SPEECH/LANGUAGE AND DYSLEXIA CHECKLIST

Feel free to use the resource below. If you see a trend of multiple concerns in one area , it may be time to schedule an evaluation with True Potential Education using the link below.

LISTENING:

• Has a difficult time paying attention

• Has a difficult time following spoken directions

• Has a difficult time remembering what others say

• Has a difficult time understanding language 

• Needs repetitions and clarifications to understand language

• Has a decreased vocabulary as compared to peers

• Does not seem to understand basic concepts such as before and after

• Has a difficult time grasping new ideas

SPEAKING:

• Was or is a late talker

• Speech is unintelligible 

• Speech is unclear, at times, and when understood after age 3, has the following types of errors:

  • Shortening long words: puta for computer

  • Leaving off initial or final sounds in words:  bi/big, i/hi

  • Fronting or backing of sounds: gat/cat or doat/goat

• Speech remains unclear at times, after age 4, and has some of the following types of errors when understood:

  • Bock or bwock for block

  • Lello or wewo for yellow

  • Sebra or sebwa for zebra

• Speech is understandable but not age appropriate compared to peers of the same age:

  • Has any of the following individual speech sound errors:  /r/, /l/, /th/, /s/, /z/, /ch/, /sh/, and /j/.   **** These are considered delayed after age 6.  **** These are the most common errors.

• Gets upset when others do not understand what they are trying to say

• May flip sounds and words and word parts around when speaking words

  • Such as: pacific for specific, hangaburger for hamburger, butterbee for bumblebee

• Has decreased or incorrect use of pronouns combined with verbs such as: 

  • they is, him are, him is, she are, her is, him have, etc.

• Uses poor grammar when speaking as compared to peers of the same age

• Has a difficult time answering questions

• Takes a long time to process and answer questions

• Struggles to ask questions or ask for help

• May throw a tantrum if not understood

• Has difficulty using a variety of vocabulary words when talking

• Gets stuck trying to remember a specific word and resorts to using vague terms such as:

  • Example: thingy, whachamacallit, etc.

• Has trouble expressing thoughts

• Has disorganized expressive thoughts that are hard to follow

• Has difficulties staying on the subject in a conversation

• Has difficulties getting to the point

• Loses track of what they were saying, and then says, “I don’t know” often.

READING:

• Has a difficult time sounding out words

• Guesses at words while reading

• Has been flagged at school for decreased Oral Reading Fluency

• Has a difficult time with rhyming and hearing individual sounds in words

• Has difficulties learning sight words for reading

• Does not remember or understand what they read

• Does not understand the sequence of the story

• Cannot identify the main idea

• Misses details in a story that were important to the story line and comprehension

• Has troubles following written directions

WRITING:

• Has a difficult time getting their thoughts written down

• Verbal speaking is much stronger and than written language

• Uses poor grammar when writing

• Has a difficult time writing in sentences

• Does not understand or use much capitalization or punctuation in written work

• Has a difficult time writing details and correctly structured sentences

• Has a difficult time writing a story or paragraph in an orderly, sequential and logical sequence of events

• When done with a written story and they read it back to you, it sounds different than what is on the paper

• Decreased spelling

• May spell the same word in different ways within the same paragraph or page

• Has a difficult time learning to spell sight words

• Does not do well on spelling tests

• Can pass spelling tests by working hard, but does not remember how to spell the word when actually writing a sentence or story

Social Pragmatic Language:  

• Has a hard time looking at people when listening to a speaker or talking to someone

• Does not seem to interpret facial expressions, body language or gestures the way peers do

• Seems only interested in their own thoughts and not what others are thinking

• Difficulties with turn taking in a conversation

• Perseverates on topics of interest

• DIfficulties problem solving with peers

• Inflexibility

• Has behaviors related to not getting their wants and needs met

Stuttering/Fluency of Speaking 

• Sound, syllable, whole word, whole phrase or whole sentence repetitions in verbal speech

• Blocks in verbal speech

• Has symptoms of a physical tic that is associated with trying to get out of a moment of stuttering or dysfluency

EVALUATION KEY