What Speech-Language Pathologists Do

If you or your doctor suspect that your child has a problem, early evaluation by a speech-language pathologist is crucial. Of course, if there turns out to be no problem after all, an evaluation can ease your fears.

In conducting an evaluation, a speech-language pathologist will look at a child's speech and language skills within the context of total development. Besides observing your child, the speech-language pathologist will conduct standardized tests and scales, and look for milestones in speech and language development.

The speech-language pathologist will also assess:

· what your child understands (called receptive language)

· what your child can say (called expressive language)

· if your child is attempting to communicate in other ways, such as pointing, head shaking, gesturing, etc.

· sound development and clarity of speech.

· your child's oral-motor status (how a child's mouth, tongue, palate, etc., work together for speech as well as eating and swallowing)

If the speech-language pathologist finds that your child needs speech therapy, your involvement will be very important. You can observe therapy sessions and learn to participate in the process. The speech therapist will show you how you can work with your child at home to improve speech and language skills.

A

In the process of education the teacher's understanding of the children's feelings towards each other and the understanding of his feelings towards the children is of fundamental importance. The better the teacher is able to understand these feelings, the more likely he to is succeed in this very difficult task. To this extent there is very little difference between special education and education in general. However, children selected for special education have distinctive characteristics. The majority of these children has been tried in ordinary school and has failed. This sense of failure naturally influences the children's feelings. Moreover, their specific handicap often makes learning very difficult for them. In this respect the teacher of handicapped children needs even greater skills than the teacher in ordinary schools. He constantly needs to consider the educational process in relation to the child's handicap fit. In this way special education adds to the developmental process of educational a therapeutic element and the teacher is therefore constantly working on the boundary between therapy and education.

B