Speech and Language Therapy Assessments.

A speech and language assessment can look at the follow areas:

Auditory processing (understand and interpreting sounds that you hear, including spoken words)
Attention and Listening
Receptive language (e.g., following instructions, understanding words and what people are saying).
Expressive language (e.g., slow to start speaking, limited spoken language etc).
Social skills (e.g., conversational skills, playing with peers, taking turns etc).
Speech sounds (e.g., identifying sounds that are not produced correctly, speech that is difficult to understand).
Phonological awareness (e.g., difficulty with rhyming, sound awareness, literacy, etc).

Depending on the child’s age, the therapist will use standardised assessments as well as informal assessments and observation to carry out the assessment.

Assessments can take about 1 hour, although, some will be shorter or longer, depending on the individual child and their age. The length of the assessment is guided by the child’s age and the different speech, language and communication skills that need to be assessed.

The assessment will be tailored based on concerns expressed by the parent(s) through the parent questionnaire (this is sent out before the assessment takes place) or from a school/nursery referral (a referral form is sent out before the assessment takes place).

Speech and Language Therapy Sessions

A therapy session can be scheduled for either 30 minutes or 45 minutes, depending on the age of the child or young person. The therapist will identify and recommend the appropriate therapy plan after the assessment has be completed.

Sessions can be offered weekly or fortnightly either during or outside of the school term time. This can be discussed with the therapist once the assessment has been completed.