People may hesitate to seek professional advice even though they are concerned that their child's speech and language development may be unusual or slower than normal. Sometimes this is because they are advised against it by reassuring friends, family and others. But sometimes it is because they think the child is too young to "be assessed".
The fact is, babies or toddlers are never too young for a communication skills assessment. The speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in schools, medical centers or private practices see children from infancy. The very very young clients SLPs include on their caseloads may have cleft palate, hearing impairment, developmental disability (for example, Down Syndrome) or they may have been identified early as being unduly silent, withdrawn or unresponsive to the communicative attempts of others. Or they may simply be late talkers.
Even though your child is very young (e.g., 0-5 years), your school has early childhood professionals that serve children under the age of 5. If you have concern for your child, you should contact the special education department of your school district to refer your child for an assessment by an early childhood special education (ECSE) assessment team. Your child will be assessed by a speech-language pathologist from the team. Depending on the area(s) of needs your child presents, sometimes other members from the team (e.g., occupational therapist or ECSE teacher) need to assess your child as well. If you think you don't speak English well enough to communicate with the team, ask the school to arrange an interpreter for you. Because you understand your child best, it is crucial for you and the team to communicate with each other so information on your child's development can be taken in accurately. Many schools in major metropolitan areas across the nation have interpreters trained in assessing students who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
If you live in Minnesota, you can click on the link to a directory of District Special Education Director to look up the contact of your district special education director.
If you live in another state, there are several ways that you can contact your local special education director. You can call the principal of the school or call the local district office and ask for the name of the special education director. You can also contact the director of special education for your state and ask for the name of the local director. To find out the director of special education in your state, click on the link to the National Association for State Directors of Special Education.
You can try to find a Chinese-speaking speech-language pathologist in your area by going to the ASHA ProServ website to locate professionals who speak Chinese.
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