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Your child’s speech and language evaluations are a measurement of their communication skills, including speaking, listening and social language abilities. A hearing test is also part of any speech and language evaluation. Formal and informal tests and observations are a part of the evaluation and help the clinician form judgments about how your child performs compared with other children the same age on tasks such as:
The communication skills assessment is performed by a clinician and evaluates abilities including:
During the assessment, the clinician will conduct an oral peripheral examination to evaluate speech motor skills. This includes observing your child’s face, lips, teeth, tongue, palate, and throat. It also includes observing how well your child works in such activities as feeding, moving the tongue, moving the lips, or making alternating lip and tongue movements rapidly.
Informal tasks will also be a part of the evaluation. These tasks can include talking with your child, having them discuss pictures, answer questions and tell simple stories. If your child is an infant or toddler, the clinician observes how they play, how they use objects and toys, and how well she understands words and requests.