Overview of Services

The goal of speech/language services is to provide our students with the tools and strategies they need to communicate effectively and efficiently throughout their school day. Students who have been identified with a speech and/or language impairment that affects their ability to access the general education curriculum, are eligible to receive speech and language therapy at school.

Most people think of speech therapy as a place to work on speech sounds. Working on speech sounds, or articulation skills, is one of the areas a speech pathologist works on, especially in elementary school. Yet, by the time students are in middle school, only a few are still working on specific sound production (articulation). The majority of our students in middle school have been identified with other communication deficits that adversely affect their educational performance.

Specific areas of communication that we can also address are: fluency (stuttering), voice, receptive language (comprehension), expressive language (verbal expression) and pragmatic skills (social language). Therapy is provided in or out of the classroom setting depending on the needs of the student. We closely collaborate with the occupational therapists, physical therapists, and social workers. We also consult with core and elective teachers on an ongoing basis.

Students with language disorders (receptive, expressive, or social) are the largest population of students seen for speech/language services in the middle school setting. Impairments encompass a wide range: deficits in vocabulary or concept development, difficulty processing information or following directions, difficulty communicating appropriately in social interactions, or difficulty formulating sentence structures at the level of same aged peers.

Speech Pathologists also work with students who have a deficit in oral fluency (stuttering). Therapy focuses on teaching students fluency strategies, self-monitoring and self-advocacy skills, as well as providing emotional support.

Students with vocal disorders are typically seen for pitch, volume, or voice quality differences. Students are taught how to use their voice appropriately and/or how to keep their vocal cords functioning optimally. We would request that the student be seen by an ENT prior to therapy to rule out a medical condition.

Please email one of the middle school speech pathologists if you have questions about the type of services we can provide at Emerson and Lincoln Middle Schools.