Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services are available to SSRCE students for the assessment and intervention of language disorders and other communication difficulties.
Types of speech-language disorders include:
- Articulation/Phonology: difficulty pronouncing certain speech sounds (e.g. ‘tar’ for ‘car’).
- Language: difficulty understanding and/or using oral or written language (e.g. difficulty following directions, understanding meaning, using age-appropriate sentence grammar, using oral or written language to show what you know).
- Pragmatics/Social Skills: difficulty understanding and using social language at an age appropriate level; difficulty with social interactions and conversation skills (e.g. turn taking, getting along with others, topic maintenance…).
- Voice: unusual high/low pitch for the student’s age, monotone voice, consistently hoarse, or nasal/denasal voice quality.
- Fluency (Stuttering): difficulty controlling the fluency and rate of speech (e.g. consistently repeating sounds and/or parts of words).
- Phonological Awareness/Literacy: difficulty with decoding (sounding out) words, rhyming, sound-letter correspondence, segmenting, blending, and spelling.
- Hearing: difficulty producing sounds, using and/or understanding language due to hearing related concerns (e.g. hearing loss, cochlear implant…). SLPs are able to perform hearing screenings.
SLPs work with regional and school-based staff to develop appropriate programming for students with speech-language difficulties. SLPs also conduct assessments to determine the speech, language and communication needs of individual students and to provide direct or indirect services to students through speech and language therapy or alternate communication methods.
Students may be referred for speech-language services by teachers, parents, or outside agencies through their school based Program Planning team. They may be identified prior to school entry through preschool SLP services from Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centres. Referrals are received through the school based team at the student’s school. For all ages parent consent is required prior to service.
To contact an SLP please contact the student’s school.
Further information about SLP services is available in the informational handout.