What is a language disability?
A language disability occurs when an individual’s listening or speaking skills interfere with communicating needs, feelings and thoughts with others. A language disability can affect how an individual learns and uses sounds, words and sentences. Language disabilities also interfere with the development of reading and written expression, which can affect school and work performance. An individual with a language disability will struggle with
- listening comprehension
- acquiring and using new vocabulary
- expressing oneself in complete thoughts
- retelling events orally or in writing
- understanding what is read
- participating in groups
- Interacting socially
- understanding directions
What is the evaluation procedure?
The first step in determining an individual’s needs is to gather a history of the pertinent information regarding development of early language skills, such as first words and sentences. For school-age children, the history will also provide information on the development of literacy skills and current school achievement. For adults, the history will provide information about social and work related activities.
Clients who have had other evaluations or previous therapy should provide copies of reports when returning the UCF case history form.
The case history and other information provided will be used to plan a comprehensive evaluation that assesses specific strengths and abilities in all areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The scheduled evaluation sessions take two-to-four hours over one or two days. A written report of the evaluation will be completed within two weeks and results and options for treatment, if recommended, will be discussed with clients and their families by a clinical faculty member.
What type of treatment do we provide?
Treatment plans are designed to address the individual’s specific strengths and abilities determined from the comprehensive evaluation. Suggested long-term goals are discussed with the individual. Short-term goals are selected that can be reasonably achieved by the end of the semester treatment period. Progress towards treatment outcomes is measured at each session. Treatment sessions are typically scheduled twice a week. Other arrangements can be made, as appropriate.
