School-Based Speech and Language Services

What is speech therapy in the schools? 

Speech and Language Services in schools adhere to the principles of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), providing a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for students with communication disorders in schools. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) provide services to students who demonstrate a communication impairment that adversely affects their educational performance.  

A Speech-Language Pathologist has a unique role in the schools. We evaluate, collaborate with Child Study Team members, teachers and parents to develop treatment plans and provide therapy for students who have been found to have a communication disorder(language, speech sound production, fluency) that adversely affects their educational performance.  

Let's break it down!! 💃🕺

Communication skills are divided into language skills (the vocabulary one uses and understands)and speech skills (actual sound production skills). 

LANGUAGE 

Language skills are generally broken down into two broad categories: receptive language and expressive language.

Receptive Language: Receptive language can also be referred to as “Language Comprehension” or “Auditory Comprehension Skills.”  This refers to how your child understands the language he hears. Examples of receptive language include how well a child follows directions and understands information. Receptive language is closely tied to a young child's  cognitive – or thinking – skills. Until a child is age 3 or older, it is very difficult to separate receptive language and cognition. 

Expressive Language: Expressive language is what your child communicates with words he says or gestures he uses or reflects how he is putting his thoughts in words whether through spoken words(verbal expression), gestures, sign language or Augmentative/Alternative Communication(PECS, speech generating devices) one uses language to communicate, this includes verbal and nonverbal gestures and body language. 

Pragmatic Social Language: Pragmatic language refers to the functional and socially appropriate use of language. 

SPEECH

Speech skills are the sounds a child produces and combines into words often referred to as "Articulation". Speech-language pathologists (SLP) can analyze through formal assessment(along with other measures) the specific consonant and vowel sounds a child produces correctly alone, or in isolation, and then further assess a child’s ability to correctly combine these sounds into syllables and words at the beginning (initial), middle (medial), and ending (final) positions in words.

FLUENCY

Fluency refers to continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort in speech production. All speakers are disfluent at times. They may hesitate when speaking, use fillers (“like” or “uh”), or repeat a word or phrase. These are called typical disfluencies or nonfluencies.