[Quick Tip] Why Do Autistic Kids Fall Through the Cracks on Speech & Language Screenings?
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Why do autistic children often slip through the cracks in standard speech‑language screenings?
Why do autistic kids fall through the cracks during speech and language screenings? Today we're going to talk about why they fall through the cracks, why they might not be identified through a standard speech and language screening, and how we can make a couple of easy changes to our screening process in order to make sure that that doesn't happen.
What's up everyone and welcome to Making the Shift for Autistic Kids.
We're an SLP couple from California with four boys. And
we're here every week to bring you neuroaffirming tips, tricks, and tools. Are you ready to make the shift? Let's do this!
So I'm just getting back from a screening that I did at a local preschool and I had a really interesting experience that I wanted to share, which is I had this little girl come in, she's three. And I went through the standard screening with her, looking at her receptive language and expressive language. And does she use present progressive verbs? And does she understand negation? And does she use plurals and all of those things?
What red‑flags did the preschool screening reveal that weren’t captured by the language test?
And guess what? She could do all of that. Her conversation skills were good. You know, we sat around, we talked about some of the toys that were there. She engaged with her teacher who was sitting right next to her. Then we went into the speech production part of the screening. She had all of the speech sounds that she should have at her age. And what a lot of us would do is we would assume, okay, that's the end of the screening. You passed. Pass language, pass speech. Okay, but Instead, I said to the teacher
How can an autism characteristics checklist uncover hidden strengths and challenges?
Hey, any concerns like what's going on in the classroom? Okay, so then the teacher says, Well, she you know, she prefers to play alone. She's like constantly sensory seeking. She has a hard time just, you know, regulating her emotions. Transitions are hard. Right. And meanwhile, I'm thinking, ooh, this is interesting. So then I pull up one of her intake forms, which is our autism characteristics checklist. I know I mentioned this on a past episode, but what I started doing for preschool screenings was part of the paperwork that families get is an autism characteristics checklist, which is a checklist of maybe 10 different characteristics we commonly see in autistic kids. It is all from a strengths-based perspective.
And if you are in the NeuroFirm Therapy Academy, you can find this in there.
Why are teacher observations crucial for accurate developmental assessments?
If you are not, feel free to join us in there. We would love to have you and you can get access to this as well. But I went in to her file where her parents had filled out all the intake forms. And on her autism characteristics checklist, they had marked almost every one of them, yes, that she did demonstrate that characteristic, you know, um, like enjoys lining up toys, enjoys, you know, sensory seeking experiences. And again, like I said, it's all written from a strength based perspective. Which we love to do. And so that became my recommendation for them, right? So if I had just followed the standard, does this little girl have the speech sounds they she should have at her age and does she have the language she should have at her age?
The answer would be yes. But a lot of people would not. Think to Have these other conversations and I find that the most valuable information I get for my screenings is usually coming from the teachers.
What quick conversations and extra intake forms can improve screening outcomes?
I mean, yes, I get to work with kids, but the teachers are the ones who know them so well, they see them every day, and I get really valuable information from teachers. So then when I write my recommendation from the screening, I can let parents know. It's a combination, right? Of here's what I saw in the screening. Here's what I saw that you put on your intake forms that were of note. And here's what the teachers report in the classroom. And because of this, you know, I would love to jump on a call and Let's talk about what my recommendations would be from here. I mean, I also gave them some recommendations like a developmental evaluation and recommending starting therapy and us being able to help support more social emotional sensory needs.
And of course, you know, when I do talk to parents, I will recommend occupational therapy as well.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why do autistic children often slip through the cracks in standard speech‑language screenings?
0:00–1:13
2
What red‑flags did the preschool screening reveal that weren’t captured by the language test?
1:13–1:48
3
How can an autism characteristics checklist uncover hidden strengths and challenges?
1:48–2:41
4
Why are teacher observations crucial for accurate developmental assessments?
2:41–3:42
5
What quick conversations and extra intake forms can improve screening outcomes?
3:42–4:39
6
What actionable recommendations should follow a screening to support autistic kids?
4:39–5:25
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
Ep. 125 How to Run Successful Social Groups
Ep. 124 Building Rapport Isn’t Enough...How Therapists Become Part of the Intervention
Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)