Welcome to the Hillcrest Elementary School's

Speech and Language Website!

 Here you can find resources on how to facilitate language skills at home as well as enhance speech sound production at home.  You can also find information about the Hillcrest speech team.  This information is helpful to all families whether your child is receiving speech and language services or not. 

The Speech and Language Department at Hillcrest was developed to assist children who experience difficulty in one or more of the following areas:

Expressive Language:  The ability to express and sequence ideas clearly using correct grammar and syntax (word order).

Receptive Language:  The ability to understand spoken language, follow directions, and make sense of classroom instruction. 

AAC: Assistive and Augmentative Communication for complex communicators to aid in communication

Phonological Awareness:  Understanding that words are made up of sounds, sounds can be manipulated to change words, and sounds correspond to letters in print.

Articulation/Phonology:  The ability to produce sounds in a manner appropriate to the child's age.

Fluency:  The ability to communicate ideas without excessive repetitions and hesitations.

Voice:  The ability to use correct voice volume, quality, and pitch.

Often difficulties in these areas can interfere with a child's educational progress, academically, emotionally, or socially.  When one or more of these areas listed above begins to negatively impact a child's success in school, intervention may be necessary. 

Students are enrolled in the Speech and Language Program after a referral procedure that involves the child's parents, teacher, and speech language pathologist.