Children’s speech and language skills are developing and changing rapidly from birth until about eight years of age.  If speech or language skills are delayed during this critical time, children may struggle to keep up in the classroom to develop important academic skills.  In the classroom, children with articulation disorders may have difficulty being understood by others.  This makes them fearful of being called on by their teacher and hesitant to speak up when they know an answer.  Some children with articulation disorders struggle with the phonological awareness skills that are needed when they learn to read.   Children with language disorders may have difficulty with comprehending verbal or written instruction from their teacher, following multi-step directions, combining words to form grammatically correct sentences, answering questions and, relating to others socially (pragmatics).

 

A speech or language assessment is administered by a certified speech-language pathologist and determines strengths and weaknesses in these areas described above.  This evaluation may be an independent assessment or may be recommended as part of a more comprehensive evaluation.