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A Speech Pathologist Talks to Teachers

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Who are the Speech Pathologists?

• Professionals in the school who are educated and trained to identify and remediate speech and language disabilities.

– Speech refers to:• Articulation

• Voice

• Fluency

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ARTICULATION

• Articulation refers to speech sound PRODUCTION

– Distortion errors -- lispers– Substitution errors -- wed wose,tan I tolor– Omission errors -- ba_tub,li__, _un– Addition errors – Mrsk. Boykink

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Articulation Norms

Students who exhibit sound production errors that are developmentally inappropriate should be considered for referral.

Articulation Norm charts have been adopted by most school districts.

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Voice

• Voice disorders refer to pitch, intensity and quality deviations.

– Pitch-- too high/low, monotone, breaks– Intensity –loud/weak, no voice– Quality – nasal/denasal, hoarseness

* note– voice disorders require a medical referral/release

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Fluency

• Fluency refers to difficulties with time and rhythm

– Stuttering

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Language

• LANGUAGE includes – Immature grammar – Short sentences – Poor syntax or sentence structure– Phonological errors – Difficulty following directions, completing work, etc.– Pragmatics/functional/figurative language

“ him funny” “me tan” “I wa__ _ome”.

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LANGUAGE

Pronunciation

Talking

Understanding

Play

Looking and Listening*skills at the bottom need to be in place before

Skills above them can develop

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Language

Classrooms are language based

Curriculum Standards

Language Disabilities ***- this is the one of concern

(requires placement based on Ala. Admin. Code)

Language Differences

Language DelaysNote: Differences and delays do not require intervention but your SLP could

observe and consult.

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THE BIG QUESTION when making a SPEECH referral

Does the suspected Speech disorder affect classroom participation and/or performance?

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• The SLP depends on the classroom teacher to refer students who need special help.

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• Some children may already be identified

– Cleft palate– Cerebral palsy – HOH– Multi-handicapped children– Autism spectrum

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• Referrals of suspected speech and language problems are made two ways:

1. BBSST referral

2. SLP referral ( speech only)

Note * any referrals for speech ( part of Special Ed) must include information about how the suspected disability affects the general education participation/performance

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BBSST referrals

Do teachers refer speech/language students to BBSST?

• Yes and No. ask your SLP for help when making the referral decision

• No BBSST referral for articulation, voice or fluency ONLY students

• Yes BBSST referral for language students and students who exhibit academic and/or behavior problems in addition to the suspected “speech” problem

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SLP referrals

Again--- refer those students with

suspected Articulation Voice or Fluency problems

ONLY

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Making a referral to the SLP

1. Talk to your SLP about the student. If it is a parent, medical or private SLP request, share this information. Private and/or

medical referrals are not automatically accepted. Asking the speech therapist to listen to a student before a referral could be helpful but not always.

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2. Complete the Referral checklist relating to the area of the referral.

3. Return it to the SLP

4. Attend the Referral meeting

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The Referral Meeting

The purpose of the Referral meeting is decide if the referral warrants evaluation. The teacher, parent and SLP will discuss the behaviors which prompted the referral and make the best decision possible based on current information.

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• Why would a referral not be accepted for evaluation?

Articulation---- the error sounds may be developmentally appropriate for the student’s age. i.e. /s,r/ and their blends are late developing sounds.

Or----- not enough evidence that the errors affect participation/performance in the educational setting

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– Voice ---- no medical referral– Fluency ---- it is rare not to accept a stuttering

referral for evaluation but in the case of younger students, the team may think it is normal dysfluency and decide to “wait and see”.

– Or, again, no evidence that the suspected disorder adversely affects participation in the general education setting.

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• Another reason to deny a speech only referral

– During the course of the meeting, evidence may suggest another suspected area of concern.

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• When this happens, the team members will decide if the child is best served by going to BBSST.

*a speech only referral can run concurrently with the BBSST referral

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SLP Service Delivery

Pull out ***** traditional method “speech room 2x’s weekly”

Push in SLP goes in class to watch then goes back and reviews with kids

Pull out/Push in assists students who benefit from pre-teaching

Consultation

Collaboration

Observation

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• Articulation, Voice, Fluency may still best be served in the therapy room. (initially)

• Language* is different.

ask “ where is the best place to learn language?” everywhere “ who does language?” everyone

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Suggested Classroom activities:

Vocabulary and Phonological activities

Syntax activities: ‘be’ verbs

Functional Language:What Do you DO/Say at schoolHidden CurriculumRole play

******Additional Handouts*****

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• Remember---

SLP’s are here for

you and your students.