At my Speech Therapy office in Wheaton I offer free screenings for speech and language concerns. Most SLPs in private practice will offer a free screening of varying lengths. I’ve been asked a few times recently to differentiate between a screening and an evaluation. An evaluation consists of assessing every area of concern and includes data from a variety of sources. These sources may include patient report, parent/caregiver report, data from other healthcare professionals, school data, norm referenced speech-language tests, informal assessments of speech-language, conversational samples, speech samples, play samples and data gathered from any previous speech assessment or screening. Basically, a full evaluation can include so much data and reporting.
A screening at my office typically takes between 30 and 45 minutes and is rooted in a conversation. I listen to the patient or parent’s concerns, we walk through a checklist or two, and cursory informal assessment is completed. With a young talker structured play is initiated to elicit spontaneous speech/language. At the end of the screening session results and recommendations are reviewed. These results range from no further assessment is warranted with no initiation of services (YAY!), a full evaluation is warranted to determine current levels of functioning and goals for communication, follow-up in several months if borderline concerns are noted.
Screenings are used across settings in which SLPs function. They provide the opportunity to efficiently assess the needs of our clients and in private practice they are especially fruitful. So, if you’re looking to talk out your speech and language concerns and determine if a full speech-language assessment is necessary contact the practice. And if you’re looking for a Speech-Language Pathologist here or anywhere in the United States check out ASHA’s ProFind.