Your Questions Answered

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• Your Questions Answered!

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What are SLPs?

• Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are the
  professionals who identify, assess, and treat
  speech and language problems, including
  swallowing disorders, across the lifespan.

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What are the SLPs Qualifications?

• Masters degree in Communication Disorders (May or
  may not have any formal training in the field of
  education)
• Supervised post graduate fellowship year
• National board examination
• Certificate of Clinical Competence from the
  American Speech Language and Hearing Association
  (ASHA) renewed yearly
• State licensure from Alabama Board of Examiners
  for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
  (ABESPA) renewed yearly
• To maintain licensure and certification, a
  minimum of 13 ASHA approved CEUs.

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Some of the SLPs Roles in a School Setting

• Prevention, identification, assessment, and
  treatment of communication problems
• Administration of communication assessments and
  evaluation of the results
• Development and implementation of IEPs
• Documentation of outcomes
• Collaboration with teachers and other
  professionals
• Supervision of undergraduate and graduate
  students in the field of communication disorders
• Medicaid Billing for diagnostic and therapy
  services

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SLPs work with children in a variety of ways

• Combine communication goals with academic and
  social goals
• Integrate classroom objectives
• Help students understand and use basic language
  concepts
• Support reading and writing
• Increase students understanding of texts and
  lessons

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Services can vary depending on students needs

• Monitoring or periodic screening
• Collaborating and consulting
• Classroom based services
• Small group or individual sessions in the speech
  resource room

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Area of focus

• Communication skills
• WHY???????

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Good communication skills lead to successful

• Speaking
• Thinking
• Reading
• Writing
• Learning

I know that!
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Poor communication skills lead to problems

• Understanding classroom instruction
• Participating in classroom instruction
• Developing and maintaining relationships

I have no idea what you are saying I hope no
one notices.
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Signs of a Communication Problems

• Late talker
• Below expectations in the classroom
• Difficulty learning to read and write
• Unable to express thoughts and ideas
• Problems understanding others and following
  directions
• Doesnt get along with others
• Problems in test taking

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Who do SLPs serve?

• In the school setting, SLPs work with children
  who have communication problems that affect
  success in classroom activities, social
  interaction, literacy, and learning.

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SLPs work with children who have a variety of
disabilities

• Voice
• Fluency or Stuttering
• Swallowing, also called dysphagia
• Articulation
• Language

G-g-good Morning!
I must use my best voice
Huh?
Huh?
R
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Voice Disorders

• Speech is too high, low, or monotonous in pitch
• Interrupted by breaks
• Too loud or too soft
• Harsh, hoarse, breathy, or nasal

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Fluency or Stuttering Disorder

• Interruptions in flow or rhythm
• Can include hesitations, repetitions, or
  prolongations
• Can affect sounds, syllables, words, or phrases

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Swallowing/Dysphagia Disorder

• Difficulty in sucking, chewing, triggering a
  swallow, and moving food into the stomach.
• Interferes with eating lunch and snacks, reduces
  opportunities that build friendships, can affect
  social and communication skills, and can impact
  learning.
• The SLP in a school setting would collaborate
  with the childs parent, physician, occupational
  therapist, school dietitian, and nurse to assure
  proper food consistency, utensils, and feeding
  methods / procedures are implemented.

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Articulation Disorders

• Saying one sound for another (wabbit for rabbit)
• Omitting a sound in a word (i-cream for ice
  cream)
• Distorting a sound (slushy /s/ sound)

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Articulation Norms What sounds, when?

• Age 3 m, n, b, w, p, d
• Age 4 y, t, k, g
• Age 5 f
• Age 6 v, L, lateral emission lisp
• Age 7 sh, ch, J, L-blends
• Age 8 s, r, s-blends, r-blends, th, z

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Language Disorders What the teacher will see

• Slow development of vocabulary, concepts, or
  grammar
• Inability to use different communication styles
  for different situations
• Poor building blocks of understanding/expressing
  ideas, social development, learning, reading, and
  writing

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The 5 Language components

• 1) Semantics - language meaning, which can be
  expressed verbally, vocally, and/or gesturally
  (includes vocabulary skills and the types of
  words used) ( understanding using a variety of
  nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)
• 2) Syntax - sentence structure (using simple
  sentences or complex sentences with various types
  of phrases, clauses, and verb forms)
• 3) Morphology - how the morphemes (the smallest
  units of meaning) are combined to form meaning.
  (prefixes, suffixes)
• 4) Phonology -the study of sounds and speech
  patterns in language. (vowels, consonants,
  syllables) Different languages have different
  sets of possible sounds that can be used to
  create words.
• 5) Pragmatics -use of language in communicative
  interactions where required behaviors are
  situationally and environmentally specific

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Examples of language therapy

• Vocabulary mapping
• Creating descriptive, longer, grammatically
  correct sentences
• Understanding and use of idioms
• Creating social stories, especially for children
  on the autism spectrum
• Facilitating literacy via incorporating classroom
  vocabulary

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When do I refer to BBSST for language problems?

• BBSST should consider Language Testing if
  many of the problems listed below are present. If
  progress is not made, a complete battery of tests
  should also be done, if the following areas are
  of concern and if the student is of sufficient
  age, since the problems may run deeper than just
  a speech-language impairment (SLI).
• Limited skills in understanding spoken language
  (child seems to be having trouble taking in
  information)
• Poor listening skills
• Limited understanding of word meanings and
  meanings in general (vocabulary)
• Limited expressive language skills (child has
  difficulty conveying their understanding of
  something or the message they want to get across)
• Limited use or lack of morphologic elements of
  language (plurals, possessives, articles, verb
  tense markers, negation, prepositions)
• Limited use of sentence structure (may
  speak/answer questions in short utterances or in
  an incomplete manner)
• Inappropriate use of language (not matched to
  listener, environment, expectations of the
  situation)
• Deficient use of language that has been learned
  (cant independently use the language skills the
  teacher has taught in class)
• Limited conversational skills (poor turn
  taking, random tangents, off topic, etc.)
• Limited skills in narrating experiences (cant
  describe a routine, sequence events, tell a
  personal story)

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Speech/Language Referrals

• Articulation, voice, fluency, and dysphagia
  referrals are made directly to the SLP
• Language referrals must be via BBSST
  recommendation

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Got problems?

• Schedule a time to meet with the SLP to discuss
  the communication breakdowns that are occurring.