How Can Your Child Receive Speech Services?
Within Gwinnett County, we are obligated to follow what is called the RTI process, or Response to Intervention. RTI is a national program, geared to first help remediate concerns within the classroom, before moving to a more formalized plan of service. RTI is composed of three Tiers, within Tier I and II, the speech therapist collaborates with the classroom teacher to provide strategies for improvement with speech and/or language skills, within the classroom setting for a period of 4-6 weeks. Following that timeframe, if adequate progress has not been made, the student will move into Tier III, during which they will participate in a once weekly Communication Lab, here at DCES, with one of the speech therapists, for a period of 8 weeks. At the conclusion of Tier III interventions, if more direct services are needed, a student will then receive a complete speech-language evaluation, and the serving speech therapist, parents, and classroom teacher, will meet to discuss the results and to develop an education plan for that student to address speech-language deficit areas. The team will meet on a yearly basis to discuss progress and the need for continuation of services. If you do have concerns, please email your child's teacher or one of the speech therapists to begin the process.
Within Gwinnett County, we are obligated to follow what is called the RTI process, or Response to Intervention. RTI is a national program, geared to first help remediate concerns within the classroom, before moving to a more formalized plan of service. RTI is composed of three Tiers, within Tier I and II, the speech therapist collaborates with the classroom teacher to provide strategies for improvement with speech and/or language skills, within the classroom setting for a period of 4-6 weeks. Following that timeframe, if adequate progress has not been made, the student will move into Tier III, during which they will participate in a once weekly Communication Lab, here at DCES, with one of the speech therapists, for a period of 8 weeks. At the conclusion of Tier III interventions, if more direct services are needed, a student will then receive a complete speech-language evaluation, and the serving speech therapist, parents, and classroom teacher, will meet to discuss the results and to develop an education plan for that student to address speech-language deficit areas. The team will meet on a yearly basis to discuss progress and the need for continuation of services. If you do have concerns, please email your child's teacher or one of the speech therapists to begin the process.