Special Learning Logo Light
Speech And Language Therapist Evaluation

Speech and Language Therapist Evaluation

Helping children with autism with speech and language difficulties always starts with an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist. During this evaluation, a diagnosis is established and interventions are created to help children cope with everyday living and improve their social skills, despite their disabilities.

Speech and language therapy is a program designed to help children who are having difficulties comprehending or using language to effectively communicate. Those who benefit include children who have problems with speech due to feeding and swallowing disorders, cannot produce sound in speech, such as stuttering, and have voice problems. These disorders are usually assessed, diagnosed, and evaluated by speech pathologists.

Speech-Language pathologists (SLP) are health professionals with graduate educations in human communication, its development, and disorders. They specialize in the measurement and evaluation of language abilities, auditory processes, speech production, and swallowing problems.

What to Expect from a Speech and Language Therapy Evaluation

Before the evaluation:

Speech-language pathologists usually conduct interviews with parents of children with autism prior to the actual test and provide a health history and developmental form or checklist to be completed by the parent based on their own observations. This gives the SLP baseline data to which he or she can refer to when creating an evaluation guide for your child. Sometimes these forms are sent to your home before the actual test date.

During the evaluation:

The SLP may spend a moment introducing himself or herself to your child. Autism is a complex disorder that leaves a child very sensitive to new surroundings, people, and events. Building a sense of connection with the child helps eliminate possible tantrums and gains the cooperation of the child for the actual evaluation.

There are times when an SLP will give some sort of written test using standardized verbal IQ tests to your child to serve as a foundation for evaluation, but most of the time this step is skipped since children with autism are very fragile to work with and time is important. Sometimes the SLP will conduct her own developmental checklist during the rapport stage as a replacement for the written test. The informal play session comes next. This is done to encourage interaction and draw out speech and language samples from your child. Usually, an oral examination is also done to inspect any existing or possible structural damage that may cause speech or language difficulties. The evaluation itself may take up to 90 minutes or more, depending on how your child responds to the interaction.

After the evaluation:

The SLP will consult with the parents, family, or caregivers of the child to discuss possible treatment options or suggest additional tests for further assessment. An example would be additional medical tests to confirm dysphagia, which is difficulty in swallowing caused by an obstruction in the esophagus. The SLP may ask the parents and family of the child if there are any specific goals they want to achieve at this stage of the evaluation. It is important to inform your pathologist of any concern you may have that is associated with your child’s speech and language difficulties. At this point, your pathologist may also discuss with you the possible services that your child can benefit from, such as the early intervention program that is applicable to children 3 years old.

Reference:

The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America. apraxia-kids.org: Diagnosis and Treatment How to Think About a Speech/Language Evaluation. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.apraxia-kids.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=788447&ct=464139

Copyright © by Special Learning Inc. All right reserved. 

No part of this article may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, contact Special Learning Inc., at: contact@special-learning.com 

 

Leave A Comment

JOIN JOURNEY TO INDEPENDENCE

Parent Waitlist Program

FREE FOR PARENTS

November 02, 2023 | 12pm-1pm PDT

Journey to Independence

Community-based program designed to support families on waitlist

Being an RBT for me was extremely fun because where were you going to find a place where you can be completely silly without having to worry what people thought about you? This was the only job that made me feel like I could make a dramatic difference while being myself.

I also liked to be surrounded by people that had the same goals of wanting to help kids and the teamwork made the job much easier and more enjoyable.

Change and progress was the ultimate goal for our kiddos. The early intervention program was seriously only a miracle because I saw changes in the kiddos that from day one, you wouldn’t even recognize who they were.

Changes from being able to utter 3-4 words where they can only make a syllable from when they started, the behavior decreases in which kiddo that used to engage in 30-40 0 self-harm to only half, learning how to wait during games, table work where they use to swipe and drop to the floor if they had to.

My favorite was when the parents would tell us what amazing progress they were making at home. I used to tear up and felt for these parents so much because it was already difficult for them and now, they can trust and rely on ABA and the therapists knowing their goal was ours.

By Emma Rogers, BA, RBT

Mother Child
Special Learning’s Free Hotline

This is an independent SL Hotline that is part of our VCAT service. This hotline has no connection with any other association or membership group.

Got a question you want a BCBA or other ABA expert to answer?
Fill in this form and one of our professionals will handle your question quickly and confidently. You can expect a response in 24-hours or less.