What to Expect During a Parent Interview
At the beginning of a formal speech language evaluation, the SLP will allow your child to get comfortable and familiarize him/herself with the therapy room. This will give the SLP an opportunity to observe your child play and interact with you, but it is also the time when the SLP will usually ask you questions about your child. You will fill out a case history form that will likely have questions regarding birth history, medical history, family history, developmental history, academic history, therapeutic history and questions related specific to speech/language. Each of the sections below lists sample questions you should be prepared to answer to help your SLP best diagnose and treat your child.
Birth History:
How was the mother’s overall health during pregnancy?
Did the mother take any medications during pregnancy?
What was the length of pregnancy?
What was the duration of labor and type of birth (vaginal, Cesarean)?
Were there any complications during birth?
Did your child require a stay in the NICU? If so, how long?
Did your child receive any diagnoses at birth?
Medical History:
Is your child taking any medication? If so, what is the dosage?
Is your child currently under a physician’s care?
Has your child ever been hospitalized or had any surgeries?
Does your child have any allergies?
Has your child had any illnesses? If so, how severe?
When was your child’s most recent hearing evaluation and what were the results?
Family History:
Who lives with the child?
If your child has siblings, how many and how old are they?
Is there a family history of hearing loss?
Is there a family history of speech/language difficulties?
Are there any languages (beside English) spoken in the home? If so, how often?
Developmental History:
Indicate the age at which your child was able to do the following tasks:
Roll over
Sit unassisted
Crawl
Walk
Feed him/herself
Dress him/herself
Potty trained
Grasp pen/pencil
Babble
Say first word
Speak in single words
Speak in short phrases
Academic History (for school age children):
Where does your child go to school and what grade?
Is your child in a general education class?
Does your child have an IEP?
Does your child receive academic modifications/support?
What are your child’s academic strengths/weaknesses?
What feedback do you receive from your child’s teacher?
Therapeutic History:
Has your child ever received speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, feeding/swallowing therapy or any other kind of therapy? If so, when and how long?
All of the above information is used as background information to note any red flags or points of concern that an SLP may want to discuss with you. The following information is what an SLP will attempt to find out during the evaluation, but your input can give the SLP a great starting point.
Receptive Language: this refers to your child’s listening skills and how much language your child understands; depending on your child’s age, these questions will vary
Do you have concerns about your child’s understanding of language? If so, what your concerns?
Expressive Language: this refers to how your child expresses his/her thoughts, ideas and emotions
Do you have concerns about the way your child uses language to express him/herself? If so, what are your concerns?
Articulation: this refers to the way your child produces speech sounds
Do you have concerns about the way your child is producing certain sounds? If so, what sounds?
Social Skills:
Does your child display appropriate nonverbal skills (i.e., looking at someone when he/she is talking, greeting others, manners, etc.)?
Does your child understand nonverbal cues (facial expression, gestures, body language, etc.)?
Is your child able to stay on topic during conversation?
Does your child play with other children?
Is your child flexible to other’s ideas, routines, suggestions?
Does your child cope with changes to routines?
Is your child able to transition between activities or places?
Behavior:
Do you have concerns about your child’s behavior?
Do others (teachers, grandparents, friends) have difficulty with your child’s behavior?
Does your child express frustration due to lack of ability to communicate?
Does your child show aggression toward you or other children?
This may seem like an overwhelming amount of information, but the more prepared you are to answer these questions, the better an SLP can obtain an accurate picture of your child. As I frequently tell parents, an evaluation is just a “snapshot” of your child’s abilities, taken at one point in time. You, as the parent, can help fill in the gaps by providing information that a one-hour assessment may not be able to capture.
