Artifact 2

Cheryl Hoskinson
ED 269
February 14, 2016

Speech-Language Pathologist Interview

I interviewed Nailah Paxton, M.S., CF-SLP, she works for the West Linn/
Wilsonville School District. I interviewed her on February 9th, 2016.
I asked her the five questions that you had put down for suggestions, and
she added one question as well.
1. What percentage of elementary school children have speech,
language or hearing problems? Does the percentage decrease at the
secondary level?

Answer: It is hard to get an exact number of children who have

speech, language, or hearing problems, however, there are just under
2% of elementary age students in the district who were made eligible
to receive services because they were found to have a communication
disorder. That being said, a child may be found eligible under a
different category (e.g. Other Health Impairment) and yet still qualify
to receive services from the school Speech-Language Pathologist. In
the primary school I work in, there are just under 300 students and I
see 22 of those students. I dont have exact numbers for students at
the secondary level, but the percentage decreases greatly. If for no
other reason, then because there are very low children who still need
speech services for articulation after the elementary/primary level.

2. What kinds of speech problems are the most common? What are some
of the causes?

Answer: The types of speech errors that I most commonly see are
speech sound substitutions. Some children will completely leave out
certain speech sounds when they speak (sound omissions), but I
generally see children who are school-age substituting a speech sound
that they find easier to produce. There are a couple of different
reasons that children will produce speech sounds. One reason may be
because they cant hear the difference between two sounds, so they
produce both sounds as the same sound. Another reason is because
they just dont understand how to make the sound properly in their
mouth.

3. What kinds of things do you do when you work with a child?

Answer: (best addressed in question number 5)

4. Are there speech or hearing problems that disappear when children
get older? If so, what are they?
Answer: It is very common for children to mispronounce some speech
sounds. Not all children will be able to say the same speech sounds as
another child. There is a general expectation that certain sounds will
generally be acquired at a certain age, so if a child hasnt reached the
age expectation for the sound they are mispronouncing, there is still a
good chance that they may develop the ability to pronounce the sound
correctly on their own. As far as hearing goes problems that are
sensorineural in nature (originating anywhere between the cochlea
and the brain) cant be outgrown, they can only be aided in order to
improve that individuals ability to hear. If the hearing problem is
conductive in nature (originating between the outer and middle ear),
it may be due to a blockage of some kind of ear infection and hearing
should return too normal once the source of the issue has been taken
care of medically.
5. How do you individualize your programs for each child?
Answer: Its really important when working with students to really
focus on their individual abilities and challenges rather than looking
at their state disability. I tend to start by looking at what skills would
be expected of a child at the same age as the one I am working with
and then I start working on the earliest developing skills that arent
present or consistent just yet, and then I move to more advanced
skills as those earlier skills are acquired.
6. Anything else Nailah you would like to add to this interview?

Answer: Social communication is another area worked on by SpeechLanguage Pathologists. This area is most commonly addressed with
children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, but many children with
other disabilities often need additional support in this area as well.