February 1, 2024

Speech-Language Screening vs. Evaluation

When there are concerns regarding your child’s speech and language skills, we have a few options available that will help to assess your child’s needs: a screening or a full evaluation.

When there are concerns regarding your child’s speech and language skills, we have a few options available that will help to assess your child’s needs: a screening or a full evaluation. A screening is a brief meeting with your child that will determine your child’s strengths and weaknesses through informal measures. An evaluation is a formal, more comprehensive approach that provides more information. Below are more contrasts of these two assessments:

Speech-Language Screening:

• Completed at a school or in one of our clinics
• 15 minutes when completed a school; 15-minute screen with 10-15 minutes parent follow-up when completed in clinic
• No formal testing completed- screening protocols may be used depending upon concerns, but no standard scores comparing your child to same-age peers will be obtained
• Speech therapist informally obtains child’s articulation, language and social skills through conversation or play-based activities
• No formal written report
• School screenings- a written summary of the screening’s findings with recommendations that may include a full evaluation, referral to another discipline or monitoring of skills with a follow-up in 3 months. In clinic screenings- a wrap-up at the end of the screening with similar recommendations to the school screening

Speech-Language Evaluation:

• Approval from insurance and information of benefits required
• Physician referral or prescription required
• One 1-hour diagnostic session- if additional time is needed, this can take place during the first scheduled therapy session
• Parents complete history intake form prior to evaluation
• Parent interview will be completed at the beginning of the evaluation to learn more information and clarify any information on parent intake form
• Formal testing completed to obtain standard scores that are compared to same-age peers
• Full report composed, including background information, results of testing, impressions, additional recommendations and therapy goals
• A separate follow-up meeting will be scheduled with parents to discuss the evaluation, report and recommendations

To find out more on how your child may benefit from a screen or evaluation, contact us here.

Download our Guide for Families

We know that choosing a local ABA facility can be a hard decision. We’ve created an informational guide to help you understand more about the questions you should be asking while meeting with different providers.

Although we talk about our services here, our highest goal is for you to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about picking a provider that is the best fit for your needs. You are making a decision that will impact the entire trajectory of your child’s life!
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The cover of the NSPT Guide for Families, which helps families to figure out the questions to ask when picking an ABA provider.

Testimonials

Why we do what we do.
Success looks different for every child... But we bet we have a story that matches your child's needs. Like James, who started with us as non-verbal and lacking the ability to initiate and maintain social interactions. Today, he can speak complete sentences, clearly state his needs, and navigate social interactions with his friends!

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  • 1
    Submit an inquiry form
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  • 2
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  • 3
    Paperwork & insurance
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  • 4
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  • 5
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