer relationships
• May limit Vocational/career choices despite
• the individuals competency levels in
• non-speech areas.

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If a child presents with any of the following
types of stuttering behaviors, please refer
them. 

• There are 7 types of stuttering found in children
  and adults
• Repetitions  What ta-ta-ta-time is it?
• Prolongations  Ll-l-l-l-et me do it.
• Interjections  I had a well- you know- a
  problem this morning.
• Silent Pauses I was going to the ______ store.
  
• Broken Words  It was won___________derful.
• Incomplete Phrases  I dont know how to. Lets
  go guys.
• Revisions  I thought I would write a letter,
  card 

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Voice  This refers to abnormality in pitch,
quality or loudness.

• Many times, these children will be diagnosed
  medically rather then educationally.
• Noticeable differences in vocal pitch, quality,
  and volume can affect self-confidence and peer
  relationships.
• Poor vocal hygiene can lead to lasting physical
  changes of the vocal folds.
• Voice differences can be a symptom of medical
  concerns.

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Auditory Skills

• Attention
• Auditory memory
• Auditory discrimination
• Sound blending, sequencing.
• Deficits in these skills can affect performance
  in all academic areas that involve auditory
  reception and processing of curricular material
  and the following of oral directions.
• Spelling and reading may be affected by
  difficulty analyzing and applying the phonemic
  code.

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GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

• Kindergarten
• The child should have all vowels plus
• P, M, H, N, W,B, K, G, D, F, Y The child
  is intelligible at least 50 of the time.
• The child should be speaking in complete
  sentences with an average sentence length of 4
  words.
• On average a child in Kindergarten is beginning
  to
• Use prepositional phrases
• Use Plurals, present progressive (-ing),
• Use Regular past tense (-ed)
• Use Possessive nouns pronouns
• Use Future tense verbs
  The kindergartener is able to
• Ask yes/no questions.
  Indicate the functions of objects
• 
  Label all common objects in familiar
  environments
• Understand basic positional, quantity and time
  concepts
• Sequence 2 steps visually/verbally.

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First GradeAge 6-7

• The first grade child should be able to
  articulate the T NG sounds.
• (The child is intelligible at least 65 of the
  time.)
• The child is able to understand and begin to
  use
• Noun-verb agreement (is, are)
• Possessive pronouns
• Negatives
• Infinitive complements (wants to go, wants to
  climb)
• Conjunctions (because)
• Participles and simple wh questions.
• The child can make associations and categorize.
• The child is able to verbalize how 2 objects are
  the same and different.
• The child is able to understand complex
  positional, quantity and time concepts.
• The child is able to sequence 3-4 steps visually
  and verbally.

•  

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Second Grade Age 7-8

•   The child should be able to
  articulate the
• L, SH,
  CH, J sounds. 
• The child should understand and begin to use
• Past tense copulas (was, were)
• Irregular past tense
• Co- joined sentences
• Complex WH questions.
• The
  child should understand and begin to categorize
  within a defined set.
• The
  child should understand and begin to can sequence
  4-5 steps visually and verbally. 

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Third Grade Age 8-9

• The child should be able to articulate R, S, Z,
  V, TH.
• The child should understand and begin to use
• Irregular past tense verbs
• Passives with was or got
• Reflexive pronouns (himself)
• Negative WH questions
• The child has a beginning understanding of
  multiple meaning words and uses attributes in
  complete thoughts to define words.

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Fourth GradeAges 9

• Articulation Language should not contain any
  errors.
• Organization should be evident in work.

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Caseload considerations include

• SEVERITY of the speech or language problem
• EFFECT of the problem on a students school
  performance and social skills
• DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE of the problem
• RELATIONSHIP OF THE PROBLEM to other conditions (
  e.g. hearing loss, mental retardation, learning
  disabilities, physical or other health
  impairments)
• TYPE OF SERVICE individual, small or large group,
  consultation, classroom support

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Please note

• With the new special education laws,
• a Speech and Language disorder is only
  recognized in the school if it
• impacts the childs ability to access their
  education. 
•  If a child has a mild articulation delay but it
  doesnt
• impact their ability to read, spell or interact
  with peers socially,
• then they will not be eligible for services. 

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"Speech or language impairment

• means a communication disorder, such as
  stuttering, impaired
• articulation, language impairment, or a voice
  impairment, that
• adversely affects a child's educational
  performance."