Identification

Students who meet eligibility requirements for a specific language impairment (SLI) are a diverse population with a wide range of intellectual and academic abilities. SLI is one of 13 categories of disability specified in IDEA. A child with an SLI may be eligible for public school special education and related services. These services can be of tremendous help to students with communication disorders. However, concerns with communication skills do not necessarily indicate that a student qualifies for services under IDEA. A comprehensive evaluation must be conducted to determine eligibility under IDEA. A team of qualified professionals, including the speech-language pathologist, parents and teachers, determines whether a student meets the criteria in one of the four areas of SLI (articulation, language, voice or fluency) and needs special education services (IDEA, 2004). No single person may determine whether a child is eligible for services or determine the amount or type of services. This chapter will provide both federal and Minnesota state criteria for eligibility in the area of SLI.

Prevalence Speech or Language Impairment (Montana DPHHS)

“Speech and language impairments are considered a high-incidence disability. Approximately 20% of children who are eligible for special education services are receiving services for speech and language disorders. This estimate does not include children who receive services for speech and language disorders that are secondary to other conditions such as deafness. More than one-half (55.2%) of all three-, four-, and five-year-olds with a disability receive speech and language services” (Montana DPHHS, n.d.).

The following statistics are taken directly from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

• Nearly 1 in 12 (7.7%) U.S. children ages 3–17 has had a disorder related to voice, speech, language, or swallowing in the past 12 months.
• Among children who have a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder, 34% of those ages 3–10 have multiple communication or swallowing disorders, while 25.4% of those ages 11–17 have multiple disorders.
• Boys ages 3–17 are more likely than girls to have a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder (9.6%, compared to 5.7%).
• The prevalence of voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorders is highest among children ages 3–6 (11.0%), compared to children ages 7–10 (9.3%), and children ages 11–17 (4.9%).
• Nearly one in 10, or 9.6%, of Black children (ages 3–17) has a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder, compared to 7.8% of White children and 6.9% of Hispanic children.
• More than half (55.2%) of U.S. children ages 3–17 with a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder received intervention services in the past year. White children (ages 3–17) with a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder are more likely to have received intervention services in the past 12 months, compared to Hispanic and Black children, at 60.1%, 47.3%, and 45.8%, respectively.
• Boys (ages 3–17) with a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder are more likely than girls to receive intervention services, at 59.4% and 47.8%, respectively.
• Among children ages 3–17 who have a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder, those with speech or language problems, 67.6% and 66.8%, respectively, are more likely to receive intervention services, compared to those who have a voice disorder (22.8%) or swallowing problems (12.7%).

Federal

The federal definition of special education requires that to be identified as a student with a disability, the student (1) has an impairment (2) that results in an educational impact and (3) requires specially designed instruction (34 CFR § 300.8). Federal and state regulations also set forth specific requirements for some disability categories (such as SLD). Students may be identified with up to three disability categories (a primary, secondary, and tertiary identification) according to IDEA. Additionally, under IDEA, students who do not meet state eligibility criteria for speech-language impairment may still receive speech and language services as a related service. To receive related services, a child must be eligible under at least one disability category, and the child’s Individual Education Program (IEP) team must determine that speech and language services are required (§300.304).

Minnesota

There are many states that have added specific criteria into their state regulations. This additional regulatory language may (1) provide clarification for requirements for special education evaluation or (2) force teams to examine and document possible factors to prevent inappropriate identification of students with disabilities. The federal government’s State Performance Plan (SPP) IDEA Indicators 9 and 10 require that states collect data on disproportionate representation in special education by race (indicator 9) and disability category (indicator 10)1 (Ireland & Conrad, 2016).

Pre-referral

Before a student is referred for a special education evaluation, the district must complete and document at least two instructional strategies or interventions as recommended by the speech-language pathologist, based on the student’s communication concerns, while the student is in the general education classroom. The student’s general education teacher must document the results of the speech/language interventions for a period of time specified by the state and/or district.   A special education evaluation team may waive this requirement when it determines that the student’s need for the evaluation is urgent. This section may not be used to deny a student’s right to a special education evaluation (Minnesota Legislature, 2022).

Eligibility

Minnesota Rules, part 3525.1343 outlines the specific categorical requirements and criteria for speech or language impairment eligibility in Minnesota.  Throughout each section below, definitions will be reviewed, along with the criteria that must be met for students to be identified with a primary or secondary disability in one of the four areas of speech-language impairment (SLI) (Minnesota Revisor, 2007).

Related Service

Speech language pathology is identified as a related service under IDEA. At times, students do not meet the criteria in any of the areas of SLI. However, the evaluation will reveal that the student has educational needs in one or more areas of communication development, as indicated by full or subtest scores that are below the average range. If the student meets eligibility criteria in another special education category (i.e., specific learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, etc.), the team may create an individualized goal in the student’s IEP based on the identified need of the student without having the required speech-language scores. This decision is determined by the speech-language pathologist, along with the rest of the evaluation team.

Accepting Outside Evaluations from Private Practice

Students may have private speech-language evaluations completed by a clinical speech-language pathologist who is brought to the attention of the school speech-language pathologist by a parent or a teacher.  In this case, a comprehensive school evaluation must be completed to determine whether the student meets eligibility criteria for an SLI in the school setting. It is important to note that the student who qualifies for services in a clinical setting may not meet educational eligibility criteria in the state of Minnesota.