The ability to appropriately use language is vital to academic and social development and success of school-aged children. While standardized tests are necessary to complete diagnostic evaluations of language, it is important to recognize that standardized tests often overestimate or underestimate a child’s true abilities. An inadequate picture of a child’s abilities can lead to the child not receiving the services they need to be successful in academic and social settings. According to Guo and Schneider, it is imperative that SLPs recognize the limitations of standardized tests and appropriately utilize other diagnostic tools (e.g., language samples) to reduce the under-identification of children with language impairments (2016). It has been
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highlights the importance of the sample context in gathering a complete and representative sample of a child’s language. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) considers a representative language sample to be one that is a “realistic sample of the child’s linguistic abilities and intentions” (2017) and advises clinicians to use child-specific techniques (e.g., playing with a favorite toy, telling a story about a recent vacation) to elicit a sample that gives the child the opportunity to show their complete language abilities. Paul puts emphasis on gathering samples in multiple natural settings (e.g., home, classroom) and with multiple communication partners (e.g., teachers, parents, friends) to gather a more representative sample of the child’s language abilities (2007). Tatum’s sample was collected at home, which is a familiar setting, but without any familiar communication partners to interact with; only the clinician was present. Choosing a comfortable and natural setting was a good decision by the clinician; however, the interview-style nature of the interaction did not adequately elicit responses. In addition, the clinician did not attempt a different approach when what she was doing was not working. Collecting the sample at home while Tatum’s parents, sister, and other familiar individuals were present would have given the clinician an opportunity to collect samples of Tatum interacting with different individuals of different levels
highlights the importance of the sample context in gathering a complete and representative sample of a child’s language. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) considers a representative language sample to be one that is a “realistic sample of the child’s linguistic abilities and intentions” (2017) and advises clinicians to use child-specific techniques (e.g., playing with a favorite toy, telling a story about a recent vacation) to elicit a sample that gives the child the opportunity to show their complete language abilities. Paul puts emphasis on gathering samples in multiple natural settings (e.g., home, classroom) and with multiple communication partners (e.g., teachers, parents, friends) to gather a more representative sample of the child’s language abilities (2007). Tatum’s sample was collected at home, which is a familiar setting, but without any familiar communication partners to interact with; only the clinician was present. Choosing a comfortable and natural setting was a good decision by the clinician; however, the interview-style nature of the interaction did not adequately elicit responses. In addition, the clinician did not attempt a different approach when what she was doing was not working. Collecting the sample at home while Tatum’s parents, sister, and other familiar individuals were present would have given the clinician an opportunity to collect samples of Tatum interacting with different individuals of different levels