Question 1
You have assessed a 5-year-old child in school who is difficult to understand in connected speech.
Sample of words from CLEAR assessment:
boat = [mɔʔ]
telly = [deji]
lego = [jedɔ]
baby = [meɪbi]
t-shirt = [nidɜ:ʔ]
leaf = [jiɸ]
- Which of Dodd’s groups might best describe this child’s speech, and why? What additional tasks and/or information would enable you to differentially diagnose this?
- You have added the child to a waiting list for therapy intervention in school. In the meantime, what advice would you give to school staff about how they could support him?
Question 2
A 3-year-old boy comes with his parents for an initial appointment at your clinic.
Parents report that he is not saying any functional words but sometimes repeats phrases that he hears others say. They think he understands some instructions given at home.
He flits around the room, lines up pieces of an inset puzzle before inserting them, and repeats this several times.
He pulls you to a shelf and pushes your hand up towards a pot of bubbles, then gets very excited and smiles and claps when you blow the bubbles.
With reference to appropriate literature please answer the following questions:
- How will you assess this child in this session?
- What is your hypothesis?
- What would your next steps be after this initial assessment?
- What would you say to the parents?
Question 3
Adam is 10 years old and has a diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder. During a recent assessment with Adam, you begin to suspect that he may have Word Finding Difficulties because he frequently makes errors when talking (saying ‘boots’ instead of trainers and ‘toast’ instead of sandwiches) and is hesitant when talking.
With reference to appropriate literature please discuss:
- The steps you will undertake to assess Adam to ascertain whether or not he has Word Findings Difficulties.
- What intervention approach(es) you may take if Adam does have Word Finding Difficulties.
- How Word Findings Difficulties could affect Adam’s educational achievement.
