CENTER FOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS

Roseman Building Room 1011

Phone: (262) 472-1301

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
800 West Main Street

Fax: (262) 472-5210

Whitewater, WI 53190

INFORMAL ASSESSMENT REPORT

Fall 2014

I)

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
Childs Name:
KT
Date of Birth:
10/31/11
CA:
2 years, 11 months

II) INFORMAL ASSESSMENT OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

In order to describe KTs current communication abilities, I observed and interacted with KT two times over a oneweek period in November 2014 and collected a speech and language sample on November 7.
A) Observations
I observed KT during group time and lunchtime. At the beginning of group time, the teacher read a book. KT sat in
the corner of the room, reading a book of her own. KT was not attending to the teacher, but was talking out loud
about the book that was in her lap. One of the teaching assistants went over and had KT put her book away and
move to the carpet with the rest of her classmates. She did so willingly. After the teacher finished reading the
book, they sang a song. KT made an effort to join in the song and seems to be learning the accompanying
gestures. The teacher released kids one-by-one to go wash their hands and get ready for lunch. She did this by the
color of their shoes. KT communicated with her peers by helping them identify the colors of their shoes. Once the
teacher said the color of KTs shoes, she became noticeably upset and did not want to get up. Some of the other
children told KT, she could go wash her hands, KT yelled, No! KT went to the corner of the room and started
playing with the magnetic letters on the wall. The teacher and KT then talked about what happened. The teacher
explained to KT that if she did not want to do something, she needed to use her words to communicate what she
wanted instead.
During lunchtime, KT sat at the table while singing Old McDonald to herself. After a few minutes, KT spilled her
milk all over the table. She did not say anything at first, and when the teaching assistant noticed, KT said, Uh-oh.
KT helped the teaching assistant clean up by using her napkin to soak up the mess. KT always seemed to
acknowledge the teacher when she was talking. She also listened and followed directions during the whole lunch
period. KT appropriately responded to the teachers comments and questions.
B) Speech and Language Sample Analysis
To further evaluate KTs language and communication skills, I audio recorded a 15-minute conversation I had with
KT while the other children were eating breakfast. During this conversation, KT produced 107 complete and
intelligible utterances. I transcribed and analyzed the length and complexity of KTs language using the computer
program Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT). Using this program, I compared her performance to a
reference database of language samples from 29 children within the same age range (+/- 4 months). The results
are summarized in the table below.
Measure

KT

Peers

Age3;00

N=29, Ages2;8-3;4

SD away
from mean

Range

Mean length of utterance in words

3.03

3.22

-0.38

2.44- 4.30

Mean length of utterance in morphemes

3.26

3.49

-0.41

2.63- 4.73

# Different Words

132

122

0.77

100- 154

CENTER FOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS

Roseman Building Room 1011

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
800 West Main Street

Phone: (262) 472-1301

Fax: (262) 472-5210

Whitewater, WI 53190

The average length of her utterances was 3.03 words, which was within the range of values typical for children in
this age range. KTs language has characteristics (e.g., regular past tense, regular present tense, and proper use of
articles) that are typical of Browns Language Stage IV. The predicted chronological age range for this stage is 35 to
40 months. Given her chronological age of 36 months, KT is demonstrating all language characteristics typical of
her age matched peers. She produced 132 different words in the sample compared to an average of 122 words
produced by her age-matched peers. In other words, she used a greater number of different words than her peers
used in a similar sampling condition. We also noted that KT responds appropriately to questions, commented on
objects she was interested in, and was able to discuss past events.

III) SUMMARY OF INFORMAL ASSESSMENT RESULTS

KT was able to follow simple commands during group time and lunchtime. She responded appropriately to the
teacher and her peers. KT was able to engage in a conversation with the student clinician in the classroom setting.
She answered questions appropriately and asked questions throughout the observed time period. KT used her
language for many different purposes (e.g. requesting, commenting, engaging, and protesting).
Based on my speech/language sample analysis and observations, I conclude that KTs speech and language skills
are typical compared to her age-matched peers. Her mean length of utterance and vocabulary size is higher than
one would predict for her age according to Browns stage of linguistic development. She demonstrates
grammatical concepts (i.e. use of pronouns, verb tenses, and simple elaborated noun phrases) that align with her
peers. Based on these findings, it is my impression that KT does not need intervention services regarding her
speech and language skills.

Kim Caron, B.S.

Month #, 2014

Shandra Lock, Graduate Clinician

Month #, 2014

Giuliana Miolo, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Month #, 2014