Speech and Language Impairment

Speech or Language Impairment refers to a student's developmental or acquired difficulties in understanding or using speech and language, particularly as they relate to his or her participation and progress in school. Speech or language impairments are often evident in the following skill areas:

• Articulation
• Voice
• Fluency or stuttering
• Comprehension and expression of language in oral, written, graphic and manual modalities in the areas of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatic aspects of communication
• Language processing, including pre-literacy and language-based literacy, including phonological awareness and sound segmenting and blending skills
• Cognitive aspects of communication, such as problems in memory and problem solving
• Establishing augmentative and alternative communication, including developing, selecting, and recommending such systems and devices

Speech or language impairments may affect the student's ability to progress in the general education curriculum and master academic standards, because many of the standards in the subject areas require the student to use the skills delineated above in order to demonstrate competency. As appropriate, speech and language support services are provided by a Speech and Language Support Specialist in a variety of settings that include:

• Pull-out instruction, individual or small group
• Instruction in the student's classroom in small or large groups
• Instruction in the school at designated locations
• Instruction in community-based settings

In addition, the Speech and Language Support Specialist may help school personnel with training, strategies, etc.