At Thinkahead, we understand that communication plays an important role in a child's ability to learn, build relationships and participate confidently at home, school and in the wider community.
Our Speech, Language and Literacy Assessments are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of a child's communication strengths and areas of difficulty. We take a strengths-based, individualised approach, recognising that every child has their own communication profile and unique way of learning.
An assessment can provide clarity about your child's speech, language and literacy skills and help identify the most appropriate supports and strategies to assist them.
Getting to know your child
The assessment process begins with getting to know your child and understanding the concerns that have led to the assessment.
An important part of the assessment is talking with parents or caregivers. This provides an opportunity to discuss your child's developmental history, communication skills and current concerns.
We may discuss:
- Early development and communication milestones
- Speech and language development
- How your child communicates at home and school
- Your child's understanding and use of language
- Speech clarity and speech sound development
- Social communication and interaction
- Reading, spelling and writing, where relevant
- Your child's strengths, interests and areas of difficulty
- Concerns raised by parents, teachers or other professionals
This information helps guide the assessment and ensures that we select the assessment tools that are most appropriate for your child.
Choosing the right assessments
There is no single assessment that is suitable for every child.
Following the initial consultation, an appropriate assessment tool or combination of assessments is selected based on your child's age, developmental history, presenting concerns and individual needs.
Assessment may include a combination of standardised assessments, informal assessment, observation, conversation and play-based activities.
Depending on your child's needs, we may assess:
- Speech sound development, oral motor skills and intelligibility
- Receptive language – understanding spoken language
- Expressive language – using words, sentences and language to communicate
- Vocabulary and word knowledge
- Grammar and sentence structure
- Following instructions and understanding concepts
- Narrative and storytelling skills
- Fluency and stuttering
- Phonemic awareness
- Reading and spelling
- Written language and written expression
For younger children, assessment may be incorporated into play and everyday interactions. For school-aged children, assessment activities may include talking, reading, spelling and writing tasks, depending on the areas being investigated.
We understand that children do not always perform at their best in an unfamiliar setting. We therefore consider the child's overall presentation, behaviour, interaction and communication style alongside formal assessment results.
Understanding language and literacy
Speech and language skills provide an important foundation for learning.
For school-aged children, an assessment may include an examination of phonological and phonemic awareness, reading, spelling and written language, particularly where there are concerns about literacy development.
Phonemic awareness involves being able to hear and manipulate the individual sounds within words. These skills support the development of reading and spelling.
We may therefore look at a child's ability to:
- Identify and manipulate sounds in words
- Blend sounds together
- Segment words into individual sounds
- Connect sounds with letters
- Read words and sentences
- Apply sound and spelling patterns
- Spell words
- Construct grammatically correct sentences
- Organise and express ideas in writing
- Develop written narratives
Understanding the relationship between a child's spoken language, sound awareness, reading, spelling and written language can help identify the underlying skills that may be affecting their literacy development.
Understanding the results
Assessment results are considered alongside information gathered from parents, observations and your child's performance during the assessment.
Standardised assessment results can provide useful information about how your child's skills compare with those expected for children of a similar age. However, test scores are only one part of the overall picture.
Our aim is to develop a clear understanding of:
- Your child's communication strengths
- Areas where your child may be experiencing difficulty
- How these difficulties may be affecting everyday communication and learning
- The skills that may require additional support
- Appropriate strategies and recommendations for home and school
Feedback and recommendations
Following the assessment, parents will have the opportunity to discuss the findings and recommendations with the Speech Pathologist.
Recommendations are tailored to your child's individual needs and may include:
- Speech and language therapy
- Literacy or language intervention
- Strategies for parents and caregivers
- Recommendations for teachers and school
- Further assessment or referral to another professional, where appropriate
- Monitoring your child's development
- Collaboration with other members of the Thinkahead multidisciplinary team
Where appropriate, we can work collaboratively with psychologists, occupational therapists, educators and other health professionals to develop a more complete understanding of your child's needs.
A clear pathway forward
A Speech and Language Assessment is not simply about identifying difficulties. It is about understanding why your child may be finding something difficult, recognising what they are already doing well, and identifying the supports that can help them move forward.
At Thinkahead, our goal is to provide families with clarity, practical recommendations and a clear pathway forward to support their child's communication, learning and participation.
Explore our Speech and Language Therapy service or request an assessment appointment.
