SLP Interviewed: Kerry Shumate

Employed at Alma Primary School

SLP Assessment Interview
1. What is your employment setting?
Pediatrics-Public School; Primary Building Grades K-2
2. What percentage of your work is concerned with assessment of children with speech
sound disorders?
About 20%
3. What are some of the reasons you assess?
To determine articulation vs phonological disorder; assess structure and function of
articulators; to determine which sounds/processes are stimulable to target in therapy; if
medical history is remarkable for ear infections and/or delays in developmental
milestones, parent/teacher reports difficulty understanding the student and/or
performance in the classroom is adversely affected (ie difficulty with phonemic
awareness, blending, spelling, reading fluency or comprehension)
4. What standardized tests do you frequently use to assess speech sound disorders in
children? What do you like about these particular tests?
We do not have a lot of assessments available to us at Alma, therefore, the majority of
the time the assessments we administer are given because we have no other options.
We use:
The Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale-3rd Edition (AAPS-3)
The Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 (GFTA-2)
I like the AAPS-3 because it assesses the vocalic R as well as consonant R
I like the GFTA-2 because it assesses the phonemes in initial, medial, and final
positions of words as well as blends (s,r,l)
5. What is your assessment approach if you suspect that a child has phonological
disorder?
After administering the 2 articulation tests, I will informally assess conversational
speech and take an informal phonetic inventory with that speech sample to help
determine whether or not the child does indeed present with a phonological delay rather
than articulation delay. I will also informally assess for stimulability at that time.
6. What tips would you give a new clinician for effective elicitation of a speech sample?
I would suggest the clinician record the session when eliciting the sample. A video
recording would be optimal. Ask open-ended questions about subjects of known
interest to the child. It may be helpful to ask parent or teacher what are some of the
students favorite things, ie TV shows, superheroes, playing sports, etc. Engage in play
with the child.