[+] Read about the specific criteria used to diagnose speech impairments.
Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education – Criteria for a Diagnosis of Speech Impairment
A sound system disorder, which includes articulation and/or phonology, is present when:
- The student exhibits a delay of correct sound production based on accepted normative data. The child’s sound system is evaluated based on a single word test and/or a sentence/phrase repetition task and a connected speech sample
- Consideration must be given to the type of error recorded (substitutions, omissions, distortions and/or additions). These errors may be described as single sound errors or errors in phonological patterns
- A sound system disorder may also be present if multiple errors in the child’s speech compromise intelligibility and/or listener perception even though the recorded errors are considered within normal developmental guidelines
- The Sound System Disorder adversely affects the child's educational performance
- The sound system disorder is not a result of dialectal differences or second language influence
The evaluation report must include sufficient data to document the existence of the sound system disorder and if, during the collection and analysis of the data, the child’s language abilities appear to be impaired, a language evaluation will need to be completed prior to a designation of language disorder.
A fluency disorder is present when:
- The child consistently exhibits one or more of the following symptomatic behaviors of dysfluency:
- Sound, syllabic or word repetition
- Prolongations of sounds, syllables or words
- Blockages
- Hesitations
- The child’s fluency is significantly below the norm as measured by speech sampling in a variety of contexts. A significant discrepancy is defined as five or more dysfluencies per minute or a 10 percent dysfluency rate and distracting to the listener
- The fluency disorder adversely affects the child's educational performance
NOTE ON PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT: A child may also be deemed eligible if the evaluation documents through formal and informal assessment that a fluency deficit is present even though the criterion in B above is not met. In such cases, sufficient data must be presented in the evaluation report to document the existence of the fluency deficit.
A voice disorder is present when:
- The child consistently exhibits deviations in one or more of the parameters of voice: Pitch, quality or volume
- The child's voice is discrepant from the norm as related to his/her age, sex and culture and is distracting to the listener
- The voice disorder is not the result of a temporary problem such as: normal voice changes, allergies, colds or other such conditions
- The voice disorder adversely affects the child's educational performance
The SSD Family & Community Resource Center (FCRC) offers books, videos and other resources on
speech impairment (PDF). Materials may be sent home through school mail to families whose children receive SSD services. Others may come into the FCRC to check out materials.
Local Resources
Center for Hearing & Speech
www.hearing-speechstlouis.org
Eardley Family Clinic for Speech, Language and Hearing
www.fontbonne.edu/campusdirectory/communicationdisordersdeaf/
speechlanguagehearingclini
Saint Louis University Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic
www.slu.edu/x12349.xml
SPEAK (St. Louis Parent Extension for Apraxic Kids)
www.speechville.com/communication-station/missouri-speak.html
Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders
www.srclinic.org
State Resources
Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association
www.showmemsha.org
National Resources
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
1-800-638-8255
www.asha.org
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America
www.apraxia-kids.org
Scottish Rite Foundation Southern Jurisdiction, USA Inc.
www.scottishritefoundation.org
Stuttering Foundation of America
www.stutteringhelp.org 
