The Hortonville Area School District offers school-based Speech & Language services to students needing additional support. Following a comprehensive assessment, our speech and language pathologists at HASD provide individual and small group sessions both in classrooms and in stand-alone sessions, and work together with teachers and families to integrate each student's goals and needs with academic outcomes and performance.
HASD follows the Wisconsin DPI eligibility criteria for speech and language services. This means that a student must have a speech and/or language impairment, that the nature of the impairment requires specially designed instruction, and the impairment causes a documented adverse effect on the child’s academic or non-academic performance (social, emotional, or vocational). There are specific criteria for each speech and language area.
Articulation
What is an Articulation Impairment? Children develop various speech sounds by certain ages, (see chart below). Articulation and phonology disorders affect a child's ability to produce sounds correctly. An articulation disorder can impact a child’s phonemic awareness, reading and spelling skills.
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Speech Fluency
A fluency disorder is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies (e.g., repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; sound prolongations; and blocks), which may also be accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance, struggle behaviors, and secondary mannerisms (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 1993).
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Expressive and Receptive Language
Expressive: An expressive language delay or disorder means that the child has a hard time sharing their thoughts and knowledge using speech and getting their message across effectively. They may have difficulty:
- putting words together verbally into sentences or phrases
- using varied vocabulary or word retrieval
- speaking with correct grammar and verb tenses
- communicating socially
- asking questions and giving answers
- describing
- re-telling a story with events
Receptive: A receptive language delay or disorder means that the child has difficulty understanding language. They may struggle with:
- understanding basic concepts
- understanding verbal or written directions
- comprehending stories
- knowing vocabulary and figurative language meanings
- making inferences
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Practice Resources and Games
Voice
Voice is the sound produced by vibration of the vocal cords in the larynx (voice box). A voice disorder occurs when the vocal folds do not vibrate well enough to produce a clear sound. Characteristics of a voice disorder can include hoarseness, vocal fatigue, raspy voice, periodic loss of voice, or inappropriate pitch or loudness.
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Pragmatics
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association (ASHA), Pragmatics is an aspect of language. “Pragmatics includes the rules associated with the use of language in conversation and broader social situations.” Pragmatic disorders may present in students with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, language disorders, ADHD, and other needs. Because of this, a speech therapist may not be a primary provider for your child in the area of pragmatics, especially if your child doesn’t have a true language disorder but perhaps has executive functioning needs or other areas of needs that influences his or her social communication growth.
- Understanding other’s point of view
- Understanding social aspects of the conversation
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AAC
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), includes all forms of communication that allow an individual to communicate wants, needs, and ideas. AAC can be as simple as using gestures, signs, or facial expressions to communicate or as complex as using a special device to communicate and interact with others. When looking at your child’s ability to communicate, it is important to consider if using AAC can help to improve his or her communication skills and independence.
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