Speech and Language

  • Speech Pathologists provide services to students who have significant needs in the area of Communication.  Approximately 22.5 million Americans, or about 10% of the general population, have a speech and/or language disorder.

    Communication disorders encompass:

    • Articulation Disorders: difficulty producing speech sounds
    • Language Disorders: difficulty with understanding and expressing thoughts and ideas.
    • Voice Disorders: having an inappropriate pitch/quality of voice
    • Fluency Disorders or Stuttering: Inappropriate repetitions of sounds, words or phrases

    Good communication skills play a major part in students' success in the classroom. Communication skills allow children to make sense of their world, to express themselves and to learn.

    Speech and language services are available to students at Farnsworth Aerospace 5-8 who have qualified based on evaluation and assessment results which show an area of need within expressive and receptive communication skills, articulation skills, fluency, and others.

    Please contact Matthew Balasis at Farnsworth Aerospace 5-8 with any questions you may have regarding your child's speech and language skills.

    651-744-6358

    matthew.balasis@spps.org 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What should I do if I have concerns with my child's speech or language?

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    Begin by talking to your child's classroom teacher. He or she will be happy to hear your concerns and let you know if they are seeing the same things in the classroom. I, along with your child's classroom teacher will try some strategies in the classroom (called interventions) to help your child. If you or the teacher are still concerned after these interventions, we will consider whether we move forward with an evaluatation of your child's speech and language skills.
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  • What is a speech and language evaluation?

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    If we decide to evaluate your child's speech and language, a team of special education teachers will meet with you to develop a plan. When we evaluate speech and language we use different tests designed to look at different areas of speech or language, including receptive language(how well your child understands language), expressive language (how well your child uses language), and speech sounds. These tests will help us understand your child and what we can do to help him or her. Once the testing is complete, our special education team will meet with you again to discuss whether your child has qualified for speech and language services.


    This is a long process.  Please be patient but know that you are free to call me or your child's classroom teacher and that I will be in contact with you whenever I have information for you.
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  • What if my child qualifies for speech and language services?

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    If a student qualifies for speech and language services, they will be seen by the speech-language pathologist (myself) throughout the week during scheduled days and times. Every speech student will have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that states the goals and objectives the student will be working towards in order to help them make gains with their communication skills and to help them be successful within the classroom.
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