Speech Journeys LLC

 

 

When evaluating bilingual children, both of the child's spoken languages must be tested by a trained bilingual speech-language pathologist. Testing in one language, even if it is the child’s dominant language, may not yield the most accurate and reliable results. However, only about 8% of school clinicians report having training in bilingual assessment (ASHA Schools Survey, 2008), and only 5% of speech therapists report that they use a language other than English (ASHA, n.d.).

 

Parents need to be aware that most of the standardized tests used by Speech and Language Pathologists (both in English and Spanish) are based on monolingual samples, and no norms are available for the bilingual population. Therefore, the standard scores commonly reported in bilingual children evaluations may be inaccurate or misleading.

 

Speech Journeys offers the tools and knowledge necessary to evaluate bilingual children (English/Spanish) in order to determine if they present a language disorder or a language difference. This allows us to provide the appropriate recommendations and treatment when necessary.