"Communication -- the human connection -- is the key to personal and career success."

-Paul J. Meyer-

What are my responsibilities to the students, families, and staff at Avon Elementary?

• Assessment — Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) conduct assessments in collaboration with others that help to identify students with communication disorders as well as to inform instruction and intervention, consistent with evidence-based practice.
  
  

• Intervention — SLPs provide intervention that is appropriate to the age and learning needs of each individual student and is selected through an evidence-based decision-making process. Although service delivery models are typically more diverse in the school setting than in other settings, the therapy techniques are clinical in nature when dealing with students with disabilities.
  
  

• Prevention — SLPs are integrally involved in the efforts of schools to prevent academic failure in whatever form those initiatives may take; for example, in Response to Intervention (RTI). SLPs use evidence-based practice in prevention approaches.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS:

Speech Disorders:

Articulation:  the absence of, or incorrect production of speech sounds or phonological processes that are developmentally appropriate. 

Fluency:  the repetition of sounds, syllables, and words; prolongations of sounds; avoidance of words; silent blocks; or inappropriate   inhalation, exhalation, or phonation patterns. These patters may also be accompanied by facial and body movements associated with the effort to speak. 

Voice:  the absence of voice or presence of abnormal quality, pitch, resonance, loudness, or duration. 

Language Disorders:

Some children have problems with understanding, also called receptive language. They may have trouble:

• Understanding what gestures mean

• Following directions

• Answering questions

• Identifying objects and pictures

• Taking turns when talking with others

Some children have problems talking, also called expressive language. They may have trouble:

• Asking questions

• Naming objects

• Using gestures

• Putting words together into sentences

• Learning songs and rhymes

• Using correct pronouns, like "he" or "they"

• Knowing how to start a conversation and keep it going

*Many children have problems with both understanding and speaking.