Special Education Services
About Me: My name is Ximena Carracos. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Aurora University and a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Midwestern University. I was previously a Dual-Language teacher in West Chicago School District 33 for 3 years and a Speech-Language Pathologist for the Cooperative Association of Special Education (CASE) in northern DuPage County for 2 years.
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE SERVICES
School based Speech/Language services are not intended to take the place of private therapy. In the school setting, the Speech/Language Pathologist (SLP) focuses on improving a student’s ability to communicate in their educational program. Some of the areas which a school-based SLP may focus on can include:
- Articulation (how students make their speech sounds)
- Receptive Language (how well students understand what is said to them)
- Expressive Language (how well students can say what they want to say)
- Pragmatics (How students use their language in day to day or social ways)
- Fluency (also known as stuttering)
School-based speech therapy may be delivered in the classroom to support a student’s educational needs. Younger students often benefit and generalize skills more easily through play, music and movement activities, while primary and intermediate students may benefit from speech services that help support literacy. If a student’s needs requires a different delivery model, services may be provided through sessions outside of the classroom either individually or in small groups.
The SLP also supports teachers in developing programming for unique communication challenges such as augmentative communication devices, picture schedules, and/or sign language.
