Now that your child is back in school and Fall schedules are in full swing, you may want to consider having your child’s speech and language skills evaluated before the first parent-teacher conferences in November. You can usually tell if your child is experiencing some difficulty early on in the new school year. Some ‘red flag’ examples are:  taking a long time to do homework that shouldn’t take a long time, not really wanting to go to school in the morning, complaining of stomach aches or headaches to avoid going to school, or not showing you assignments that are graded and sent home. These are just a few signs of the child who is not feeling successful. And it’s only October! Many times, these feelings of frustration can be due to a ‘glitch’ in speech and language development. If you look at speech and language as the foundation of all higher learning, like the foundation of a house, for example, and a few of the cement blocks are missing or not cemented in correctly, how can it be built upon successfully? Having your child’s speech and language evaluated will give you a better idea of his or her development in the following areas:  vocabulary, sound productions, early reading skills, auditory processing, phonological (sound) processing, grammar, syntax (the order of words in sentences, paragraphs and conversations),  and working memory. A speech and language pathololgist can also evaluate the status of your child’s voice, speaking fluency, language comprehension and language expression. If any one of these areas is underdeveloped, it could be a primary cause of your child’s difficulty with schoolwork.

Call today for more information and to discuss concerns and questions you may have regarding your child’s speech and language development. Waiting until the first parent-teacher conference will mean 25% of the school year will have already passed!