State Guidelines for Speech & Language
The following criteria are considered in determining if a child has a deficit skill in the area or areas tested.  These criteria are published by the state of Illinois for the purposes of outlining true entitlement to services provided in the public schools.

ARTICULATION

Articulation focuses on the production of speech sounds. Phonology is a subset of this area, that looks at the production of speech sounds through the use of speech patterns. Therapy in this area addresses therapy from that perspective rather than by single sound error.  By age 8, it is expected that a child should have mastered all speech sounds.

Age 3
– b, p, m, n, w, h, vowels,diphthongs,syllable deletion, final consonant deletion.

Age 4- k, g, t, d, ng, y, stopping

Age 5—f, v, clusters

Age 6—l Age 7—sh, ch, j, zh

Age 8—r, s, z, th

Mild:up to 30 minutes/week service

Moderate:31 to 60 minutes/week service

Severe: 61 to 90 minutes/week service

Profound:91+ minutes/week


LANGUAGE

Expressive Language: An area that focuses on a child's ability to communicate ideas verbally. It covers the areas of vocabulary, grammar (syntax), explaining word relationships, and answering questions.

Receptive Language: 
Receptive language therapy focuses on a child's ability to understand information coming in to him or her. It covers the areas of understanding vocabulary, understanding sentence structure; understanding word relationships; following directions; understanding basic concepts, and processing auditory language.Receptive language therapy focuses on a child's ability to understand information coming in to him or her. It covers the areas of understanding vocabulary, understanding sentence structure; understanding word relationships; following directions; understanding basic concepts, and processing auditory language.

Pragmatic Language: An area of language that specifically targets a child's social language. This includes a child's ability to participate in conversational turn taking, read nonverbal cues, use appropriate tone and language for his or her peer group, respond appropriately to requests for clarification, request clarification from others when necessary, and understand humor among other skills. 

Mild:1 to 1 1/2 standard deviations below the mean (up to 30 minutes/week service)

Moderate:1 1/2 to 2 standard deviations below the mean (31 to 60 minutes/week service)

Severe:2 to 2 1/2 standard deviations below the mean (61 to 90 minutes/week service)


FLUENCY

An area of speech that specifically targets disfluent speech or stuttering.  A person who stutters has speech that is characterized by frequent repetitions of sounds, words, or phrases and possibly marked physical associations during attempts to speak fluently. Therapy focuses on remediation of actual stuttering moments or on fluency techniques that aid in an overall approach to speaking.

Types of Disfluencies

Part- Word Repetitions

Whole Word Repetitions

Prolongations/Blocks

Number of normal disfluencies:
Interjections/Revisions
Phrase repetitions

Any secondary characteristics noted add to severity level indicated.



VOICE

Voice is an area of speech that specifically targets voice quality, pitch, and volume. Vocal nodules are a common cause of voice problems like hoarseness or breathy voice.