American Speech Language Hearing Association
* Typical development of communication skills ages birth to 5 can be found by clicking here.
* Definitions of various childhood speech or language impairments can be found by clicking here.
* A chart of development of articulation sounds can be found by clicking here.
* Typical development of communication skills ages birth to 5 can be found by clicking here.
* Definitions of various childhood speech or language impairments can be found by clicking here.
* A chart of development of articulation sounds can be found by clicking here.
Fluency support
* Stuttering 101 click here.
* Find the top 7 tips from the Stuttering Foundation for talking to your child here.
* A website to lead to many tools for working with a school age child who stutters by the Stuttering Foundation.
* Friends Association of Young People who Stutter www.friendswhostutter.org
* National Stuttering Association www.nsastutter.org
* The Stuttering Homepage www.stutteringhomepage.com
* Find the top 7 tips from the Stuttering Foundation for talking to your child here.
* A website to lead to many tools for working with a school age child who stutters by the Stuttering Foundation.
* Friends Association of Young People who Stutter www.friendswhostutter.org
* National Stuttering Association www.nsastutter.org
* The Stuttering Homepage www.stutteringhomepage.com
Velopharyngeal Incompetence/ Hypernasality
* Find an article here on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of some velopharyngeal incompetence issues.
* Find an article here on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of some velopharyngeal incompetence issues.
Developmental Apraxia of Speech Support
* Find definitions, symptoms, and treatments for Apraxia in children here from the American Speech Hearing Association.
Pre-Literacy skills are vital in ages 3-5 are vital to academic success. Use this article to promote literacy skills with your child at home. Click Here.
Response to Intervention/Speech Referral Process
Within Gwinnett County Public Schools, we are obligated to follow what is called the RTI process, or Response to Intervention. RTI is a national program, geared to first help remediate concerns within the classroom, before moving to a more formalized plan of service. RTI is composed of three Tiers, within Tier I and II, the speech therapist collaborates with the classroom teacher to provide strategies for improvement with speech and/or language skills, within the classroom setting for a period of 4-6 weeks. Following that timeframe, if adequate progress has not been made, the student will move into Tier III, during which they will participate in a once weekly Communication Lab, here at DCES, with one of the speech therapists, for a period of 8 weeks. At the conclusion of Tier III interventions, if more direct services are needed, a student will then receive a complete speech-language evaluation, and the serving speech therapist, parents, and classroom teacher, will meet to discuss the results and to develop an education plan under special education services for that student to address speech-language deficit areas. The team will meet on a yearly basis to discuss progress and the need for continuation of services. If you do have concerns, please email your child's teacher or one of the speech therapists to begin the process.