Services

There are two ways to receive support from the speech language pathologist

Students can receive support through Response to Intervention (RtI) or through an individualized education plan (IEP)

Response to Intervention (RtI)

Santa Margarita Community School offers a Speech Improvement Class for students with mild communication differences utilizing a Response-to Intervention (RtI) approach to assist with communication skills.

About the Class

The class is offered to general education students who have speech differences that do not significantly affect communication, self-esteem, and educational achievement. Classes are typically offered once to twice a week for 30 minutes in a small group, pull-out setting during school hours. Placement and practice methods are individualized for each student, as appropriate.

Students are expected to complete daily practice assignments at home. The speech-language pathologist works with the classroom teacher and parents to reinforce transfer skills and to provide periodic progress updates. Classes generally involve attending approximately 8-32 sessions based on student need and progress. The SLP will contact you to discuss student progress and to determine if any further intervention is needed.

There is an RtI permission form and services will not begin until this notice is signed and returned to the speech-language pathologist.

Speech or Language Impaired-Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

If you suspect your child has a speech or language disability, the speech language pathologist can assess. Do you have think your child has significant difficulties with any of the following communication skills:

Responding to questions

Vocabulary

Grammar

Expressing wants/needs

Expressing ideas

Conversational skills

Speech Intelligibility/sound pronunciation

If so, please reach out to me or your child's teacher. An assessment can be completed and if your child meets eligibility under speech or language impaired, they are eligible for services under an IEP.

Eligibility is based on California's state education code and is referenced below.

In order to meet eligibility for an IEP as a student with a speech and language impairment, students must meet the following criteria set by CA education code

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IMPAIRED

C.C.R., § 3030(b) (11)

A pupil has a language or speech disorder as defined in Education Code section 56333, and it is determined that the pupil's disorder meets one or more of the following criteria:

(A) Articulation disorder.

1. The pupil displays reduced intelligibility or an inability to use the speech mechanism which significantly interferes with communication and attracts adverse attention. Significant interference in communication occurs when the pupil's production of single or multiple speech sounds on a developmental scale of articulation competency is below that expected for his or her chronological age or developmental level, and which adversely affects educational performance.

2. A pupil does not meet the criteria for an articulation disorder if the sole assessed disability is an abnormal swallowing pattern.

(B) Abnormal Voice. A pupil has an abnormal voice which is characterized by persistent, defective voice quality, pitch, or loudness.

(C) Fluency Disorders. A pupil has a fluency disorder when the flow of verbal expression including rate and rhythm adversely affects communication between the pupil and listener.

(D) Language Disorder. The pupil has an expressive or receptive language disorder when he or she meets one of the following criteria:

1. The pupil scores at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean, or below the 7th percentile, for his or her chronological age or developmental level on two or more standardized tests in one or more of the following areas of language development: morphology, syntax, semantics, or pragmatics. When standardized tests are considered to be invalid for the specific pupil, the expected language performance level shall be determined by alternative means as specified on the assessment plan, or

2. The pupil scores at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean or the score is below the 7th percentile for his or her chronological age or developmental level on one or more standardized tests in one of the areas listed in subdivision (A) and displays inappropriate or inadequate usage of expressive or receptive language as measured by a representative spontaneous or elicited language sample of a minimum of 50 utterances. The language sample must be recorded or transcribed and analyzed, and the results included in the assessment report. If the pupil is unable to produce this sample, the language, speech, and hearing specialist shall document why a fifty utterance sample was not obtainable and the contexts in which attempts were made to elicit the sample. When standardized tests are considered to be invalid for the specific pupil, the expected language performance level shall be determined by alternative means as specified in the assessment plan.