About Assessments
Speech Pathologists are trained to apply high-quality clinical evidence to select and administer assessments across a range of ages and presentations. They analyse and interpret assessment data to identify strengths and areas of need in a client’s communication profile, and provide clear, ethical reporting of findings and recommendations to clients, families, and relevant stakeholders.
An initial assessment is undertaken to determine individual strengths and weaknesses as well as overall communication skills in comparison to age expectations. This allows the clinician to establish where a breakdown is occurring and where to focus therapy. A detailed assessment is necessary to help select the most appropriate therapy goals and will help to ensure therapy is efficient and effective.
The length of an assessment will vary, depending on age and types of concerns raised. As a guide, a standard assessment is generally 1 to 1.5 hours for pre-schoolers and 2 hours for school aged children. Assessments for older teens and adults will usually range from 1-2 hours, depending on the areas needing evaluation. We make sure that assessments are effective, fun and engaging! We will use toys and other reinforcers to help keep children motivated throughout the assessment.
Sometimes, for various reasons, clients aren’t able to complete a formal assessment. At times like this, we will use an informal assessment, with some information being gained via parent or carer report.
In a typical assessment, we will assess speech, receptive language, expressive language, social skills, stuttering and voice production. If the child is school aged, an assessment of their literacy skills will also be conducted.
What do we use to assess our clients?
Our clinicians use a range of tools and sources of information to conduct a comprehensive speech pathology assessment. Decisions around the assessment are collected through our intake form and intake phone call and the following areas are taken into consideration:
- The concerns of the client/parents/carers
- The client’s age, cultural and linguistic background
- Available and appropriate assessments
- Recent research and best assessment practices
- Parents/Teacher/Carer questionnaires they have completed
- Observations at preschool, school, work
When do I receive a report?
Our clinicians write detailed assessment reports for our clients, parents, carers and other professionals working with the client. They need to collate, analyse, interpret and report on the findings from the assessment. Reports are emailed out approximately 3-4 weeks from the day of the assessment however the clinician will provide an overall summary of initial observations during the assessment.