Barrett’s Speech Assessment involves the following:

• Interview – To establish relevant history, we ask questions regarding health, development, family, current and past behaviors, and current or previous speech and language services, parent concerns and parent goals for therapy.
• Formal Testing – Formal testing allows speech and language pathologists to compare the child’s skills to other children of a similar age.  Results of formal testing helps determine the need for therapy, types of skills to be targeted, and provides a baseline to monitor progress during therapy.
• Informal Testing/Observations – Informal testing and observations are an important part of the assessment and involve casual conversation and play time with the child.  At times, a child may not be able to participate in formal testing, therefore, informal testing becomes the basis of diagnosis and intervention.

Other Types of Assessments May Include:

• The Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation, 3rd Edition (GFTA-3)
• Preschool Language Scales, 5th Edition (PLS-5)
• Social Language Development Test, Elementary (SLDT-E)
• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, 5th Edition (CELF-5)
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 5th Edition (PPVT-5)
• Expressive Vocabulary Test, 3rd Edition (EVT-3)
• Oral and Written Language Scales, 2nd Edition (OWLS-2)
• Stuttering Severity Index, 4th Edition (SSI-4)
• Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language, 2nd (CASL-2)
• Receptive Expressive Emergent Language test, fourth edition needs to be added (REEL-4)

Specific Areas that are Assess at Barrett are:

• Articulation and Phonology – “People can not understand what my child is saying”
• Semantics – “My child does not seem to use a variety of words”
• Fluency – “My child stutters when he/she speaks”
• First Words – “My child is three years old and not yet speaking”
• Language/Syntax/Morphology – “My child uses only one word at a time, he/she is not yet speaking in phrases and I think he/she should be”
• Receptive Language – “I am not sure my child understands what I say to him/her”
• Social/Pragmatics – “My child has been diagnosed with Asperger’s or with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  He/She is having a difficult time interacting with peers.”

The Result of a Speech and Language Assessment is a Written Report Containing:

• Information about the child’s history and development
• A description of your child’s current skill level in the specific area’s tested
• Recommendations based on skills observed during testing which may include: participating in a speech therapy program, referral to another professional, participation in a home program, or no need for therapeutic intervention.