The word ‘assessment’ can make many of us feel nervous, however a speech and language assessment should be a positive time for you and your child’s Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) to work together to determine what areas of speech and language are working well for your child and how to support any difficulties. There will be forms for you to fill out before the appointment that help your SALT learn about your child’s developmental history and time during the appointment to discuss your current concerns.
Areas Assessed
There are multiple areas of development your SALT will be looking at when working with your child.
- Receptive Language: Your child’s understanding of verbal and non verbal communication.
- Expressive Language: Your child’s ability to communicate verbally and non verbally.
- Pragmatics: Your child’s understanding and use of social communication.
- Attention & Play: Your child’s ability to attend to an activity and (for younger children) how your child plays and interacts with toys.
- Speech Sounds & Phonology: What sounds your child is able to say in single words as well as in conversation and any error patterns in your child’s speech.
- Voice & Fluency: The vocal quality, continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort of your child’s speech.
- Oral Motor Skills: Functional movement of your child’s jaw, lips, and tongue during speech and non-speech activities.
Assessment Activities
A speech and language assessment with a young child is play-based and will involve looking at pictures and playing with toys together. Depending on your child’s needs and what area of speech and language is being assessed, your SALT may use a standardised assessment tool which means the questions and assessment information can only be said in a certain way. If your child does not understand the wording and you feel your child would understand better in a different context, let your SALT know so this information can be included as a part of the assessment.
A speech and language assessment with an older child, typically involves looking at pictures together and asking your child to respond to questions based on information they may have previously learned and new information that they can see or are told during the assessment. Time also will be spent talking with your child about school and their interests outside of the classroom. A standardised assessment tool may be used, or your child’s SALT may gather information through an informal assessment (or a combination of both).
Your SALT may want to make an audio recording of the assessment session so it can be analysed following the appointment.
How Do I Prepare My Child?
- Let a young child know that they will be meeting a new person and looking at pictures together and playing games.
- Tell an older child that they are meeting with a SALT to gain a better understanding of how they learn and speak. They will look at pictures together, answer questions and talk about topics that interest them. It is okay (and expected) that your child will not know the answers to all of the questions asked. If they do not understand something, they can ask their SALT for clarification and if they do not know an answer, they should make their best guess. It also is okay to tell their SALT, “I don’t know.”
- Your child will find it easiest to participate in the assessment if they are rested and fed. Please avoid arranging a speech and language assessment during nap or meal times.
What Happens After the Assessment?
Following the assessment session, your SALT will score any standardised assessments used and analyse your child’s communication and speech skills that were observed during the assessment session and/or reported by you. A written report will be provided to you detailing the assessment findings and recommendations for next steps. Once your receive your child’s speech and language assessment report, your SALT will be happy to talk with you about any questions you have regarding assessment findings or recommendations.
For more information about a speech and language assessment or therapy with South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy, please get in touch. Sign up for our newsletter if you would like weekly posts about children’s speech, language and feeding sent directly to your inbox.