I have a Deaf kid on my caseload. What assessments do I give?

This is a question I get asked a lot! What assessments do I give to a Deaf or hard-of-hearing child? What should my assessment focus on?

With our field being so vast, it is hard to feel confident in how to assess and treat all areas. My goal is to help guide you in assessment and treatment when working with DHH kids who use spoken language.

Where should you start? First, you want to have a recent audiogram in hand prior to the assessment. This will allow you to know which sounds a child might have access to.

Let's do a breakdown based on speech (articulation) and language standardized assessments!

Articulation

• Arizona Articulation and Phonology Scale (Arizona-4)

• Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology (CAAP-2)

• Phonetic Inventory

Why not give the GFTA? The Arizona formally assesses vowel production, whereas the GFTA does not.

Language

Young Children

• The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale

• Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test (REEL-4)

• The Cottage Acquisition Scales for Listening, Language and Speech (CASLLS)

• Language Sample

Language

Older Children

• Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL 2)

• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5)

• The Cottage Acquisition Scales for Listening, Language and Speech (CASLLS)

• Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI)

• Language Sample

One thing to note is that I mentioned language sampling as a method. Research has shown that kids with hearing loss often get missed when relying on standardized assessments alone. This is not an exhaustive list, nor does it fully encompass all areas to be considered when assessing a child who uses spoken language as their primary communication modality.

Save this blog post to refer back to later. If you are looking for more one on one support or an in-depth training, feel free to email hello@thelisteningslp.com.