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Check Your Child's Speech, Language and Hearing
before Sending Them Back to School
Communication skills are at the heart of life's
experience, particularly for children who are developing
language critical to cognitive development and
learning.
Children with communication disorders frequently
perform at a poor or insufficient academic level,
struggle with reading, have difficulty understanding and
expressing language, misunderstand social cues, avoid
attending school, show poor judgement, and have
difficulty with tests.
Parents who believe their child is having trouble
communicating should seek help from a professional. An
audiologist can evaluate a child's hearing and a
speech-language pathologist (SLP) can evaluate and treat
a speech or language disorder.
For a referral
to an ASHA-certified SLP or audiologist, or
brochures on speech and hearing milestones, consumers may
call 1-800-638-6255
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Is Your School SLP Certified by ASHA?
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in schools work
with teachers and other education personnel to assess and
treat children with communication disorders in order to
help them become effective communicators, problem-solvers
and decision-makers.
A qualified speech-language pathologist has a master's
or doctoral degree, a state license where required, and
the
Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP)
from the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association. ASHA-certified SLPs must have a graduate
degree, have completed 350 hours of clinical practicum,
completed 36 weeks of a supervised clinical fellowship,
and passed a rigorous national exam. Always ask for a
speech-language pathologist who is ASHA-certified.
SLPs and Teachers Working Together on Literacy
Teams
SLPs play a critical and direct role in the
development of literacy for children and adolescents with
communication disorders. Working on teams with other
professionals is an effective way for SLPs to apply their
competence and expertise in literacy development.
As SLPs expand their work in special education settings
to now include regular education settings, sources of
their funding should also be expanded
. To learn more about funding speech-language services
in both special and regular education settings, browse
our web site
or call 1-800-638-6255.
Raising a Bilingual Child
Nearly 32 million people in the United States speak a
language other than English in their home and many are
likely to maintain and share their primary language with
their children. New brochures and materials from ASHA
answer questions about learning two languages and
teaching a child to be bilingual.
(continued above)
Parents teaching their child a second language who are
concerned about their child's speech and language
development should contact a bilingual speech-language
pathologist with comprehensive knowledge of the rules and
structure of both languages.
For free consumer brochures on bilingualism or a
referral to a bilingual SLP, consumers may call
1-800-638-6255.
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Communication disorders
affect approximately 46 million Americans. Of these, 28
million have a hearing loss and 14 million have a speech or
language disorder.
Audiologists
are hearing health care professionals who specialize in
preventing, identifying and assessing hearing disorders as
well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing
aids and other assistive listening devices.
Speech-language pathologists
are the professionals who identify, assess, and treat
speech and language problems including swallowing
disorders.
ASHA
is the national professional, scientific and credentialing
association for more than 120,000 audiologists,
speech-language pathologists and speech, language, and
hearing scientists.
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