Amelia's Language Weaknesses

1A. In order to best assess Amelia’s language strengths and weaknesses, a variety of procedures must be conducted in order to complete the most thorough assessment in the natural environment (Crais, 2011). Before the assessment takes place, a series of questionnaires will be sent home to Amelia’s caregivers, targeting her birth history (i.e. time spent in the NICU), medical history (i.e. otitis media), and social history (i.e. a list of common words used, how she interacts with adults vs. peers, main concerns) (Tyler et al., 2002). Questionnaires give clinicians the ability to receive a brief outline of what the main concerns are of the caregivers, and also indicate what factors could be contributing to Amelia’s language delay. The standardized

Amelia’s assessment must be authentic, meaning that the behaviors observed should be parallel to what would occur in a natural setting, including information regarding what she knows and can do (Crais, 2011). The assessment will highlight three principles as indicated by Crais (2011) to ensure that all information is reliable and indicative of Amelia’s true language abilities. The first principle this assessment adheres to is that information will be gathered from various measurements through formal testing (PLS-5), reviewing questionnaires previously completed by Amelia’s caregivers, collection of an informal language sample, interviewing Amelia’s parents and/or caregivers, and recording behavioral observations. By collecting information from a variety of measures, it will validate that Amelia’s language abilities are consistent and similar to how she speaks at home and school. If it becomes apparent that Amelia is communicating differently than she normally would, the clinician can modify the session or request a video observation from home. The second principle indicated by Crais (2011), is to use a variety of strategies to gather information for the measures, which can be done through direct contact with Amelia and her parents, as well as observations of how Amelia interacts with her parents and vice versa. The third and final principle implemented into Amelia’s assessment procedure is using her caregivers as partners when administering and collecting assessment

Amelia has an excellent ability to catch up to her peers if she begins receiving speech- language therapy as soon as possible (Olswang et al., 2009). Research indicates that children who are late to talk, similar to Amelia, eventually display the same general language qualities as their same age peers with or without receiving intense therapy (Rescorla, 2009). However, some continue to show weaknesses in expressive language abilities, which is our main concern for Amelia. Smith et al. (2014) reports that most children born prematurely perform poorly on standardized tests once they reach school age. Because Amelia has a family history of language delay and was born prematurely, she is at a higher risk for not catching up to her peers as easily as a child with just a language delay would. There is a chance that Amelia could catch up to her peers without any therapy, known as the “watch and see” approach (Girolametto et al., 2001), but outcomes are not supported enough to make a valid case, and participants in the study did not present all risk factors similar to Amelia. Amelia’s risk factors indicate that she has the ability to make significant improvements if therapy is implemented instead of waiting to see if she “catches up” (Olswang et al., 2009, Paul, R. et al,