FAQ

A screening is designed to proactively identify children who may or may not need further speech and language assessment.

An evaluation is an in-depth assessment process designed to determine the presence or absence of a speech or language delay or disorder.

If a child does not pass his or her screening, the speech-language pathologist may:

Monitor and re-screen the child’s speech and/or language skills at a later time
Recommend a comprehensive diagnostic speech and language evaluation
Provide recommendations for supporting the child’s communication development at home and in the classroom
Refer the child to another professional for further assessment if weaknesses in another area are suspected

The verbal component of communication. Speech is comprised of three components:

Articulation, or how a child produces sounds (i.e., placing the tongue behind teeth to produce the /l/ sound as in “lake” instead of “wake”)
Voice, or the control of air through the vocal folds to produce sound (i.e., hoarse or breathy voice quality)
Fluency, or the rhythm of speech production (i.e., frequent pauses or hesitations impact fluency)

Language skills develop before speech skills.

The socially shared rules of communication. Language is composed of the following components:

Phonology, the sounds used to create language and the rules that govern the production of those sounds
Vocabulary, the words that are understood and used to convey meaning
Syntax or grammar, how we combine words to convey meaning (i.e., “The dog barks” instead of “The barks dog”)
Morphology or word ending, how we use grammatical markers to change meaning (i.e., “barks”, “barking”, and “barked”)
Pragmatics or social communication, how we use language in different situations with different people (i.e., composing a text message versus a formal letter, or greeting a friend versus a stranger)

what is a speech-language pathologist?