The Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic is staffed with bilingual (Spanish/English) clinical supervisors.  Bilingual clients or monolingual speakers of languages other than English and are suspected of having a language and or speech disorder will be assessed and treated using evidenced-based bilingual assessment and treatment approaches.  These individuals are assigned to graduate student clinicians enrolled in the bilingual cognate who receive specialized training in bilingual assessment, intervention, and second language acquisition.

To make an appointment, or if you have any questions, please call the clinic at 512-245-8241.

• Speech-language pathologists should be culturally and linguistically familiar with the student’s native language and recognize that the cultural and linguistic differences may have an impact on the student’s performance (Kayser, 1995).

• The student’s dominant language needs to be determined first. In addition, testing should occur in both the primary and secondary languages to determine if a language disorder is present. For example, the student may be able to provide an answer to a question in one language, but lack the translation equivalent of the word in the second language to provide the answer (Kayser, 1995).

• Both standardized and criterion-referenced measures may be used during the assessment. These include, but are not limited to, appropriate standardized tests, language-sample analyses, narrative analyses, parent/teacher interviews, observations, and a review of past academic performance (Kayser, 1998a). The assessment should include the following: hearing screening, oral-motor examination, language proficiency testing, receptive and expressive language testing, articulation/phonology testing, voice screening, and fluency screening.

• Provide least-biased testing that takes into account the student’s cultural and linguistic differences. Assessment should include both standardized and criterion-referenced measures and may involve modifications of testing procedures (Kayser, 1998a).

• A disorder must be present in both the primary and secondary languages in order for it to be considered a language disorder (Kayser, 1998b).

• Speech-language pathologists may use dynamic assessment to determine the student’s true potential. This form of assessment uses a mediated-learning approach that involves pre-testing, teaching, and re-testing. This approach allows the student to demonstrate the level of performance achieved both independently and with assistance (Gutierrez-Clellen & Peña, 2001).