language - a shared code or system for representing concepts through the use of symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols.
Here is some information regarding speech-language screening, evaluation and services in the Early Childhood Program in District 23. You will also find some ideas for improving your child’s communication at home!
Screening:The Early Childhood program conducts monthly screenings to assess a child’s eligibility for the ECDEC (Early Childhood Development and Enrichment Center) blended/at risk classrooms. Communication skills, including what your child can say, what your child can understand, and how clearly your child speaks, are some of the elements observed during the screening. If your child’s communication skills appear to raise concerns, he or she may be referred for further evaluation.
Evaluation:During a speech-language evaluation, a speech-language pathologist will assess your child’s level of comprehension of both single words and connected language, as demonstrated by their ability to recognize labeled objects, respond to questions, and follow simple directions. Your child’s ability to provide labels for objects and actions, and to create short phrases/sentences, using vocabulary and grammar appropriate to their age will also be assessed. Finally, your child’s articulation skills, or the ability to produce the sounds that are expected at your child’s age, in both single words and phrases, will be assessed. Your child may be evaluated via formal testing, play-based assessment, or a combination of the two formats. During formal testing, your child will be presented with a variety of pictures and asked to respond to models and prompts to achieve desired responses. Your child’s performance is compared to age-mates to see if it is within expectation for age. During play-based assessment, your child is encouraged in interact with a variety of age-appropriate toys and materials while the speech-language pathologist documents their verbal responses and actions; these responses are then evaluated to see if they are within developmental norms in the areas of using language, understanding language, and sound productions. Service Delivery:Early childhood services are typically delivered in the context of the early childhood classroom. Students participate in language centers in which a variety of speech-language skills are targeted, in addition to the specific goals of students identified with communication delays. Multiple opportunities to practice new skills are targeted throughout the preschool day, by the speech-language pathologist, the classroom teacher, and the entire early childhood team. Students may also receive individual or small group services in the speech room during the course of their preschool day. Students with very minor delays (typically a single class of sound error) may receive walk-in speech services while attending preschool programs outside the district.
You can support language development at home by incorporating some of the following methods into your everyday communication. These are strategies that support language development in all young children. •Imitation Ask your child to imitate short phrases. This is can be easily accomplished while reading stories, learning songs, reciting or acting out nursery rhymes or fingerplays, or looking at pictures. •Modeling It will help your child if when asking a question, you provide a model for the answer by giving him or her some choices. For example, “What do we wear on our hands, mittens or boots?” “What color is an apple, red or blue?” “When do we go to bed, at night or in the morning?” Young children may have a difficult time answering very open-ended questions ("What did you do at school today?") without adult support! •Expansion When you point out something you see or talk about what you are doing, add more and more description as you talk. In expansion, each of your statements to your child adds more information, more description, more vocabulary. Here is an example of expansion: “Do you see the bird? The red bird? That red bird is called a cardinal. Birds are animals. They havewings so they can fly. They fly up to their homes in the trees. A bird’s home is called a nest.” •Waiting Young children who are developing their language skills, children who are exposed to multiple languages, and especially children with language delays/disorders may need extra time to think and respond. Teach your child to advocate for themselves if they need more time or need something repeated. •Recasting Your child may need you to ask a question in a simpler way, break up directions into separate steps, or provide visual cues or gestures to improve their comprehension. •Responsive Feedback When your child gives a correct response (or makes their best attempt), praise them! If they make an error, reflect their statement back with the correct words, sounds, or grammar, and let them know in a simple, relaxed way that you need a different answer. Use some of the previously listed techniques to help them become a better communicator! Additionally -
Improve what is called the “signal-to-noise ratio” when talking to your child – in other words, do not try to talk over competing noise such as the television, radio, or other conversations.
Slow down your rate of speech – even typically developing children under the age of 7 have difficulty comprehending the speed at which most adults talk. If you feel like you need to frequently repeat directions before your child follows through, check your rate of speech!