What is a speech pathology assessment and do I need one?

This is a tricky question, a speech pathology assessment can mean a whole lot of things from a ‘speech sounds’ assessment to a ‘language assessment’ to even a ‘feeding assessment’! And don’t even get me started on the difference between an assessment and a screener. So what’s the difference between them all and when do I even need one?

Let’s start basic, what is the difference between a screener and an assessment?

A screener is a short and quick tool that gives a speech pathologist a snapshot of your child’s abilities in a specific area, when done right a screener helps determine if speech pathology is needed and can help with goal development.

An assessment on the other hand is longer and more standardised but will give you more in-depth information. Assessments can last multiple sessions and may require additional parent sessions to set up. Reports from assessments are also lengthy and will help provide you with direct strategies in how to support your child.

If you’re looking for a diagnosis an assessment will be needed over a screener.

What are the different kinds of ‘speech’ assessments?

One important thing to know is that a ‘speech assessment’ just means an assessment that a speech pathologist can conduct that’s why there are so many types of assessment. What assessment you need will depend on a lot of factors including age and more importantly what your goal is for the assessment.

The goal for an assessment can be anything from seeking a diagnosis to wanting a comprehensive understanding of your child’s ability. It’s important to go into an assessment with a clear idea of what you’re hoping to get out of it. If you let your speech pathologist know your goal they can help determine what assessment fits best.

Some assessments may include:

• Language assessments (the CELF 5 and CELF p3 are both standardised language assessments)
• Speech assessments (these include the DEAP, Goldman Fristoe and many others)
• Literacy assessments (like the CTOP and PAT 2)
• Feeding assessments (these are often done with an occupational therapist)
• Augmented and Alternative Communication assessments (these are typically done for funding purposes)

Clinics that specialise in certain areas may be able to offer a wider range of assessments in a specific area.

Find out about Moi’s Speech assessments!

So now that we have a run down on what speech assessments are…

Do I even need a speech assessment?

This question goes back to your ‘goal’ for a speech assessment, if your goal is to gain a diagnosis or support a funding application the answer is likely ‘yes’, if your goal is to get an idea of where your child is at the answer is less clear.

Because an assessment is long and comprehensive it’s important to be sure you need one and that what you’re assessing is actually being assessed. Let’s imagine a child who is very fidgety and can’t sit still for more than 10 minutes, if we ask this child to sit still and complete a 2-hour language assessment they will typically score quite low, this may not be  because they have low language but because they couldn’t sit still long enough to actually assess them!

Things like age, ability to focus, and willingness to engage all impact results and can make it difficult for a speech pathologist to accurately measure someone’s ability.

Does this mean that if your child can’t sit still, we can’t complete an assessment? No, it just means we need to be sure that the assessment is the best way to get the information and that we have put in place supports (like visual schedules and brain breaks) where we can. If there are factors that the speech pathologist feels is impacting their language score they’ll take it into account and add a note in the report about it.

So what do you do if you want to see where your child is at but know the language assessment isn’t going to give us an accurate answer? There’s a couple options, things like screeners may be one option, observations and parent/teacher questionnaires also help us form a clear picture without a direct assessment, there’s lots of tools in a speechie’s toolbox that can be used to gauge where you or your child is at without a formal assessment.

Now the big questions:

What happens in the assessment?

First call and book in an assessment session, they’ll likely be some paperwork and a parent interview, if you are new to a clinic they’ll conduct a parent session to make sure the right assessment is being used and  discuss possible supports needed.

The assessment will likely be booked in over 1-2 sessions, if supports have been discussed they’ll be put in place during the assessment. It’s important that during a standardised assessment a

parent cannot provide additional help with questions even if you can see your child is struggling. Assessments have strict rules about if and how questions can

be repeated and if the assessment is not done correctly, it may be considered ‘invalid’.

Once the assessment is done a speech pathologist will write a report and meet with you to go over and discuss the results. If the assessment is for goal planning this meeting will cover goals and treatment options, if the assessment is for diagnosis the clinician will go over the results and what they mean in terms of a final diagnosis.