This is for young children who are not yet kindergarten aged.  This assessment process includes a formal and standardized evaluation of speech and language development. Often, families are looking for a formal evaluation in order to determine program or funding eligibility for Program Unit Funding (PUF).   

This evaluation includes:

• Case history

• Speech sound and oral mechanism evaluation 

• Standardized, norm-referenced assessment of spoken language (understanding language and using language) 

• Appointment to debrief results

• Written report with speech-language diagnosis, recommendations, and strategies

• Support to find an appropriate community placement or pre-kindergarten program

This is for children who are in kindergarten and early grade one.  This assessment process will be completed over two sessions and includes a formal evaluation of speech-language development and a formal, standardized evaluation of early literacy skills.  Often, families are looking for updated information regarding speech-language development and to determine risk-factors associated with a potential/future reading disorder diagnosis.

This evaluation includes:

• Case history

• Consultation with school team

• Speech sound and oral mechanism evaluation

• Standardized, norm-referenced assessment of spoken language (understanding language and using language) 

• Standardized, norm-referenced assessment of early literacy skill development

• Appointments to debrief results with family and school team

• Written report with speech-language diagnosis, recommendations, and strategies

This is designed for parents who are looking to obtain a formal Speech-Motor Learning Disorder Diagnosis, including Childhood Apraxia of Speech and/or Dysarthria for their child.   

This assessment process includes several standardized, norm referenced assessments as well as specialized, informal evaluations for the purposes of classifying CAS/providing a differential diagnosis.   This assessment process will be completed over two sessions.  Diagnostic criteria will follow recommendations from expert researchers in the field of CAS, the ASHA CAS technical report (2007), the ASHA CAS position statement (2007), and a CAS classification protocol using a pediatric adaptation of the Mayo Clinic System (Shriberg & Strand, 2014), as cited by S. Caspari (2019).  

This evaluation includes:

• Specialized assessments and evaluations for the purposes of classifying CAS/providing a differential diagnosis

• Parent Questionnaire

• Consultation with other professionals and school-based staff

• May include additional standardized, norm-referenced assessment of spoken language (understanding language and using language) 

• Appointments to debrief results with family and school team

• Written report with diagnosis and recommendations

“Assessment and diagnosis of CAS are the responsibility of the speech-language pathologist with specialized knowledge, training, and skills in this area”.  The technical report further states, “A well-trained speech-language pathologist with specific experience in pediatric speech sound disorders, including motor speech disorders, is the appropriate professional to assess and diagnose CAS.”

References:

American Speech-Language Hearing Association (2007).  Position Statement: Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  

American Speech-Language Hearing Association (2007). Technical report: Childhood Apraxia of Speech. 

This is designed for parents looking to obtain a formal language and/or reading disorder diagnosis.  This assessment process is designed for children aged 6 years and older.  

This assessment process includes administration of a reliable, standardized, norm-referenced assessment with high sensitivity and specificity, designed to identify and diagnose language-literacy disorders, including dyslexia.  This evaluation will be completed over two sessions and information collected will provide diagnostic information as well as information about student’s strengths and weaknesses.  This assessment process measures spoken and written language skills across a number of areas, including: vocabulary, phonemic awareness, story retelling, non-word repetition, non-word spelling, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, following directions, delayed story retelling, non-word reading, written expression, social communication, digit span forward, and digit span backward.  It may also include an additional norm-referenced evaluation of reading-related phonological processing skills to support diagnosis. 

This evaluation includes:

• Case history

• Parent & Teacher questionnaire

• Consultation with school team and other professionals

• Administration of a norm-referenced test that has been standardized for three purposes: to identify language/literacy disorders, to document patterns of relative strengths and weaknesses, and to track changes in language and literacy skills over time

• May include further evaluation of reading-related phonological processing skills 

• Appointments to debrief results with family and school team

• Written report with diagnosis and recommendations

“ASHA’s code of ethics (2016a) and scope of practice (2016b) indicates the SLP’s scope of practice is specified to include prevention, assessment, and intervention of (a) reading and writing skills, (b) linguistic subsystems that underlie literacy (i.e., phonology, semantics, syntax, and morphology), and (c) metalinguistic skills required for the acquisition of reading and writing skills (e.g. phonological and morphological awareness; ASHA, 2016b).  ASHA further prescribes that SLPs are responsible for establishing collaborative partnerships with literacy teams and diagnosing disorders of reading and writing, including dyslexia (ASHA, 2016b).  ASHA’s code of ethics (ASHA, 2016a) stipulates that SLPs who treat individuals with written language deficits are appropriately trained to do so.” 

References:

Fallon, K.A & Katz, L.A. (2020). Structured literacy intervention for students with dyslexia: Focus on growing morphological skills.  Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 1-9.  https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00019