Southern Columbia Area School District 800 Southern Drive Catawissa, PA 17820 Cindy P. Yocum, M.S., CCC-SLP - Clinical Supervisor Shannon Welch, B.S. Graduate Student Clinician SPEECH-LANGUAGE EVALUATION Name: Leah Schwartz Report date: 4/16/2014 Birth date: 08/02/2008 Age: 5; 8 School: G.C. Hartman Elementary School Grade/Teacher: Kindergarten/Mrs. Sharrow REASON FOR REFERRAL: Leah is a 5 year; 8 month old kindergarten student attending G.C. Hartman Elementary School. In Spring 2013 and Fall 2014, Leah was unable to meet passing criteria on the Kindergarten Screener-2 edition (KLST-2) following initial and rescreening. Following both administrations, her performance was considered below average when compared to age matched peers. In addition, Leah was referred for a language evaluation by her teacher, and a full evaluation was recommended to further assess her language skills indicative of future success in reading, writing, and speaking, and listening. OBSERVATIONS: Leah was a pleasant student to work with during the evaluation. She worked hard and completed all the presented tasks. She was easily redirected to tasks following initial request when displaying off-task behavior. During the evaluation, she benefited from utilization of various therapy material (i.e., playdoh and crayons) to remain attentive and complete the presented assessment. Throughout the assessment, she attentively listened to the clinicians instructions and demonstrated a very respectful demeanor. PARENT INPUT: When provided a parental input form, Leah s mother provided the following information:in regards to Leah s strength, her mother reports that Leah demonstrates a kind, polite, and helpful demeanor. She likes to receive praise upon successful completion of a presented task and/or activity. Developmentally, Leah began walking at 1, talking between 9 and 12 months, began dressing around 2, and potty-trained at approximately 2 ½ to 3 years. Medically, Leah wears glasses throughout the day and is being monitored for underactive thyroid (but receiving no medication currently). Additionally, there is a family history of hearing impairments, primarily affecting her grandmother and other relatives around
second grade. Behaviorally, Leah is afraid of providing an incorrect answer and will frequently make eye contact for reassurance before answering. When Leah does answer a question incorrectly, she hunches down, tears up, and puts her hands in front of her mouth. Regarding her educational needs, Leah mother affirms she will assist with any educational needs to ensure Leah s success in school. EVALUATION TESTS: Hearing screening A hearing screening was conducted on 4/2/2014 during the Spring 2014 Kindergarten Registration. Tones were presented at an intensity of 35 decibels at 1000, 2000, 4000, 250, and 500 hertz in the left and right ear. Leah passed the hearing screening for each ear. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Edition 4 (CELF-4) Core Language Score The Core Language Score (CLS) refers to a measure of a student s general expressive and receptive language ability. The score is summed from four subtests within the CELF-4: Concepts and Following Directions, Word Structure, Recalling Sentences, and Formulated Sentences. Following the summation of the four subtests, Leah obtained a standard score of 76 and a scaled score of 24. A standard score between 85-115 is considered within the average range. A scaled score is utilized for equal comparison of a student s performance to performances of the age-matched peers. A standard score of 76 indicates Leah falls within -1.5 to -2 standard deviations below the mean. Therefore, Leah falls below the average of her age-matched peers and is considered to have a moderate language disorder. Results of the CLS indicate Leah s scores fall in the 5 th percentile, meaning Leah performed better than or equal to 5% of her age-matched peers taking the test. Concepts and Following Directions The Concepts and Following Directions subtest was utilized to evaluate a Leah s ability to interpret and follow spoken directions increasing in length and complexity. Leah obtained a scaled score of 5, placing her in the 5 th percentile, indicating she performed better than or equal to 5% of her aged-matched peers. Leah successfully followed simple one-step directions containing locational terms (e.g., point to the house in the top row). She demonstrated difficulty with one-step sentences increasing in length containing concepts relating to inclusion/exclusion (e.g, point to all the pictures except the shoes), locational (e.g., point to the house that is closest to the car), sequence (e.g., point to the last ball in the row), conditional (i.e., don t point to the car unless I point to the house), and temporal (e.g., point to the show before you point to the house). Results of this subtest indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty in the classroom environment following spoken directions presented by the teacher and/or peers.
Word Structure The Word Structure subtest was utilized to evaluate the Leah s ability to apply morphological markers in expressive (spoken) language. Morphology refers to the ability to add and subtract elements of a word to create and/or change the meaning of a word (e.g., unhappy, girls). Leah obtained a scaled score of 5, placing her in the 5 th percentile, indicating she performed better than or equal to 5% of her agedmatched peers. Leah successfully produced words containing an auxiliary and ing (e.g., listening). She demonstrated difficulty with morphological markers relating to plurals (e.g., horses), irregular plurals (e.g., mice), third personal singular (e.g., flies), possessive nouns (e.g., king s), possessive pronouns (e.g., yours), objective pronouns (e.g., them), future tense (e.g., will eat), comparative and superlative (e.g., faster), auxiliaries (e.g., she is), derivation of adjectives (e.g., lucky), reflexive pronouns (e.g., himself), subjective pronouns (e.g., she does), and irregular past tense (e.g., drew). Results of this subtest indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty inferring word means from suffixes, prefixes and meanings and base words (e.g. unhappy) as seen in classroom activities such as describing pictures. Recalling Sentences The Recalling Sentences subtest was utilized to evaluate Leah s ability to repeat spoken sentences of increased length and complexity. Leah obtained a scaled score of 7, placing her in the 16 th percentile, indicating she performed better than or equal to 16% of her aged-matched peers. Leah successfully repeated sentences containing active interrogatives (e.g., the tractor was followed by the bus) and demonstrated difficulty with sentences containing passive declaratives (e.g., the rabbit was not put in the cage by the girl). As the presented sentences increased in length and complexity, Leah omitted words and/or revised the sentence in her own words. For example, when presented the sentence does anyone know who the new teacher is, Leah rephrased the sentence as does anybody know who the teacher is? Results of this subtest indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty in the classroom following spoken directions, note-taking, and learning vocabulary. Formulated Sentences The Formulated Sentences subtest was utilized to evaluate Leah s ability to formulate semantically and grammatically- correct sentences following a presented word. Each word was presented in conjunction with a picture to facilitate a particular sentence context. For example, a picture of a three children in winter gear, one without gloves, was utilized to facilitate a sentence when given the word forgot. Leah obtained a standard score of 7, placing her in the 7 th percentile, indicating she performed better than or equal to 16% of her aged-matched peers. Leah successfully formulated sentences containing nouns (i.e., the children and their dad are playing a game). She demonstrated difficulty formulating sentences containing verbs (e.g., forgot), nouns (e.g., car), adjectives (e.g., longest), subordinating conjunctions (e.g., if), coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and), and conjunctive adverbs (e.g., instead). Results of this subtest indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty telling and/or narratives and completing and/or creating sentences.
Word Classes The Word Class subtest was utilized to evaluate Leah s ability to receptively (comprehension) identify the relationship between words and expressively (spoken) provide an explanation regarding their relationship. For example, when provided a picture of a horn, a drum, and a sign, Leah successfully identified a horn and drum as being similar and stated their similarity was due to their ability to make music. Leah obtained a standard score of 6, placing her in the 9 th percentile, indicating she performed better or equal to 9% of her peers. Receptively and expressively, Leah demonstrated difficulty identifying the relationship between items such as letters, tools, and furniture. Results of this subtest indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty with antonyms, synonyms, and word associations seen in reading and writing tasks. Phonological Awareness The Phonological Awareness subtest was utilized to evaluate Leah s knowledge of the sound structure necessary for the foundation of language and her ability to manipulate, detect, and identify sounds. Leah obtained a score of 12, indicating she meets the criterion for student s ages 5 years; 6 months to 5 years; 11 months. Leah successfully identified the initial phoneme of words (e.g., /b/ is the beginning sound of bill ) and rhyme detection (e.g., cake and lake). Leah demonstrated difficulty with syllable blending (e.g., ta-ble forms the word table), two-syllable deletion ( pancake, without the syllable pan is cake), and final phoneme identification (e.g, /m/ is the final sound in him ). Results of this subtest indicate Leah demonstrates a successful and strong foundation relating to sound awareness, a skill necessary for reading and spelling success. IMPRESSIONS: According to the results of the evaluation Leah presents with a moderate language disorder characterized by difficulties in recalling and formulating sentences, following directions of increased length and complexity, and identifying relationships among words both expressively and receptively. Expressive language refers to the ability to put thoughts into spoken words and sentences to convey a message and includes skills such as syntax (grammar rules of language) and semantics (word meanings). Receptive language involves comprehending language, both written and spoken, and includes skills such as listening to directions and understanding a story. In relation to the classroom environment, the results indicate Leah may demonstrate difficulty following spoken directions (presented by the teacher and/or peers) and recalling content of instructions in regards to homework assignments, safety-drills, and various classroom activities. In regards to academics, results indicate the extent of the language disorder may adversely affect performance in reading, writing, and spelling, imperative foundations for later success in all academic areas. Leah successfully completed various phonological tasks, such as rhyme detection and initial phoneme identification. RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended Leah receive speech and language services to provide additional and direct instruction to assist her in establishing a strong foundation for academic success. SPEECH: Leah will follow one-step directions with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 probes across an IEP cycle. STO: Leah will follow one-step directions containing temporal terms with 80% accuracy in weekly therapist probes across three sessions. STO: Leah will follow one-step directions containing sequential terms with 80% across in weekly therapist probes across three sessions. STO: Leah will follow one-step directions containing inclusion/exclusion terms with 80% accuracy in weekly therapist probes across three sessions. SPEECH: When presented visual and verbal stimuli, Leah will verbally describe the stimuli utilizing semantically and grammatically appropriate sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 probes across an IEP cycle. SPEECH: When provided words in a minimum field of three, in which a minimum of two pictures are similar, Leah will accurately identify the similar pictures and provide an accurate description describing their relationship with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 probes across an IEP cycle. When presented visual stimuli, Leah will verbally identify and describe similarities and differences utilizing semantically and grammatically appropriate sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 probes across an IEP cycle.