Our goals are to:
– Help teachers know when a referral is needed
– Equip speech-language pathologists with information they need to accurately analyze speech and language samples
– Get students the support they need
– Reduce disproportionate referrals of culturally and linguistically diverse students for special education services
The development of this book stemmed from the needs of a group of speech‐language pathologists evaluating the speech and language skills of children from many different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The framework used to distinguish language differences from language disorders is beneficial for all educators, and the use of this framework will result in improved instructional targets for culturally and linguistically diverse students in the general education classroom, as well as more appropriate referrals for special education evaluations.
Michelle Posner –
I have the printed version of this book and I think it is a fantastic resource! This resource is full of great information on speech and language patterns and cultural differences for a variety of languages. As a bilingual SLP, I know a lot about English and Spanish. However, this resource allows me to gain knowledge on other languages like Mandarin, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, etc. This is a must-have resource for all SLPs.
Ellen Kester –
Thanks! These are the comments that keep us motivated to do what we do!
Michelle Posner –
This book is a must have for all SLPs. As a bilingual SLP, I know a lot about Spanish and English acquisition. This resource has speech, language and cultural information for many languages including French, Arabic, Hebrew and Mandarin. The information is easy to read and the phonemic inventory charts are fantastic.
Ellen Kester –
Thank you, Michelle! It makes me so happy to hear that it is helpful!
Kari Kennedy –
This book is such a lifesaver! Thank you for compiling this fantastic resource. The tables and Venn diagrams are incredibly helpful to provide visual support for teachers/parents/colleagues that don’t understand why some of our EL/ELL Speech/Language referrals move forward and others don’t. Totally worth the money!