What is the best way to explain the difference between speech and language to parents and to teachers? I know many times there are misconceptions that we SLPs only deal with articulation errors and stuttering. Accordingly, parents can wonder why their child is being referred to talk about the possibility of a language evaluation, when their child doesn’t mispronounce anything.
That is where our role as advocates and educators comes into play. A simple explanation to parents can be a good starting point. The American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) provides a clear explanation at http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech/. We can paraphrase this in our own words, using parent-friendly language. I always find visuals to be extremely helpful; so I created these posters that are available to download for FREE on TeachersPayTeachers. (Scroll down for the link).
At our school, we display them in the room where we have our IEP/MET meetings. They are a great tool to use when explaining evaluation results. For the teachers at our school, I do a brief inservice at the beginning of the school year, explaining speech and language and how all goals are linked to curriculum standards. I also make myself available for quick consultations for teachers when they have concerns about a student.
I hope you enjoy the download, keep making the world better one child, one word at a time!
Anne
Hey there I’m Anne Page. I help heart centered SLPs and educators put the fun in functional communication. 