Language Disorders:from Infancy through Adolescence:

Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating

Rhea Paul, PhD, CCC-SLPProfessor, Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut

Courtenay F. Norbury, PhD

Senior Research Fellow Department of Psychology Royal Holloway University of London London,England

pages 393-399

over 80% of children with disabilities in schools are diagnosed  with the following four categories of disorder:learning disabilities,speech/language impairment,intellectual disability,and emotional disturbance.the remainder includes children with disorders such as autism,cerebral palsy,traumatic brain injury,vision and hearing impairments,and so on.

language-learning disability(LLD)

children in schools whose communicative skills are still in the developing,emerging,or prelinguistic levels.some of these students will be placed in resource rooms or special education classes,and others in inclusive setting.

school-based practice in speech-language pathology

roles and responsibilities of school-based SLPs(p.395)

clinical roles(working across all levels;serving a range of disorders;ensuring educational relevance;providing unique contributions to curriculum;highlighting language/literacy; providing culturally competent services

range of responsibilities(prevention;assessment;intervention;program design;data collection and analysis;compliance

collaboration(with other school professional;with universities;within the community;with families;with students)

leadership(advocacy;supervision and mentorship;professional development;parent training;research)

laws applying to school-based services

diagnostic categories recognized by IDEA 2004

autism;blindness/visual impariment;deafness/hearing impairment;deaf-blindness;emotion al disturbance;intellectual disability;orthopedic impairment;specific learning disability; speech/language impairment;traumatic brain injury;multiple impairments;other health impaired

increasing parental participation

identifying student strengths and parental concerns

raising expectations for children with disabilities by relating student progress to the general education curriculum

ensuring that all children have scientifically-based,appropriate instruction in reading

including regular education teachers in the special educational team

inculding children with disabilities in district-wide assessments and reports

supporting high standards for professionals involved in service provision

preassessment and referral under RTI

Response to Intervention(RTI)

RTI uses a three-tiered strcuture

tier I:high quality,scientifically research-based classroom instruction for all students in general education,wtih ongoing,curriculum-based assessment and continuous progress monitoring

tier II:students who lag behind peers receive small group,more specialized instruction to prevent failure within general education

tier III:for students who continue to struggle after provision of intensified,samll group instruction in tier II,individualized instruction may be provide;if adequate progress is not made,comprehensive evaluation is conducted by a multidisciplinary team to determine eligibility for special education and related servieces

determining eligibility

documenting present level of educational performance

intellectual functioning;readiness or academinc skills;communicative status;motor ability; sensory status;health and physical status;emotion,social,and behavior development;and self-help skills.

writing individualized educational plans

required components of the individualized education plans(p.398)

strengths & concerns

evaluation results

present level of educational performance

annual goals

each goal should have five components 

1.the direction of the intended change(increase/decrease/maintain)

2.the area of deficit(e.g.,reading comprehension)or excess(e.g.,articulation errors)

3.the present level of performance(e.g.,at fifth percentile for grade on word reading)

4.the expected annual ending level of performance(e.g.,performs at 20th percentile for grade on word reading)

5.the resource needed to accomplish the expected level of performance(e.g.,one-to-one instruction;consultation with classroom teacher)

short-term objective and benchmarks

specific,measurable,attainable,relevant,and teachable

each short-term objective has four components

1.conditions;the circumstance under which the behavior will be preformed(given a list of ten words and a list of meanings selected from science units)

2.description of specific behavior(nick will complete a book report on a book chosen in collaboration between the teacher and the SLP)

3.criterion for measuring success or attainment of the goal (with 90% accuracy)

4.evaluation procedure:the way the goal will be measured (as measured by improvement in grades on book report assignment)

amount of special education or related services

supplementary aids and services

participation in regular education environments(least restrictive environment)

test modifications

transition services

notification of transfer rights

evaluation procedures and measurement methods

the reevaluation can have three possible outcomes

(1)continuation-if the student is moving toward goals as expected.the plan can be continued without changes

(2)modification-if small changes in the IEP are needed to maximize student progress but the changes are not significant enough to warrant anouther IEP meeting

(3)revision-if the IEP must be rewritten with significant changes because of lack of or greater-than-expected progress that warrants the targeting of new goals or a reduction in services need.

IEP team members

delivering services within the curriculum

inclusion

students with language learning disabilites

definitions and characteristic

learning disability

"a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language,spoken or written,that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen,think,speak,read,write,spell,or do mathematical caculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilites,brain injury,minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia ,and developmental aphasia"

dyslexia is a specific reading disorder that is neurobiological in origin,it is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities,these difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilites and the provision of effective classroom instruction,secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.