Many parents struggle with the idea that their child may have a speech or language challenge.

Fortunately, by utilizing the Free Speech Tails Assessment, parents or child caregivers can obtain definitive feedback to determine whether their child has an articulation delay and, just as important, what those difficult sounds are. This tool also measures how the child compares to his or her peers.

The assessment typically takes just 10-15 minutes to complete. As the administrator, you begin by entering the child's name (or an identifier), gender and age. This information is kept strictly confidential; only you have access to it. The screening most effectively assesses the speech of children between the ages of 3 and 9 years.

The administrator acts as the interface between child and computer. It is best for the administrator to sit next to the child and go through the pictures on the assessment. The assessment begins with a picture of a common object, and the administrator will ask, "What is this?"

The picture also shows the target word. The portion of the word that is highlighted is the sound that is being assessed. As an example: for the word apple, the "L" is being assessed. After the child states what he or she sees in the picture, the administrator chooses one of the provided answers that best represents what the child said.

Most of the time, the child will know what the target word is and say it without any prompting from the administrator. If the child does not know what the target word is, the administrator should provide clues to the child without saying the word. For example, if the target word is "stroller," the administrator could say, "a baby rides in a ___." A tip is provided with each target word.

At the end of the questions, the assessment reveals, on a scale between 1 and 100, how the child compares to others in his or her age group. The administrator then has the option to purchase a detailed report that outlines the screening results.

The report contains a detailed inventory of what sounds the child articulated correctly and which sounds need attention. The report also provides a treatment recommendation which may include tradtitional speech therapy, online speech therapy, membership to speechtails.com, or no action recommeneded.  Finally, the report has a section which advises parents on how to obtain it the assistance they require.

Thank you for using the Speech Tails screening tool. It is a child's first step toward a future of greater self confidence and better communication.