results of s&l assessment. i knew Dd is behind but this floored me :-(

[chocjunkie]

Dd (almost 5, autism) had recently a CELF assessment for her receptive language. she scored on the 0.1 percentile

i know her s&l is really poor but never expected this. she had come on so much recently. she is i n reception, knows all her letters, is starting to read (yes, blending 3 letter words) etc...her receptice language has improved sooo much over the last year as has her speech (or so I thought).but now after reading the SALT report i just feel so hopeless again.

no idea why i am posting... but i know you load will understand.

Hi I hate reading reports on my son, they are always written in such a cold and unfeeling way. Not much help but I know how you feel.

Reports always floor me too , but in the end I have to remember that it's just a report, just a snapshot and that actually I see my son every day , I know what're he has improved and where he has not and that can't be measured against an arbitrary benchmark. One score does not tell the whole story by a long way .It's just another piece of the jigsaw,.

As an s/lt myself I would be delighted to hear that your very young child is learning to read.
This is one of the biggest boosts you can give to her communication, both receptively and expressively.

If you say she has come on a lot then again that is great.

An assessment is less important than what you do with the results. What is the s/lt going to do to help your child? That is what you need to focus on.

Was she able to co-operate with the assessment? That is an important factor. A lot of kids I work with would perhaps not even score on a formal assessment but in fact have pretty sophisticated communication skills.
Thus a score often means less than might initially seem to.

A bad report doesnt negate the very real progress you've seen though. It's a snapshot of a particular set of answers on a particular day. I still hate getting them though .

After 6yrs of S+L reports I have finally got to the bottom of why they floor me too, to the point of being very, very depressed about them, wondering if I'm being deluded/in denial, who is telling the truth S+L or teachers.......

The answer in my case (and I hope in your's) is that the S+L reports are a medical diagnosis. They do not take into account the wider environment.

My ds, while having very, very limited language skills, is doing exceedingly well in mainstream school but the S+L report has him assessed as working at a 2 word level similar to that of a 36mth child, he is 6.

I know he is doing well, he is happy, the teacher is happy with him and he has friends. I now read the reports, take note of what is being said, help with any excercises (we are using Talk Tools and See and Learn) and just get on with it.

The report is a medical snapshot and at the end of the day, I know what my son is capable of.

Please try not to let it get to you but I know that that is easier said than done!

The reports are very stark, aren't they. I know when I get ones about DD, what tends to jump out is the negatives. I have to remind myself to file it away, take a step back, and think about what she does achieve in spite of the difficulties she has.
In most reception classes in mainstream, there will be some NT children who are finding it difficult to settle, struggling with reading etc. Whatever setting your DD is in, the fact that it seems like she is not only coping ok with Reception but is learning to reading and blending sounds, even with her difficulties with receptive language, is amazing. She must be a wee star!