Let’s Talk About: Speech-Language Impairment Eligibility

Speech-language impairment (SI or SLI) eligibility is the second largest eligibility category according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2021-2022 school year).  Speech/Language impairment accounts for 19% of students served with an IEP or 504. SI can be a primary or secondary disability/eligibility. 

IDEA defines SI in 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(11). The law specifies that a speech or language impairment is a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, or language or voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. A speech or language impairment may be congenital or acquired. It refers to impairments in articulation, fluency, voice, or language. There are four areas of speech and language impairments, and students may demonstrate one or any combination of speech or language impairments. 

1.) Speech sound production impairment (better known as an articulation impairment.) There are four types of articulation errors:

• Addition: Adding sounds or syllables to words that don’t belong (example: “puh-lay” instead of “play”).

• Distortion: Changing a sound (example: when “s” sounds like “th”).

• Omission: Leaving certain sounds out altogether (example: never using “sc” in “school”).

• Substitution: Always substituting one sound for another (example: using “s” instead of “th” or “w” in place of “r”. “Wabbits” or “rabbith” instead of “rabbits”).

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These are considered atypical speech sounds interfering with intelligibility in conversational speech and obstructing learning or successful verbal communication in the educational setting. However, if it is an inconsistent error, an error expected at the age level, an error due to cultural differences, or an error due to structural changes (missing teeth, unrepaired cleft lip, etc.), it is not included. 

2.) Language impairment. This is impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken language (which may also impair written and/or other symbol systems) that negatively impacts the child's ability to participate in the classroom environment. These are the errors in phonology (predictable, rule-based errors such as fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion), morphology (understanding of how words can be broken down into smaller units of meaning such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes), and syntax (difficulty sequencing words, thoughts and information in order). Language impairment can also include language context, referred to as “semantics,” and/or the use of language in communication (known as “pragmatics”). 

3.) Fluency impairment. The interruption in the flow of speech. This can be an atypical rate or rhythm of speech and/or repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases that significantly reduce the speaker’s ability to participate in the learning environment. Stuttering and cluttering are fluency impairments. 

4.) Voice/resonance impairment.  This impairment is an abnormal production of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration for the individual’s age and/or gender. It must significantly reduce the speaker’s ability to communicate effectively. 

Note that these areas of impairment specify they must adversely affect the student’s educational performance or negatively impact the child’s ability to participate in the classroom environment. A child can have a speech-language impairment, which does not impede their education. In that case, they would not be eligible under the SI category. A student would also not be eligible for SI if the errors are due to environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage or are inconsistent, situational, or developmentally appropriate. 

The school system’s evaluation of a student with a possible SI should include documentation of the student’s response to evidenced-based interventions before the comprehensive evaluation (typically done through the SST process). The evaluation must include a comprehensive evaluation by a certified/licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and a full initial evaluation, including health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities. The evaluation may also require a medical assessment by an ENT or otolaryngologist. The medical evaluation is to rule out physical structure abnormalities such as vocal nodules, cleft lip/palate, etc. 

For a child who is nonverbal or verbally limited, the team provides a “functional communication assessment.” This assessment aims to measure how specific speech, language, hearing, and/or cognitive deficits affect the performance of daily life activities. It includes an overall inventory of the individual's communication abilities, mode of communication (verbal, sign, nonverbal, augmentative), and degree of independence.

The information gathered through the assessments, including the information provided by parents, is then used to determine whether the student is a child with a disability. The SLP determines the presence (or absence) of a speech-language impairment based on the state’s rules and regulations for special education. There must be documentation of an adverse effect of the impairment on the child’s educational performance. Then, the eligibility team determines the student is a “child with a disability” and is eligible for special education. 

If the student is determined to be eligible for special education services under the SI eligibility, an IEP is developed. The IEP dictates placement, delivery of services, etc. A student with SI eligibility can be served in any educational setting, from General Education to home-bound, and in various methods, including pull-out individual, pull-out group, push-in, or community-based.