What to Expect in a Pediatric Speech and Language Evaluation
The purpose of a speech and language evaluation is to determine your child’s strengths and challenges related to a variety of areas and conclude if therapy would be beneficial in further developing skills and aiding his/her ability to communicate effectively with 
others. Parents may request an evaluation if they have concerns, or children may be referred by a pediatrician, teacher, or after a developmental screening. While it may vary across settings, the following is a general outline of what you can expect from a formal speech and language evaluation.
- Background and Developmental Information: Upon beginning the process, most facilities will request information regarding your child’s early developmental history. This will include things such as birth history, age milestones were met, and significant medical history. If your child has previously participated in therapy or related developmental/educational evaluations, providing copies of these reports to your therapist will be extremely beneficial in helping develop the whole picture of your child. In some settings, the therapist will obtain information from your child’s teacher regarding challenges specifically related to classroom learning and peer relationships.
- Caregiver Interview: An essential portion of the evaluation will be information provided by the child’s family. The therapist will guide a discussion regarding your major concerns, what you would like to achieve by participating in the evaluation, and goals you might have for your child. The therapist may ask for specific examples of times you’ve noticed these challenges, thoughts about your child’s awareness toward the issue, and other questions to develop an overall understanding of how your child is communicating. Depending on the age of the child, he/she may participate in the interview portion to share feelings and thoughts on the area of difficulty, and what he/she would like to accomplish. Based on the background information provided and the caregiver interview, the therapist will choose assessment tool(s) to evaluate the area(s) of concern.
- Assessment and Observation of the Child: Initially the therapist will spend time talking and/or playing with your child to develop rapport and make observations based on how he/she interacts and communicates in an unstructured setting. Then, your child will participate in assessments that may include:
- Oral motor assessment to observe the structures of the face and mouth at rest and while speaking, as well as oral musculature and motor planning of oral movements.
- Standardized assessment of the area(s) of concern (not an exhaustive list)
- Expressive (what he/she produces) language and/or Receptive (what he/she understands) language
- Speech production and fluency of speech
- Pragmatic or social language
- Feeding and Swallowing
- Reading/Writing skills
- Evaluation Report: The therapist will then compile all of the information gathered from the family, observations, and assessments and summarize it in a formal report. It will include a description of each area of assessment and its findings. Based on the results, the therapist will determine if therapy is necessary and if so, develop a plan for treatment. Specific goals to target the areas of need and a time frame for doing so will be included in the report.
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