According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, during the 2005-2006 school year more than 1.1 Million students were found to possess some kind of Speech or Language Impairment (NICHCYC, 2011). Therefore as an educator, it is likely that you will encounter a number of students throughout your career who deal with a Speech or Language Impairment, or an SLI. it is imperative that Early and Elementary Educators are equipped to recognize the signs of Speech and Language Impairments, and familiar with the pathways to diagnosis, intervention, and accommodation. Additionally, Middle and Secondary Educators need to be familiar with the accommodation process through the development of an Individual Education Program as well as tactics and techniques to differentiate and modify curricula to better include students with Speech or Language Impairments within the classroom.
Intervention
The IDEA, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ".. ensure[s] that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.."(IDEA, 2010) However for students with disabilities to receive accommodations within public schools, they must first be diagnosed with a disability that is recognized within the IDEA framework. As an educator, the two most likely scenarios involving students with disabilities are as follows:
Undiagnosed Students with symptoms of SLI
For Early and Elementary Educators, recognition of a Speech and Language impairment is crucial for early diagnosis and successful treatment. As such, the University of Michigan has provided a normal development pattern of speech and linguistic skills typical of students and children without disabilities. The progression is as follows:
Birth
Cries
2-3 months
Cries differently in different circumstances; coos in response to you
3-4 months
Babbles randomly
5-6 months
Babbles rhythmically
6-11 months
Babbles in imitation of real speech, with expression
12 months
Says 1-2 words; recognizes name; imitates familiar sounds; understands simple instructions
18 months
Uses 5-20 words, including names
Between 1 and 2 years
Says 2-word sentences; vocabulary is growing; waves goodbye; makes “sounds” of familiar animals; uses words (like “more”) to make wants known; understands “no”
Between 2 and 3 years
Identifies body parts; calls self “me” instead of name; combines nouns and verbs; has a 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences; matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little; likes to hear same story repeated; forms some plurals
Between 3 and 4 years
Can tell a story; sentence length of 4-5 words; vocabulary of about 1000 words; knows last name, name of street, several nursery rhymes
Between 4 and 5 years
Sentence length of 4-5 words; uses past tense; vocabulary of about 1500 words; identifies colors, shapes; asks many questions like “why?” and “who?”
Between 5 and 6 years
Sentence length of 5-6 words; vocabulary of about 2000 words; can tell you what objects are made of; knows spatial relations (like “on top” and “far”); knows address; understands same and different; identifies a penny, nickel and dime; counts ten things; knows right and left hand; uses all types of sentences
(Courtesy of the University of Michigan School of Medicine, 2012)
Should a child or student fail to adhere to this normal speech progression, certain steps need to be followed to ensure that the proper resources and therapies are made available to the student. The following process is prescribed beneath the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. A more in depth outline of this process can be found of the website for the U.S. Department of Education. The following outline has been adapted from the website for the U.S. Department of Education.
Undiagnosed Students with symptoms of SLI
For Early and Elementary Educators, recognition of a Speech and Language impairment is crucial for early diagnosis and successful treatment. As such, the University of Michigan has provided a normal development pattern of speech and linguistic skills typical of students and children without disabilities. The progression is as follows:
Birth
Cries
2-3 months
Cries differently in different circumstances; coos in response to you
3-4 months
Babbles randomly
5-6 months
Babbles rhythmically
6-11 months
Babbles in imitation of real speech, with expression
12 months
Says 1-2 words; recognizes name; imitates familiar sounds; understands simple instructions
18 months
Uses 5-20 words, including names
Between 1 and 2 years
Says 2-word sentences; vocabulary is growing; waves goodbye; makes “sounds” of familiar animals; uses words (like “more”) to make wants known; understands “no”
Between 2 and 3 years
Identifies body parts; calls self “me” instead of name; combines nouns and verbs; has a 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences; matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little; likes to hear same story repeated; forms some plurals
Between 3 and 4 years
Can tell a story; sentence length of 4-5 words; vocabulary of about 1000 words; knows last name, name of street, several nursery rhymes
Between 4 and 5 years
Sentence length of 4-5 words; uses past tense; vocabulary of about 1500 words; identifies colors, shapes; asks many questions like “why?” and “who?”
Between 5 and 6 years
Sentence length of 5-6 words; vocabulary of about 2000 words; can tell you what objects are made of; knows spatial relations (like “on top” and “far”); knows address; understands same and different; identifies a penny, nickel and dime; counts ten things; knows right and left hand; uses all types of sentences
(Courtesy of the University of Michigan School of Medicine, 2012)
Should a child or student fail to adhere to this normal speech progression, certain steps need to be followed to ensure that the proper resources and therapies are made available to the student. The following process is prescribed beneath the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. A more in depth outline of this process can be found of the website for the U.S. Department of Education. The following outline has been adapted from the website for the U.S. Department of Education.
- If a student manifests symptoms of abnormal speech development,educators should request parental consent in order to have their child evaluated and/or diagnosed with a Speech or Language Impairment. The educator needs to contact the Special Education Professional within their school or district in order to arrange such testing.
- Student is evaluated by a Special Education Professional.
- Once a student is evaluated and/or diagnosed as having an SLI, parents and professionals evaluate the results to determine if the child possesses a disability that is recognized within the IDEA.
- If a student possesses a disability recognized by the IDEA, this student is eligible for free "special education and related services. . Within 30 calendar days after a child is determined eligible, the IEP team must meet to write an IEP for the child."(IDEA,2010) IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, the IEP team consists of: "the parents of the child;not less than one regular education teacher of the child (if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment);not less than one special education teacher of the child, or where appropriate, not less then one special education provider of the child;a representative of the public agency who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities; is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency;an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results;other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate (invited at the discretion of the parent or the agency); and the child with a disability (when appropriate)."(NICHCYC, 2011). Therefore, if you are the primary regular education teacher for the child, you are required to be in attendance of each IEP meeting.
- The IEP is issued to all the student's educators and special education professionals, and all accommodations must be met by each educational professional.
- Progression towards the goals set forth by the IEP must be monitored and reported to the student's parents with the same frequency as reports are made for students without disabilities.
- Should problems arise, goals attained, or any such changes need to be made to an IEP, an IEP meeting may be called at any time by the parents of the student. Further, the IEP will be reviewed and revised at least once every subsequent year of a child's schooling.
If A Student Has Been Previously Diagnosed with an SLI and has a current IEP:
For many Middle and Secondary educators, the task is not to diagnose students with disabilities, but rather to make proper accommodations as per the specifications of a students IEP. As the student's educator, you will most likely be required to attend any and all IEP meetings and will have access to the student's IEP. It is the responsibility of the Speech-Language therapist and the general educator to ensure that all interventions set forth within a student's IEP are met. It is therefore your legal responsibility to make all accommodations to class work, instruction, and assessments prescribed by the student's IEP. It is also your legal responsibility to report a student's progression towards the goals set forth within their IEP to the student's parents with the same regularity that reports are given to students without disabilities. Pedagogical techniques for educating students with Speech or Learning Impairments can be found below.
Examples of Specific Interventions
1. While a student is reading aloud or speaking in front of the class, allow the student the time and patience the self correct any articulation errors. Further, it is imperative that you create a zero-tolerance environment for teasing any kind of speech abnormalities.
2. "Recognize the language basis for many behavior problems"(SALSA, unknown year)
3. "Repeat mispronounced phrases properly as a question so it does not seem like criticism."(Plumley, 2009).
For many Middle and Secondary educators, the task is not to diagnose students with disabilities, but rather to make proper accommodations as per the specifications of a students IEP. As the student's educator, you will most likely be required to attend any and all IEP meetings and will have access to the student's IEP. It is the responsibility of the Speech-Language therapist and the general educator to ensure that all interventions set forth within a student's IEP are met. It is therefore your legal responsibility to make all accommodations to class work, instruction, and assessments prescribed by the student's IEP. It is also your legal responsibility to report a student's progression towards the goals set forth within their IEP to the student's parents with the same regularity that reports are given to students without disabilities. Pedagogical techniques for educating students with Speech or Learning Impairments can be found below.
Examples of Specific Interventions
1. While a student is reading aloud or speaking in front of the class, allow the student the time and patience the self correct any articulation errors. Further, it is imperative that you create a zero-tolerance environment for teasing any kind of speech abnormalities.
2. "Recognize the language basis for many behavior problems"(SALSA, unknown year)
3. "Repeat mispronounced phrases properly as a question so it does not seem like criticism."(Plumley, 2009).
Accommodation
As an educator, you know that all students are unique and learn in different ways. Thus, the presence of a student with a speech or language impairment can improve your instruction for all of your students by forcing you to adapt creative manners of instruction and assessment. Here are a few ideas to help differentiate your classroom in order to meet the needs of all of your students, especially those with speech or language impairments.
Common Instructional Accommodations
- "Seat students away from auditory or visual distractors; monitoring sources of background noise"-(PARA, 2011)
- When lecturing or giving instructions.."[speak] slowly and clearly; using sequential words such as 'first,' 'next,' and 'finally;' and using visual cues and supports to aid comprehension."(PARA, 2011)
- When requiring a student to answer a question verbally and/or in front of the class "permit students the time they require to express themselves, without unsolicited aid and filling in gaps in their speech. Don't be reluctant to ask the student to repeat a statement"(Central Piedmont Community College, unknown year
- "Do not compel the student to speak in class, unless speech is a required course competency appropriate for the particular student..."(Central Piedmont Community College, unknown year)..and within the precepts set forth by their IEP.
Assessment Accommodations
- Refer to the student's IEP for specific assessment accommodations. You are required by law to adhere to all prescribed accommodations.
- When assigning oral presentations, allow students with speech or language impairments the option to submit a different form or report(such as a written paper), or allow the student to give the presentation to a limited number of people.(NIU, 2003).
- Many IEP's call for written exams to be delivered orally. So either you, a teacher's aid, special education professional, or other educational professional is responsible for delivering a verbal exam. (NICYCHC,2011).
Differentiation
As an educator, you know that all students are unique and learn in different ways. Thus, the presence of a student with a speech or language impairment can improve your instruction for all of your students by forcing you to adapt creative manners of instruction and assessment. Here are a few ideas to help differentiate your classroom in order to meet the needs of all of your students, especially those with speech or language impairments.
Differentiation Ideas
Differentiation Ideas
- Consider using gestures and signals as opposed to verbal cues as a means of communicating small items like attendance or readiness.(Education Queenland, 2012)
- Incorporate more visual aids into your instruction. That is, don't solely rely upon lectures or videos for instruction.
- Allow all students some degree of choice when completing assessments and/or classwork. Ergo, allow students the choice between creating a Tri-Fold informational poster and writing a paper.
- Create a buddy-system within your classroom in which students of all abilities are paired with a "buddy." This can help build a positive classroom environment, and improve the performance of all students regardless of ability level.
Resources
Tips for Teachers of Students with Speech and Language Impairments:
http://nichcy.org/s-l-i-8-tips-for-teachers
Easy Adjustments for Educating Students with Speech or Language Impairments:
http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/diversity/educational/sli.html
Educational Practices for Several Different Disorders:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/careers/teacher/strategies.shtml#h
InfoBooks for Teachers of Students with Speech Disorders:
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/resources-teachers
General Teacher Resources for Special Education and General Education Teachers:
http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/diversity/educational/sli.html
http://nichcy.org/s-l-i-8-tips-for-teachers
Easy Adjustments for Educating Students with Speech or Language Impairments:
http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/diversity/educational/sli.html
Educational Practices for Several Different Disorders:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/careers/teacher/strategies.shtml#h
InfoBooks for Teachers of Students with Speech Disorders:
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/resources-teachers
General Teacher Resources for Special Education and General Education Teachers:
http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/diversity/educational/sli.html