problem solving goals for speech therapy

How to Write Cognition Goals for Speech Therapy [with goal bank]

Cognition goals for speech therapy include the areas of attention, memory, problem-solving, executive functions, and using compensatory strategies. Individuals with cognitive-communicative deficits may benefit from speech therapy to address these areas and improve cognitive functioning.

Cognition and Speech Therapy

Individuals with diagnosed cognitive-communicative disorders are usually referred for speech therapy services. These cognitive-communicative disorders may result from a brain injury or acquired neurological disease. Often, individuals with cognitive-communicative disorders receive speech therapy because they have communication difficulties, which impact their ability to participate in day-to-day activities that they once were able to. These may include social interactions, job duties, or academics.

Areas of cognitive-communicative challenges may include:

• Executive functions
• Problem solving
• Language (often related to semantics and pragmatics)

How to Write Cognition Goals

If you haven’t already, check out our article that outlines How to Write Speech Therapy Goals.

For the purpose of this article, we will discuss the process of goal writing for individuals receiving speech therapy for cognitive-communicative challenges.

The first step to writing goals is identifying the area(s) of need . These needs may be identified through formal and informal assessments, observations, and interviews. For example, a formal assessment to test cognitive-communicative function may include the RBANS , and an informal assessment may include a questionnaire about how the individual’s memory and attention skills may be impacting their life.

Getting a detailed case history and asking specific questions about what has been affecting the client and what they want to work on is key! For example, if they want to return to work, goals may be tailored to their job. If they want to live independently, goals may be related to completing activities of daily living (ADLs). For individuals receiving cognitive-communication services, person- and/or family-centered care has shown to be greatly beneficial for personal outcomes and clinical decision-making (like developing goals!).

Once you have identified the area(s) or need, you can begin creating the goals you are going to write and target.

Steps for writing goals for speech and language skills (left); Communication Community goal writing formula (right)

As seen above, speech goals should be written with 3* components in mind: the DO statement , the CONDITION statement , and the CRITERION statement .

*Also commonly included is consistency (we often incorporate this!). By consistency, we mean: does the individual have to meet a specific criterion more than once? A common example of a consistency measure is meeting a goal across 3 consecutive sessions . This is usually something understood by the therapy organization/service provider and is sometimes/sometimes not included in the written goal itself. Including consistency statements ensure that the skill has been generalized and provides more reliable data that the skill has been properly mastered.

DO statement

• Example: complete divided attention tasks

CONDITION statement

• Example: related to their profession

CRITERION statement

• Example: with 85% accuracy

DO + CONDITION + CRITERION

Example: [Client] will complete divided attention tasks, related to their profession, with 85% accuracy.

There you have it - an example using our Goal Writing Formula containing the DO + CONDITION + CRITERION statements for targeting cognitive-communicative skill areas.

Cognition Goal Bank

The following are some examples of speech therapy goals that may be targeted in sessions. You can take these goals as is, or take the “do” statement from one, the “condition” from another, and the “criterion” from another. Remember: the best goals are the ones that most closely align with the client’s needs, and all clients are different!

Example #1: [Client] will complete divided attention tasks, related to their profession, with 85% accuracy.

Example #2: [Client] will complete alternating attention tasks, in structured settings, with 90% accuracy, across 2 consecutive sessions.

Example #3: [Client] will complete a sustained attention task, in a quiet environment, for 15 minutes, in 2/3 opportunities.

Example #1: [Client] will use external memory aids to retell daily activities, while communicating with a familiar partner, in 7/10 trials, across 2 out of 3 sessions.

Example #2: [Client] will use internal memory aids to recall the steps of a simple recipe (i.e., 3 to 4 steps), in a natural setting, with 75% accuracy.

Example #3: [Client] will recall at least 4/5 of their daily medications, using learned strategies, for 3 consecutive days.

Executive Functions

Example #1: [Client] will determine 3 tasks to complete each day, related to their occupation, in 90% of opportunities.

Example #2: [Client] will self-monitor their ability to complete activities of daily living (ADLs), using a checklist while at home, with 80% accuracy.

Example #3: [Client] will create a grocery list for a week of meals, in a natural setting, with 80% accuracy, across 3 consecutive weeks.

Problem Solving

Example #1: [Client] will identify a basic problem and its corresponding solution, related to personal ADLs, in 75% of opportunities.

Example #2: [Client] will identify whether or not they can solve a problem independently, while working on an academic assignment, in 8/10 trials.

Example #3: [Client] will state 2 possible problems, related to a medical issue, in 80% of opportunities.

Make Goal-Writing a Breeze with Our Goal Creators

• How to Write Aphasia Goals
• How to Write Executive Functions Goals
• How to Write Self-Determination Goals
• How to Write AAC Goals

We have comprehensive goal creators and informational resources for:

• Self-Determination (including self-advocacy, problem solving, goal setting, and more)
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Purchase these individually, or find the complete packets, PLUS hundreds of other resources, inside our Premium Community .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Cognitive-communication disorders. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/slp/clinical/cognitive-communication/

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Person- and family-centered care. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/aphasia/person-and-family-centered-care/

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Scope of practice in speech-language pathology. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/policy/pp2004-00191/#sec1.3.23

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Social & Pragmatic Language Goal Bank

• (client) will label emotions/feelings in communication partners or in pictures with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will use words to express their feelings independently for 80% of opportunities across 3 data sessions.
• (client) will state a   logical answer to what another person might be feeling based on a social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will answer pragmatic questions about social situations during structured activities with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will identify a problem in a social setting/picture scene   with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will present a solution to a problem independently   with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will label a problem size (small, medium, big) after identifying a problem with 80% accuracy across 5 data collections.
• (client) will make inferences after hearing part of a story/social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will name a flexible thinking strategy after hearing a problem scenario/social situation in 80% of opportunities across 5 data collections.
• (client) will predict what happens next after hearing part of a story/social situation with 80% accuracy across 5 data collections.
• (client) will identify appropriate/inappropriate behaviors in a story/social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will describe why a behavior is appropriate/inappropriate in a story/social situation in 80% of opportunities for 3 data collections.
• (client) will use greetings and farewells by looking and verbalizing or by waving "hi"/"goodbye" for 5 consecutive sessions.
• (client) will use appropriate eye contact during a conversational exchange for 5 consecutive sessions.
• (client) orient his eyes toward a speaker/activity after 1 verbal prompt in 80% of opportunities across   3 data collections.
• (client) will look toward a speaker when their name is called in 80% of opportunities for 3 data collections.
• (client) will maintain appropriate body orientation during a single activity for 3   activities per session for 3   data collections.
• (client) will request help independently in 80% of opportunities across 5 data collections.
• (client) will attend to self-directed activity for at least 1 minute without abandoning or transitioning activities across 5 data collections.
• (client) will attend to adult directed activity for at least 1 minute without abandoning activity across 5 data collections.
• (client) will maintain conversation for 3 turns by asking a questions or commenting with no more than 1 verbal prompt for 3 data collections.
• (client) will add an appropriate comment to a topic generated by a communication partner without prompting at least 10x across 3 data collections.
• (client) will ask an appropriate question about topic generated by a communication partner at least 10x across 3 data collections.
• (client) will participate in turn-taking with the therapist for 5 turns per opportunity with a minimum of 5 opportunities across 3 data collections.
• (client) will identify signs of listener boredom or disinterest independently with 80% accuracy for 3 data collections.
• (client) will use age-appropriate vocal characteristics (intonation, volume) for 80% of conversational turns during therapy sessions independently for 3 data collections.

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12 SMART Goals Examples for Speech Therapy

You should realize that speech therapy is integral to those who face communication or speech-related issues. Fortunately, establishing SMART goals provides a clear roadmap for therapists and their patients.

But what exactly are SMART goals, and how can they be applied in the context of speech therapy? This post will explore 12 SMART goals examples that speech therapists may use when designing treatment plans for their patients.

Table of Contents

What is a SMART Goal?

The SMART ( Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based ) framework will allow you to establish effective goals for speech therapy.

Here is a deeper dive into each SMART component:

The more precise your goal is, the easier it is for everyone involved in the process to understand what must be done. Instead of aiming for something vague like “improved speech skills,” try breaking down that goal into smaller chunks.

Aiming for increased clarity when pronouncing certain words or articulating complete sentences are examples of more achievable targets that you can work towards over time.

The inherent complexity of speech therapy requires that goals be measurable for successful outcomes. Tracking progress allows the therapist to adjust strategies, deepening their understanding of the patient’s needs. It will be easier to identify which treatment plans are effective.

Make sure you remain realistic about what you can achieve rather than aiming too high and feeling disappointed. Goal achievement should provide satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, not an exercise in futility.

Focus on creating incremental steps that push you closer to your ultimate goal instead of trying to do it all at once. And ensure you have the resources and skills necessary to reach them.

Setting meaningful goals allows you to create a better life. But when those goals are rooted in personal values, they become even more powerful. Connecting your ambitions with your core beliefs makes you determined to overcome any difficulty.

Start by taking an honest look at what’s important to you. What do you believe in? What do you hold dear in life? Once these questions have been answered, it’s time to create relevant goals. You’ll lay the groundwork for excellence.

A solid timeline fosters a sense of urgency, propelling yourself forward while allowing room for flexibility. You will find it easier to stay laser-focused on the end result instead of getting lost in the daily grind.

Here are 12 examples of SMART goals for effective speech therapy:

1. Strengthen Communication

“I’ll strengthen the communication skills of my patients within three months by helping them learn new forms of expressing themselves, such as non-verbal communication, writing stories, or even just engaging in conversation with peers.”

Specific: This SMART statement focuses on helping patients communicate better by learning new forms of expression.

Measurable: You can track your patient’s progress and the forms of expression they are learning.

Attainable: This is feasible as long as patients have enough time to practice expressing themselves.

Relevant: Solid communication skills will definitely benefit your patients in the long run.

Time-based: The goal should be achieved within three months.

2. Improve Articulation

“I will improve my patient’s articulation of the English language by focusing on foreign accent syndrome and other speech impairments over 6 months. I’ll use language exercises, reading aloud, and other techniques to help them improve their vocal clarity.”

Specific: The goal is well-defined, detailing precisely the objective and how it will be reached.

Measurable: The patient’s articulation can be measured in terms of how accurately they pronounce words compared to a baseline.

Attainable: This can be achieved through language exercises, reading aloud, and other techniques.

Relevant: Improving articulation is directly related to a speech therapist’s job.

Time-based: You have a timeline of 6 months for completion.

3. Enhance Prosody and Fluency

“I’ll work with the patient to increase their prosody and fluency in speech for two months. We can start by focusing on their rhythm and rate of speech, then move onto other aspects such as intonation, stress, and pitch.”

Specific: The SMART goal specifies improving the patient’s prosody and fluency.

Measurable: You could determine the patient’s progress by assessing the rate, rhythm, intonation, stress, and pitch of their speech.

Attainable: Enhancing prosody and fluency is doable with the right amount of effort.

Relevant: This relates to improving the patient’s prosody and fluency of speech.

Time-based: The goal is anticipated to be met within two months.

4. Increase Speech Volume

“The patient wants to increase the volume of their speech for small and large groups by speaking louder and more clearly. In four months, they’ll achieve a volume that can be heard and understood by all group members.”

Specific: This is specific because it focuses on increasing speech volume for small and large groups.

Measurable: Ensure the patient receives feedback from group members to monitor their volume level.

Attainable: This statement is achievable if the patient consistently practices speaking louder and more clearly.

Relevant: Increasing speech volume is vital for anyone who wants to be understood by the public.

Time-based: Goal attainment is expected in four months.

5. Boost Language Comprehension

“To support language comprehension, I’ll have my patients complete weekly exercises that challenge them to think of synonyms and explain the meaning of words. These exercises will be completed over the course of three months.”

Specific: The goal details the objective, what will be done to achieve it, and the timeline.

Measurable: You could measure how many exercises are completed each week and the patient’s comprehension test scores.

Attainable: This is achievable because it provides a realistic timeline to improve language comprehension.

Relevant: This goal is essential for helping patients develop and practice language comprehension skills.

Time-based: There is a three-month end date for success.

6. Deepen Vocabulary Knowledge

“I aim to improve the patient’s vocabulary by introducing and reinforcing new words twice a week for the following four months. I want them to use the new words in everyday conversations and demonstrate an understanding of their meanings.”

Specific: The statement is centered on improving the patient’s vocabulary.

Measurable: Make sure you introduce and reinforce new words twice a week.

Attainable: The timeline of four months is enough for the patient to get a good grasp of the words.

Relevant: Boosting the patient’s vocabulary is necessary to help them communicate better.

Time-based: This goal has a deadline of four months.

7. Develop Social Interaction Skills

“For 6 months, I want to help my patient develop more social interaction skills. This may involve them attending group sessions with people with similar disabilities and learning to communicate better with their peers, family, and friends.”

Specific: The aim is to assist the patient in growing social interaction skills.

Measurable: The patient’s progress can be tracked by the number of group sessions attended and their ability to communicate better with others.

Attainable: With sufficient practice and guidance, developing social interaction skills is possible.

Relevant: Social interaction skills are essential for a patient’s well-being and speech development.

Time-based: Six whole months are required for goal attainment.

8. Enhance Problem Solving

“I’ll develop 5 problem-solving strategies and implement them within two months in the speech therapy sessions. That should encourage my clients to better understand the concept of problem solving and be able to apply it in their day-to-day life situations.”

Specific: You have outlined 5 problem-solving strategies for therapy sessions.

Measurable: Five strategies should be developed and implemented within two months.

Attainable: It’s realistic for a therapist to implement strategies in the allotted time frame.

Relevant: The strategies should be appropriate to problem solving and helping patients understand the concept.

Time-based: You have two months to reach this particular goal.

9. Promote Self-Confidence

“By the end of 5 months, I hope to develop a program to foster self-confidence in my speech therapy clients. The program should include activities that help people recognize their strengths and resources for dealing with underlying self-esteem issues.”

Specific: The goal specifies the duration of 5 months, what program to create, and what activities should be included.

Measurable: You can check whether the program was created and implemented into your practice.

Attainable: Creating a program to promote self-confidence is achievable.

Relevant: This goal is pertinent to improving self-confidence in speech therapy clients.

Time-based: There is a 5-month window for success.

10. Use of Sign Language

“I’ll strive to introduce the use of sign language in my speech therapy sessions by the end of the year. I want to better communicate with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as enhance their understanding and participation in the sessions.”

Specific: The SMART goal is well-defined. The therapist wants to introduce sign language in their speech therapy sessions.

Measurable: Make sure you follow the listed action items above.

Attainable: It is a realistic goal that can be reached given sufficient time and resources.

Relevant: This goal is appropriate for a speech therapist to help patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Time-based: Goal completion will be met by the end of the year.

11. Respond to Directions

“The aim is to have my patients accurately respond to directions, instructions, and questions for two months. I’ll provide verbal and nonverbal cues, visual aids, and other support means to help them better understand the instructions.”

Specific: The individual aims to help patients accurately respond to directions, instructions, and questions.

Measurable: You will track how accurately your patient responds to directions.

Attainable: This is reachable because the person will use cues, visual aids, and other support means to help patients understand instructions better.

Relevant: Responding to instructions and directions is crucial to speech development.

Time-based: The goal is time-bound since it has an end date of two months.

12. Improve Memory Retention

“Over three months, I’ll create and test various memory retention techniques with my speech therapy clients. I want to remember instructions and concepts more effectively.”

Specific: This goal is explicit because the speech therapist plans to improve their patient’s memory retention.

Measurable: You can track the success of your memory retention techniques and keep notes on each session.

Attainable: You have identified a reasonable timeline to create and test various memory retention techniques.

Relevant: Improving memory retention skills is a crucial aspect of speech therapy.

Time-based: This particular goal has a three-month time frame.

Final Thoughts

The SMART method is a great tool for speech pathology professionals and their patients. By creating well-rounded SMART goals for each patient, you can provide them with a framework for success in their recovery journey.

You’ll also have an easier time measuring progress in speech therapy. So be sure to keep this information in mind when creating your next goals and set yourself up for greatness.

Problem Solving Goals Speech Therapy

All children are required to solve-problems throughout their school day. Most curricula, be it the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), or various social emotional learning programs, require students to solve problems. Social communication skills also rely heavily on children’s ability to recognize and solve problems. This is why some students have problem solving goals for speech therapy or in the classroom.

Of course, problem-solving looks different at different levels of development, but opportunities to solve problems are embedded all throughout the school day, from preschool to high school.

Those Darn Squirrels Book Companion for Speech-Language Pathologists

Problem solving – levels of development.

Preschoolers are expected to follow routines, navigate materials, practice turn-taking, self-advocate, share with peers, and manage unexpected changes and feelings. Elementary school students are expected to practice perspective-taking by reading the facial expressions and body language of their peers in order to find kind solutions to problems that may arise with classmates, and to use context clues to infer the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary to independently support their own reading comprehension. Middle and high school students are expected to identify and describe problems outlined in their reading assignments, solve complex mathematical problems, and comprehend increasingly sophisticated social interactions.

These skills are all forms of problem-solving, and they all have underpinnings in speech, language, and executive functioning – all areas speech therapists are specialized in supporting.

HOW TO WRITE GOALS FOR SPEECH THERAPY

As school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs), we are ideally positioned to help children with their problem-solving abilities, given that many problem-solving skills are language-based, and because our therapy sessions allow us to teach our students in a small group setting with a small number of peers, or even one-on-one.

Before we dive into writing Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals that are specific to problem-solving, let’s get a quick refresher on best practices when writing speech and language goals in general.

The speech therapy IEP goals we write for our students should target the speech or language challenges they having that are preventing them from reaching the grade-level benchmarks and expectations in their classroom curriculum. The goals we choose should be informed by a good-quality speech and language assessment, which will identify both the specific difficulties a child is having with respect to their speech and language, as well as the ways in which these deficits are manifesting in the classroom.

Once we have developed a good understanding of a student’s speech and language weaknesses, and how this is impacting their academic and social success, we are ready to generate IEP goals for speech and language therapy.

While it can be tempting to recycle IEP goals from other students with similar needs, or to use a goal bank to generate goals, we should be using these sources as a starting point at most when writing long-term goals (and short-term objectives, if applicable); remember that the “I” in IEP stands for “individualized.” Every child is unique, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and personality; and the goals we write for them should reflect this.

The IEP goals we write should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Let’s quickly go through what each of these qualifiers mean.

• Specific means that the skill should be observable, and measurable. It should be described using teacher- and parent-friendly language. We can also include any stimuli we’ll provide (prompts, verbal cues, and visual cues) with examples as needed.
• Measurable means we need to outline the criteria and conditions under which we’ll measure the child’s performance. This can include accuracy levels (e.g., percentages, number of trials, the number of consecutive sessions the student will demonstrate the skills), and under what conditions we should measure the child’s ability to demonstrate this skill. For example, if a child is learning how to use a strategy to manage annoying peers that involves going through a set of steps, do we expect them to demonstrate this skill in a busy classroom, or in the context of a quieter therapy room with two other peers?
• Attainable means that we can reasonably expect the child to achieve this goal within the allotted timeframe, based on our clinical judgement, knowledge of developmental norms, and input from other members of the child’s team.
• Relevant means that the goal should be related to supporting the student with a skill they need in order to be more successful in the classroom setting. This can be a skill found in the CCSS or other curricula, or any skill that is part of the expectations for that student in the classroom. Our goal should be a speech or language-based component of a larger skill, and can be a building block towards a more complex skill. Goals can also target a child’s ability to use a compensatory strategy if there is a reason they can’t demonstrate a particular skill in the classroom.
• Time-bound means that we expect the child to reach the goal within 12 months, when the IEP has to be renewed.

How to Write IEP Goals Workbook

Examples of problem solving goals for speech therapy.

Now that we know that SLPs can help to support children with the language- and executive functioning-based underpinnings of problem-solving, and we know how to write SMART IEP goals, let’s look at a few examples.

Liam is a preschooler with expressive language delays. Because of his expressive language challenges, he is not making requests in the classroom to get his basic needs met, such as asking for help putting his shoes on after nap time or asking teacher to open containers like his milk at lunch. Liam gets frustrated and cries often. His teachers would like him to problem-solve by asking for help in times like this. Here is a potential goal we could write for Liam:

“Within one year, Liam will ask for help/desired items using short phrases (e.g., “help me please”, “can I have (item)”, “open please”) in the classroom setting with faded models in 3 out of 4 observed opportunities, over three consecutive school days, as measured by the speech therapist and/or classroom teacher.”

Maya is a third-grader with pragmatic language and executive functioning challenges. She is having a difficult time problem-solving and managing her reactions when she perceives other children in her class to be annoying her. Because of this, Maya is often having big reactions, including aggression, in the classroom where her teacher needs to co-regulate her 1:1, which is taking away from instruction time for the other students and is negatively impacting Maya’s social interactions and friendships with her classmates. Here is a potential goal we could write for Maya:

“By the end of the school year, Maya will correctly use a 5-step strategy (ignore, move away, ask nicely, ask firmly, get a teacher to help) to manage her classmates’ behaviors she finds distracting or annoying independently during role playing scenarios in the therapy room with one to two other peers in 4 out of 5 trials over 5 consecutive sessions, as measured by the speech therapist.”

Malcolm is a sixth-grader who has a language disorder which is impacting a variety of skills, including his reading comprehension. His teacher reported that Malcolm has particular difficulty responding to comprehension questions when there are idioms and metaphors in the text, and he does not know how to use strategies when he encounters this type of language. A comprehensive language assessment confirmed that Malcolm has difficulty comprehending figurative language. Here is a potential goal we could write for Malcolm:

“In one year, Malcom will use context clues in reading passages to choose the correct meaning of 30 previously unfamiliar idioms and 30 previously unfamiliar metaphors, each from a field of 5 multiple choice answers with a minimum of 90% accuracy as measured by the speech therapist.

Remember that your speech therapy goals will look different, based on the specific needs and profile of your student!

CONCLUSION ON PROBLEM SOLVING SPEECH THERAPY GOALS

Problem-solving is an important skill to help children develop, and speech therapists play a key role in helping them achieve their goals. From preschoolers learning how to ask for help when needed, to third graders managing social interactions with peers and sixth graders comprehending complex language structures – problem-solving can be applied across all ages. With the right SMART IEP goal writing strategy and techniques from cognitive neuroscience principles, SLPs are well-equipped to support students of any age to reach their fullest potential. It’s up to us as practitioners to ensure that we provide our clients with the best possible care so they can continue on their road toward success!

The Problem Solving Speech Therapy Goals article was written by Jane Clapp, MA, CCC-SLP. She has worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in New York City schools for over 20 years. She is the creator of StoryWhys book companions, which help SLPs provide high-quality, literature-based language therapy with elementary aged students. You can find resources, ideas, and information for busy SLPs on her blog, StoryWhys.com

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Social Pragmatic Goals In Speech Therapy: Everything You Need To Know

This overview introduces social pragmatic goals in speech therapy as well as examples of how these goals contribute to your child’s increasing social ability.

When my child was first diagnosed with social pragmatic language disorder, I was not surprised. Part of my college education included a minor in communication disorders, so I was familiar with how a speech-language pathologist would approach his treatment. What did surprise were the actual pragmatic language goals that were put into place as part of his IEP.

Learning Social Language Skills

Table Of Contents

When is child is struggling with pragmatic language, struggle in various language related functions, including:

• conversational turns
• comprehending facial expressions
• body language
• personal space
• understanding figurative language (i.e. metaphor, hyperbole, etc.)
• appropriate eye contact
• visual cues
• verbal prompts

Fluency in conversation exchanges amongst young children is very different than the pragmatic skills necessary for social conversation as a child gets older (and don’t get me started on middle schoolers!). The school setting tends to expose a need for social pragmatics and often leads to speech therapy for social communication skills.

Examples Of Social Skills Goals For Functional Communication

The following is a sample list of goals a speech therapist might establish for social pragmatic learning. Please note, these goals go far beyond the articulation goals that are most frequently a part of speech therapy. You will typically find them as part of an IEP goal bank in speech-language pathology.

• Learner will label emotions/feelings in partners or in pictures with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will use words to express their feelings independently for 80% of opportunities across 3 sessions.
• Learner will state an answer to what another person might be feeling based about a social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions,
• Learner will answer pragmatic questions about social situations during structured activities with 80% accuracy for 3sessions.
• Learner will identify a problem in a social setting/picture scene with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will make inferences after hearing part of a story/social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will use greetings and farewells for 5 consecutive sessions..
• Learner will request help independently in 80% of opportunities across 5 sessions
• Learner will maintain conversation for 3 turns by asking a questions or commenting with no more than 1 verbal prompt for 3 sessions.
• Learner will add an appropriate comment to a topic generated by therapist or partner without prompting at least 10 times across 3 sessions.
• Learner will participate in turn-taking with the therapist for 5 turns per opportunity with a minimum of 5 opportunities across 3 sessions.
• Learner will identify signs of listener boredom or disinterest independently with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.

These goals are certainly not exhaustive, but do help to measure a child’s progress towards social interaction skills in everyday life.

Autism Spectrum Disorder vs. Social Pragmatic Language Disorder

While there is some overlap, social pragmatic language disorder exists as a diagnosis completely separate from autism spectrum disorder in the DSM-V. Prior to the DSM-V’s release however, the two were considered the same diagnosis – autism spectrum disorder.

According to  Attitude Magazine people with social pragmatic language disorder may also struggle with:

• Responding to others
• Using gestures such as waving and pointing
• Taking turns when talking
• Talking about emotions and feelings
• Staying on topic
• Adjusting speech to fit different people and different circumstances
• Asking relevant questions
• Responding with related ideas
• Using words for different purposes, such as greeting people, asking questions, responding to questions, making comments
• Making and keeping friends

Here is a strong comparison of the similarities and differences between the two:

Many of the same symptoms also often overlap with those of other dianoses and learning differences, which can complicate diagnosis (according to a  study completed in 2013 .) Part of the diagnostic criteria is designed to rule out other potential factors first.

How Structured Language Activities Support A Child’s Social Relationships

Independent of any diagnosis, the reality is that a child struggling with pragmatic language can benefit greatly from accommodation and intervention.

Social Pragmatic Goals In Speech Therapy

Every one of the goals above corresponds to a need identified as part of the speech evaluations. Conversation skills, problem solving, nonverbal communication, and social cognition are all factored into these goals and how they impact a child’s ability in conversational exchanges.

More Resources For Social Pragmatic Communication

Speech Therapy Goals: A Step By Step Guide

Speech Therapy For An Older Child

Speech Therapy At Home

Fig urative Language Activities

Allusion Sentence Examples And Activities

Shawna Wingert is a former training and development professional turned education specialist, and has homeschooled her two children for the last ten years.Shawna has written four books about homeschooling unique learners and has been featured in homeschooling discussions on Today.com, The Mighty, Simple Homeschool, My Little Poppies and Raising Lifelong Leaners. 

You can find her online here at DifferentByDesignLearning.com.

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Pragmatic Goals for Speech Therapy

If you have a loved one who is currently in speech therapy, or if you are considering speech therapy for your child, it's important to understand the pragmatic goals that drive this type of treatment. Pragmatic goals involve improving communication skills in social contexts, and they can be essential for helping people with language disorders connect with others and fully participate in life. In this post, we'll discuss what pragmatic goals are and how they help people with speech disorders. We'll also explore some of the challenges associated with achieving these goals. If you're interested in learning more about speech therapy, this post is a great place to start.

But first, what is pragmatics?

Pragmatic language or also called social language involves understanding and using words in different ways depending on the situation. When working on pragmatic language, there are a few things to consider. What is the child’s age? What level is his or her language development? Does he or she have specific communication needs? And what are their social skills like? We got you! We will be discussing pragmatics in communication and give five helpful examples of social stories and social situations that you can do on the go!

Pragmatic Language is the use of language for communication.

Pragmatic language also includes nonverbal communication, such as body language, eye contact, and tone of voice, as well as the ability to adjust the use of words to meet the needs of the listener or situation.

Pragmatics in communication is as important as receptive and expressive language development as they are essential for effective communication for children to build relationships with others, follow rules in social settings, and be successful in school.

Pragmatic language starts at birth.

In infants, the ability to use pragmatics in communication starts early understanding the intonation (e.g., happy or sad) and facial expressions of the people around them (Bates, Camaioni, & Volterra, 1975).

By 12 months old, babies can produce different cries for different purposes and they start to understand simple words like “mama” and “dada” (Dore, 1986).

At 18 months old, toddlers are beginning to use gestures along with words to communicate their needs (“more,” “all gone,” etc.) and they are also starting to understand social rules such as taking turns during conversations.

By 24 months old, children are continuing to develop their pragmatic skills by using more complex language, such as asking questions, and using words to request information (“what’s that?”). They are also beginning to follow social rules more consistently, such as waiting their turn during conversations.

Social pragmatic goals are also important!

It is evident that social pragmatic skills develop rapidly in the first few years of life. However, some children may need extra support to develop these skills. If you are concerned about your child’s pragmatic development, please consult with a speech-language pathologist or another professional for an evaluation.

Who has difficulties in social pragmatics?

While the exact cause of social communication disorder is unknown, research suggests that it may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In some cases, social communication disorder may be the result of another condition with the following diagnoses:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): Most children with ASD have social pragmatic difficulties. In fact, this is one of the main characteristics used to diagnose ASD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Many children with ADHD also have social pragmatic difficulties. Symptoms such as not being able to take turns in conversation or not being able to understand nonverbal communication can make social interactions difficult for these children.

Specific language impairment (SLI): Some children with SLI have social pragmatic difficulties, especially those who have difficulty with understanding and using nonverbal communication.

Apraxia : Children with apraxia often have social pragmatic difficulties because they may have trouble using the right words for the situation or they may say the wrong thing.

Cerebral palsy: Social pragmatic difficulties are common in children with cerebral palsy. This may be due to difficulty understanding and using nonverbal communication, difficulty with motor skills, or difficulty with understanding and using spoken language.

Down syndrome: Difficulties in Social pragmatics are also common in children with Down syndrome. These difficulties may be due to a combination of factors, such as difficulty understanding and using spoken language, difficulty with motor skills, and difficulty understanding and using nonverbal communication.

Social pragmatic difficulties can impact a child’s ability to make and keep friends, participate in class, and understand what others are saying. They can also cause frustration for both the child and their caregivers. But don’t worry, there is hope! With early intervention and individualized speech therapy, children with social pragmatic difficulties can make great progress!

Social Communication Disorder

Some children may have difficulty with social pragmatics due to a Social Communication Disorder (SCD). SCD is a disorder that includes deficits in the ability to use pragmatics in communication for social purposes. These difficulties can present themselves in various ways.

Research by Trudy S. Goodman, Ph.D., and Deborah D. Johnson, Ph.D., shows that children with social pragmatic difficulties often have a hard time with the following skills:

Initiating and sustaining conversation

Taking turns in conversation

Asking questions

Answering questions

Giving information

Following rules for conversation

Changing the topic

Understanding nonverbal communication (facial expressions, body language, etc.)

Using appropriate eye contact

Using an appropriate tone of voice

Understanding jokes, sarcasm, or figurative language

Psychological Effects on Children with Social Communication Disorder

Children with social communication disorder often experience difficulty in school and social situations. They may be teased or bullied by their peers and may have trouble making friends. As a result, they may become withdrawn and isolated. Additionally, they may suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression.

Psychologists say that children with social communication disorder are more likely to be diagnosed with other psychological disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. If your child has social communication disorder, it is important to seek professional help in order to prevent any further psychological damage.

Treatment for Social Pragmatic Disorder

If your child is diagnosed with a social pragmatic disorder, treatment will be individualized based on your child’s needs. Treatment may include:

Behavioral therapy: This can help your child learn how to cope with any anxiety or meltdowns they may experience in social situations.

Speech therapy: This can help your child with any speech difficulties they may have that are impacting their social skills. Pragmatic speech therapy will look at how the individual is socially using language.

Social skills training: This can help your child learn the skills they need to interact successfully with others.

Occupational therapy: This can help your child with any fine motor or gross motor skills they may need to interact successfully with others.

The role of speech therapy is to help your child improve their social pragmatic skills. Treatment for social pragmatic disorder will be individualized based on your child’s needs. Some children with social pragmatic difficulties also have difficulty with understanding and using nonverbal communication. This can be a goal of speech therapy as well. Other goals of speech therapy may include helping your child understand jokes, sarcasm, or figurative language through examples of social stories and social situations.

Having 500 words or being able to recite the alphabet is not as important as using those words and sounds to communicate effectively with others.

Thus, pragmatic goals for speech therapy should target a child’s social and communication skills in addition to their language development.

Listed below are 4 examples of pragmatic goals for speech therapy:

Increasing the use of eye contact: Eye contact is important for communication, as it can help show interest and attention. It helps kids concentrate and understands commands better.

Increasing the use of facial expressions: Facial expressions can help convey emotions. Knowing that your child is happy or mad makes a huge difference in knowing their wants and needs.

Learning how to take turns in a conversation: Turn-taking, such as taking turns in passing the ball or waiting for your turn to shoot the ball, is such a big part of the development of language. This is how kids learn the back-and-forth flow of communication.

Joining in on games and activities with peers: Joining in on games and activities with peers can help build social skills such as greeting new friends, following the rules, and even accepting defeat!

These are just a few examples of pragmatic goals for speech therapy. However, an important part of social pragmatic goals is to help the child generalize the skills they are learning in therapy to their everyday life. This can be done through social stories, social situation examples, and role-playing. It is important to involve the child’s caregivers in treatment so that they can help support the child’s progress outside of therapy.

Social Stories

Social stories are short, simple descriptions of a particular social situation. They can be used to teach your child the skills they need to succeed in that social situation. Research by Nip and colleagues (2006) found that social skills training can help children with pragmatic language impairments make significant improvements in their social skills.

As parents, you are your child’s first teacher. For sure, you want to support your child’s social pragmatic skills. We got it for you! Here are 5 examples of social stories and social situations that can improve your child’s social pragmatic language!

Social Story: Going to the Store

There are lots of opportunities stores provide. Especially because every child loves a trip to the toy store or even to the grocery store. In the store, model appropriate social behaviors for your child. If you want your child to say “please” and “thank you,” make sure you are doing so yourself! Children learn best by observing and imitating the adults in their lives.

Social Situation Examples:

To ask permission: “I will not touch anything without asking first.”

How to ask for help: “I will ask the cashier for help if I need it.”

Teach your child how to say polite words: “Thank you Daddy for buying me a toy!”

Social Story: Eating at a Restaurant

At the restaurant, there are lots of social rules we need to obey. It is a good way to teach our kids how to follow these rules to improve their pragmatics in communication.

Teach your child how to wait properly: “I will not touch anything on the table until everyone has been served.” and “I will sit in my chair until it is time to leave.”

Teach your child how to regulate their voice in different situations: “I will use my ‘inside voice.'”

Social Story: Playing with Friends

As we all know, play is very important for children. It helps them learn how to interact with others their age. It also encourages them to take turns and share with others.

Teach your child how to take turns: “We are taking turns with the toy. If my friend wants to play with the toy, I will let them have a turn.”

Teach your child how to play appropriately: “I am playing with friends. We are playing together nicely.”

Teach your child how to accept defeat: “It’s okay to lose. Next time, I will do better and win!”

Social Story: Going to School

School is where lots of learning takes place. It is also a place where children learn how to follow rules and interact with their peers. Here is a social situation to help your child improve their pragmatic language skills.

Teach your child how to wait: “I will line up quietly when it is time to go inside.”

Encourage your child to be polite and wait for the teacher: “I will raise my hand if I want to speak.”

Teach your child to respect: “I will listen to the teacher when she is talking.”

Social Story: Going to the Doctor

The doctor’s office can be a scary place for some children. But it is also a great place to teach them how to interact with adults and process their emotions. Talking about emotions with your child will help them label how they are feeling and why. This will not only help them understand their own emotions but those of others as well!

Here is a social story about going to the doctor to help your child improve their pragmatic language skills.

Teach your child to wait: “I will sit in the waiting room until it is my turn to see the doctor.”

Encourage your child to regulate his or her emotions: “It is okay to cry when I get hurt.”

Teach your child to ask questions: “I will ask the doctor if I have any questions.”

These social stories can be used to teach your child how to act in different social situations. You can read them together and discuss what your child should do in each situation.

What are some other ideas you have for working on social skills at home? Share them with us in the comments!

When to Seek Help from a Professional

If you are concerned that your child may have a social pragmatic disorder, please consult with a speech-language pathologist for an evaluation. Treatment for social pragmatic disorder will be individualized based on your child’s needs. More importantly, early intervention is important for the best possible outcome! Get started with Better Speech now.

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432+ Free Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives Bank

If you want to save yourself time writing your IEP’s you’ve come to the right place. Here is a 432+ free IEP goal bank to make your life easier writing your speech therapy goals and to save you time.

IEP Goal Bank for Speech Therapy Goals

Articulation, functional life skills, expressive language, receptive language, auditory discrimination, phonological awareness, social skills/pragmatics.

• Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC)

Figurative Language

Written language, intelligibility, speech therapy goals for articulation.

Given 20 sounds and a verbal prompt or model , STUDENT will articulate the sound(s) of / / at the isolation level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sounds, STUDENT will independently  articulate the sound(s) of / / at the isolation level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures and a verbal prompt or model , STUDENT will articulate the sound(s) of / / at the syllable level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures, STUDENT will independently  articulate the sound(s) of / / at the syllable level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures and a verbal prompt or model , STUDENT will articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the word level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures, STUDENT will independently articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the word level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures and a verbal prompt or model , STUDENT will articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the phrase level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given 20 words or pictures, STUDENT will independently articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the phrase level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words or pictures and a verbal prompt or model , STUDENT will articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given 20 words or pictures, STUDENT will independently articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will independently  articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the reading level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will independently retell the story by articulating the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the conversational level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will independently  answer WH questions by articulating the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the conversational level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will independently articulate the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the conversational level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will self-monitor  articulation of the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the conversational level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a classroom discourse, STUDENT will generalize  articulation of the sound(s) of / / in all positions of words at the conversational level  outside of the therapy setting with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

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Speech therapy goals for phonology.

• Substitution
• Assimilation
• Syllable Structure

-Substitution

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce age-appropriate bilabial  (i.e., /p, b, m/) and alveolar sounds  (i.e., /t, d, n)   in  words  to reduce the process of backing  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce velar sounds (i.e., /k, g/)   in  words  to reduce the process of fronting  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce age-appropriate consonants /r, l/ instead of /w, j/  in  words  to reduce the process of gliding  (i.e., “wabbit” for “rabbit”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce stop sounds (i.e., /t, p/)   in  words  to reduce the process of stopping  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the sounds /l, er/  in  words  to reduce the process of vowelization  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes in  words  to reduce the process of affrication  (i.e., using /ch or j/ for non-affricate “ jime ”  for “dime”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the sounds /ch, j/  in  words  to reduce the process of deaffrication  (i.e., replacing /ch or j/ for fricative or stop “ships”  for “chips”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the alveolar sounds   in  words (t, d, n)   to reduce the process of alveolarization  (i.e., using alveolar for non-alveolar “tan”  for “pan”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the palatal sounds   in  words (sh, zh)   to reduce the process of depalatalization  (i.e., using non-palatal for palatal “fit”  for “fish”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the labial sounds in  words (p, b)   to reduce the process of labialization  (i.e., using labial for non-labial “pie”  for “tie”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Assimilation

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes  in  2-3 syllable words  to reduce the process of labial assimilation   (i.e., using labial /p, b, m,w/ for non-labial “ peb ” for “pen”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes  in  2-3 syllable words  to reduce the process of velar assimilation   (i.e., using velar /k, g, ng/ for non-velar “kug” for “cup”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes  in  2-3 syllable words  to reduce the process of nasal assimilation   (i.e., using nasal /m, n, ng/ for non-nasal “mom” for “mop”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes  in  2-3 syllable words  to reduce the process of alveolar assimilation   (i.e., using alveolar /t, d, n, l, s, z/ for non-alveolar “tot” for “toss”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the nasal sounds in  words (m, n)   to reduce the process of denasalization  (i.e., using non-nasal for nasal “doze”  for “nose”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the final voiced consonants in  words (b, d)   to reduce the process of final consonant devoicing  (i.e., using voiceless final consonant for voiced final consonant “pick” for “pig”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce the correct phoneme in  words  to reduce the process of coalescence  (i.e., using two phonemes for one phoneme that has similar features “foon” for “spoon”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all the phonemes  in  words  to reduce the process of reduplication  (i.e., when complete or incomplete syllable is repeated “baba” for “bottle”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Syllable Structure

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all age-appropriate phonemes  in  2-3 syllable words  to reduce the process of cluster reduction  (i.e., “top” for “stop”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce age-appropriate consonants in the initial position of words  to reduce  initial consonant deletion  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce age-appropriate consonants in the  medial position of words  to reduce  medial consonant deletion  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce age-appropriate consonants in the  final position of words  to reduce final consonant deletion  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce all syllables in two-syllable and 3-syllable words  to reduce  weak syllable deletion  at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object to describe, STUDENT will  produce only the phonemes in the word to reduce  epenthesis  (i.e., adding the “uh” sound between two consonants “bu- lue ” for “blue”) at the word, phrase, or sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Deaf / Hard of Hearing

Given a hearing amplification system, STUDENT will  wear it consistently  and transport the teacher unit to all classroom teachers  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a hearing amplification system, STUDENT will  recharge it daily  at  the end of the school day ready for the next school day  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a hearing amplification system, STUDENT will  advocate  with  Speech Therapist or classroom teacher  if there are any problems with the hearing amplification system with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given hearing aids, STUDENT will  clean and dry ear molds  using the appropriate materials (i.e., soap, pipe cleaners, towels) once a week  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given hearing aids, STUDENT will  detect a weak battery  and  change the battery  as needed with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Stuttering

• Desensitization
• Stuttering Modifications Techniques
• Fluency Shaping Techniques
• Secondary Behaviors

-Desensitization

Given 15 sentences with “bumpy” or “smooth” speech, STUDENT will identify if the  clinician’s speech  is “bumpy” or “smooth” with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a 2 minute tape-recording of HIS/HER reading or conversational speech with “bumpy” or “smooth” speech, STUDENT will identify if HIS/HER speech is “bumpy” or “smooth” with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 15 sentences with fast or slow speech, STUDENT will identify if the  clinician’s speech  is fast or slow with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.   

Given a 2 minute tape-recording of HIS/HER reading or conversational speech with fast or slow speech, STUDENT will identify if  HIS/HER speech  is fast or slow with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 15 sentences with random disfluencies, STUDENT will identify the disfluencies in the clinician’s speech with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a 2 minute tape-recording of HIS/HER reading or conversational speech with random disfluencies, STUDENT will identify the disfluencies in  HIS/HER speech with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Stuttering Modifications Techniques

Given knowledge, examples, and information about stuttering modification techniques (cancellation, pull-out, preparatory set), STUDENT will name and describe each stuttering modification technique  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the cancellation method to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the cancellation method to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the cancellation method to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the cancellation method to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the cancellation method to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the pull-out method to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the pull-out method to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the pull-out method to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the pull-out  method to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.   

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the pull-out  method to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the preparatory set method to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the preparatory set method to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the preparatory set method to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the preparatory set method to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.   

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the preparatory set method to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

-Fluency Shaping Techniques

Given knowledge, examples, and information about fluency shaping techniques (easy onset, light articulatory contact, slow rate), STUDENT will name and describe each fluency shaping technique  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the easy onset technique  to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the easy onset technique  to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the easy onset technique to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the easy onset technique  to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the easy onset technique  to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the light articulatory contact technique  to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the light articulatory contact technique  to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the light articulatory contact technique  to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the light articulatory contact technique  to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the light articulatory contact technique  to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 words, STUDENT will use the slow rate technique  to minimize disfluencies at the  word level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 10 modeled sentences, STUDENT will use the slow rate technique  to repeat the sentences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given 20 sentences, STUDENT will use the slow rate technique  to minimize disfluencies at the  sentence level  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a reading passage, STUDENT will use the slow rate technique  to minimize disfluencies during  reading  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversational topic, STUDENT will use the slow rate technique  to minimize disfluencies during  a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

-Secondary Behaviors

Given knowledge, examples, and video of oneself, STUDENT will identify and name  each of their  secondary behaviors  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a structured activity, STUDENT will identify and reduce  each of their  secondary behaviors  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will identify and reduce  each of their  secondary behaviors  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Life Skills

• Conversation
• Social Skills

Given a functional symbol (cooking, community , safety, etc.), STUDENT will  match identical symbols  given a choice of 4 options wit 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a functional symbol (cooking, community , safety, etc.), STUDENT will  match symbols to actual objects  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a functional classroom symbol, STUDENT will demonstrate knowledge of the symbol by performing an action or going to the appropriate place when shown a symbo l  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a simple verbal directive (sit, stand, give, go), STUDENT will demonstrate knowledge of verbal directive by performing the action  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 pictures or objects for 2 different categories, STUDENT will identify the categories and  categorize the picture or objects  into 2 different categories  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an event or object, STUDENT will  describe the event or object using at least 3 descriptors  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an event or story, STUDENT will  retell the event or story  using appropriate  sequencing  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will independently express HIS/HER  wants or needs , such as stop, help, want, need, thirsty, toilet, etc. using HIS/HER AAC device, a gesture, or a sign with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a visual or social situation, STUDENT will label the other person’s feelings and/or emotions based on their facial expressions and body language  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a yes/no question concerning social/community settings , STUDENT will correctly answer the yes/no question  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given two objects, STUDENT will identify the  similarities and differences between the objects  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or a short story, STUDENT will explain the meaning of the figurative language and idioms  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Conversation

Given a new person entering or leaving a situation, STUDENT will independently volunteer social greetings and farewells , such as “hi” and “bye” with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will make a statement or ask a question to initiate a conversation with a familiar listener with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will make a statement or ask a question to initiate a conversation with an unfamiliar listener with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a conversation, STUDENT will maintain appropriate eye contact when speaking to another person 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a conversation, STUDENT will use an appropriate volume based on the social situation  they are in with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will make a statement or ask a question  to maintain the topic of conversation with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will take turns speaking to provide a give and take conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a conversation, STUDENT will ask 1 or 2 follow-up questions  to ensure the conversation is two-sided with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will demonstrate the ability to provide the appropriate amount of information  during a conversational exchange with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will use a statement to end the conversation appropriately with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

-Social Skills

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will maintain personal space at least an arm’s length distance between HIMSELF/HERSELF and others across all settings with no more than 1 verbal prompt  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a classroom discourse or conversation, STUDENT will actively listen to the speaker by facing the speaker, keeping mouth and body still, nodding head to show listening, asking questions and/or making on-topic comments  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will solve a social problem  by identifying the problem, developing possible solutions, and choosing the best solution  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will advocate for help  by appropriately  gaining the teacher’s attention, verbally asking for help, using clear and concise sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will accurately  identify another’s perspective  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will protest using appropriate language  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will express HIS/HER feeling , such as I am frustrated, sick, happy, etc. using appropriate language  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will identify expected vs. unexpected behaviors across multiple settings  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will produce HIS/HER own ideas ( not mimicking or copying others’ ideas ) when entering or joining a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will give and accept compliments  appropriately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation or role-play scenario, STUDENT will demonstrate comprehension of a variety of  verbal and nonverbal social cues  (e.g., eye rolls, checking watches, reduced eye contact, overt statements, etc.) by adjusting HIS/HER behavior based on these social cues  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Expressive Language Delay

• Utterance Expansion
• Narrative Development
• Gestures/Signs
• Categorizations
• Similarities
• Differences
• Comparisons
• Multiple Meanings
• Grammar Structure
• Vocabulary Definitions

-Morphology

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use present progressive-tense verbs  (i.g., walking, running, laughing) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use regular/irregular plural markers  (i.g., apples/feet) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use article/number agreement  (i.g., an apple/the boys) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use present-tense verbs  (i.g., give, go, drink) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use future-tense verbs  (i.g., will drive, will stop, will park) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing or speaking task, STUDENT will use regular/irregular past-tense verbs  (i.g., walked/ran) appropriately   in a sentence or conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or story, STUDENT will use nouns to answer WHO or WHAT questions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or story, STUDENT will use  verbs  to tell actions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or story, STUDENT will use prepositional phrase  to answer WHERE questions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or story, STUDENT will use prepositional phrase or adjective  to answer HOW questions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to call attention to an object (e.g., “this ball”, “my shoe”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use 2 words to show the disappearance of an object   (e.g., “no cracker”, “apple all gone”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to indicate recurrence  of an object   (e.g., “more cracker”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use 2 words that contain an adjective and a noun  (e.g., “big bear”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to show possession of an object   (e.g., “Daddy car”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to show action object  (e.g., “read book “)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to show the location of an object   (e.g., “dog car”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to show agent action  (e.g., “dog jump”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to show emotion  (e.g., “baby tired”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use   2 words to achieve the desired end  of an object   (e.g., “go home”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will say 3 to 4-word utterances  (e.g., “dog sitting in car”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an activity, picture, or story, STUDENT will form grammatically correct simple sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given an activity, picture, or story, STUDENT will use correct subject-verb agreement in sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given an activity, picture, or story, STUDENT will use all necessary propositions in sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given an activity, picture, or story, STUDENT will use compound sentences  (i.e., and, but, or, etc.)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an activity, picture, or story, STUDENT will use correct subject-verb agreement  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Utterance Expansion

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use 2-3 word utterances  to describe the object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to ask a question/comment/describe, STUDENT will use 4-5 word utterances  to ask a question/comment/describe with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an orally presented sentence with missing words, STUDENT will identify missing words (i.e., articles, prepositions. etc.)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to ask a question/comment/describe, STUDENT will include all necessary words in a sentence  to ask a question/comment/describe with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use descriptive words  to describe the object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to express a want or need, STUDENT will use complete grammatically correct sentence  to express HIS/HER want or need  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to tell past events, STUDENT will use simple complete grammatically correct sentence  to tell about past events  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to express a want or need, STUDENT will use 2-4 words  to express HIS/HER want or need  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to comment or share information, STUDENT will use2-4 words  to express HIS/HER comment or share information  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a wh-question, STUDENT will use2-4 words  to answer simple Wh-questions  (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, how)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Narrative Development

Given visual cues (e.g., sequencing cards) and a story, STUDENT will sequence  the story  including problem and solution  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a story or activity, STUDENT will sequence  the story or activity that includes # parts  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to tell a story, STUDENT will use  descriptive language  to tell their story  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to tell a story from their past, STUDENT will  tell their story  with the appropriate number of details and in the right order  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a story or activity, STUDENT will use sequence words to verbally order a story or activity (e.g., first, next, then, after, last) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Gestures/Signs

Given a want or request, STUDENT will pair vocalizations with gestures  when indicating a want or requesting an object  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a want for “more”, STUDENT will use words and/or signs  to  ask for “more”  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a task or activity, STUDENT will use words and/or signs  to  indicate HE/SHE is “finished”  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a difficult task or activity, STUDENT will use words and/or signs  to  ask for “help”  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a “yes” or “no” question, STUDENT will use words and/or signs  to  answer the question with “yes” or “no”  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common objects or pictures, STUDENT will verbally label the item  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a common object, noun, or action, STUDENT will verbally label the item  in  a phrase or sentence  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common words, STUDENT will verbally name the word  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common words, STUDENT will verbally name the word  in  a phrase or sentence with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will describe the object or picture  by stating the function of the item with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 words, STUDENT will describe the object or picture  by stating the function of the word with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Categorizations

Given a category, STUDENT will name (3-5) items  in that category (e.g., school items, home items, clothing, animals, colors, toys, etc.)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given 3 to 5 items in a category (e.g., dog, cat, fish, etc.), STUDENT will identify the category  (e.g., school items, home items, clothing, animals, colors, toys, etc.)   and explain their relationships  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given  3 to 5 items, STUDENT will identify the item that does not belong in the group and explain why  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a category, STUDENT will name (3-5) items  in that category  and (1) item that does not belong in that category  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Similarities

Given 3 to 5 pictures, STUDENT will select 2 similar pictures  and  explain the similarities  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 words verbally, STUDENT will select 2 similar pictures  and  explain the similarities  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Differences

Given 3 to 5 pictures, STUDENT will select the different picture  and  explain the differences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a list of 3 to 5 words verbally, STUDENT will identify the different word  and  explain the differences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 words verbally, STUDENT will identify the different word  and  explain the differences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a word pair verbally, STUDENT will explain the primary difference  between the  two words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Comparisons

Given two object pictures, STUDENT will compare likeness(es)  and difference(s) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given two spoken words, STUDENT will compare likeness(es)  and difference(s) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given two concepts (e.g. flying vs. driving), STUDENT will compare likeness(es)  and difference(s) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

-Multiple Meanings

Given 2 pictures that represent different meanings of the same word , STUDENT will provide a definition for each  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 2 sentences that represent different meanings of the same word, STUDENT will provide a definition for each  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a multiple meaning word , STUDENT will provide 2 or more definitions for the  multiple meaning word  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Attributes

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will describe the object or picture  by identifying a minimum of (3) attributes (e.g., color, size, number etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture and asked a question, STUDENT will answer the question  by identifying a minimum of (5) attributes (e.g., color, size, number etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 items presented verbally, STUDENT will describe the object or picture  by identifying a minimum of (3) attributes (e.g., color, size, number etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Grammar Structure

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using articles (i.e., “a”, “an”, “the”, and “some”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using demonstrative adjectives (i.e., “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using plural nouns (i.e., s, es, and irregular plural forms) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using possessive nouns (i.e., “the girl’s book”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using subject pronouns  (i.e., “I”, “he”, “she”, “you”, “we”, “they”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using object pronouns  (i.e., “me”, “him”, “her”, “you”, “us”, “them”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using possessive pronouns  (i.e., “my”, “mine”, “his”, “her/hers”, “you/yours”, “our/ours”, “their/theirs”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using reflexive pronouns  (i.e., “myself”, “himself”, “herself”, “yourself”, “yourselves”, “ourselves”, “themselves”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using present progressive verb tense  (i.e., “The girl is running”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using past progressive verb tense  (i.e., “The girl was running”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using present tense “s” and “es” marker  (i.e., “The girl runs”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using “has”/”have”  (i.e., “The girl has a book”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using regular past tense  (i.e., “The boy waited for the bus.”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using irregular past tense  (i.e., “ran”, “drove”, “drank”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using conjunctions  (i.e., “and”, “or”, “but”, “because”, “if”, “since”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using future tenses  (i.e., “The boy will go to school”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using negative sentence structures  (i.e., “will not/won’t”, “does not/doesn’t”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will ask yes/no questions  (i.e., “Is the boy hurt?”) in a complete sentence  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will ask WH questions  (i.e., “What is the girl doing?”) in a complete sentence  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using comparatives  (i.e., “The kitty is smaller than the tiger”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or story, STUDENT will say a complete sentence using superlatives  (i.e., “That is the best cookie.”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an idiom with a visual cue, STUDENT will  accurately describe the meaning of the idiom   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an idiom verbally with no visual cue, STUDENT will  accurately describe the meaning of the idiom  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an idiom verbally, STUDENT will identify a social situation where the idiom may be used appropriately  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

-Vocabulary Definitions

Given 5 words with picture cues, STUDENT will define the word correctly  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will use 2-3 critical features  to describe the object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an emotional expression picture or story, STUDENT will use vocabulary to clearly  describe the feelings, ideas, or experiences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify synonyms  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify antonyms  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 identified words in sentences, STUDENT will provide a synonym/antonym  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a story with highlighted words, STUDENT will provide a synonym/antonym for each highlighted word  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 pictures, STUDENT will match opposite pictures in pairs (i.e., happy/sad, up/down)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify the opposite  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will describe the object or picture  by naming the item, identify attributes (color, size, etc.), function, or number  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a reading task, STUDENT will define unfamiliar words using context clues  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given common academic vocabulary, STUDENT will define prefix and/or suffix  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given common academic vocabulary, STUDENT will define the vocabulary word using a complete sentence with correct grammar  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Language Goals

• Following Directions
• Answering Questions
• Association
• Multiple Meaning
• Prepositions

-Vocabulary

Speech therapy goals for vocabulary.

Given 10 common nouns, STUDENT will identify the correct noun  by  pointing to the appropriate picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common verbs, STUDENT will identify the  correct verb  by  pointing to the appropriate picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common adjectives, STUDENT will identify the  correct adjective  by  pointing to the appropriate picture (size, shape, color, texture)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 pictures, STUDENT will identify the  category items  by  pointing/grouping pictures into categories  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Following Directions

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow a  1-step direction  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  2-step directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 2-step directions, STUDENT will follow the directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  3-step directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3-step directions, STUDENT will follow the directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  multi-step directions  with location modifiers (i.e., spatial concepts)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  multi-step directions  with quantity modifiers (i.e., numbers, more/less)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  multi-step directions  with quality modifiers (i.e., size, color, shape)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given manipulatives (e.g., object, paper, pencil, scissors), STUDENT will follow  multi-step directions  with pronoun modifiers (i.e., he, she, him, her, they, them)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given verbal or written directions, STUDENT will identify the action words in the directions (e.g., “Read the book”…the action word is read)with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given verbal directions, STUDENT will follow conditional directions  (e.g., “If you are wearing a red shirt, stand up.”)with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Answering Questions

Given a story, activity, or classroom discussion, STUDENT will answer “yes or no” questions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a story, activity, or classroom discussion, STUDENT will answer WH questions  (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, how)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a verbal prompt, STUDENT will select and hand clinician the requested object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 objects or pictures at a time, STUDENT will select and hand clinician the requested object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 objects or pictures at a time, STUDENT will select and hand clinician the requested object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 objects or pictures at a time and given a function, STUDENT will point to the appropriate object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 action pictures at a time and given an action, STUDENT will point to the appropriate action picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Association

Given 5 objects or pictures at a time (e.g., ball, bat, car, fork, and ring) and asked what item is associated with … (e.g., with a seatbelt), STUDENT will select an item that is associated with the objects or pictures  (e.g., car)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a word verbally, STUDENT will point to the appropriate object or picture associated with that word (e.g., ball/bat, fork/plate) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a category, STUDENT will correctly sort objects/pictures in that category  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 items in a category and 3 categories to choose from, STUDENT will correctly sort objects/pictures into the appropriate  category  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 different categories, STUDENT will correctly sort objects/pictures into each different  category  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 objects or pictures, STUDENT will select 2 similar objects or pictures  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 word verbally, STUDENT will select 2 similar words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 objects or pictures and an attribute (e.g, color, size, shape, number, texture, etc.), STUDENT will 1 object or picture that does not share that same attribute  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 words and an attribute (e.g, color, size, shape, number, texture, etc.), STUDENT will 1 word  that does not share that same attribute  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Multiple Meaning

Given 3 to 5 objects or pictures and a multiple meaning word, STUDENT will select 2 objects or pictures  that represent different meanings of that word  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a multiple meaning word verbally, STUDENT will select 2 correct meanings from a group of 4 written choices  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 objects or pictures and a verbal description of a word, STUDENT will select the correct object or picture  to match the given verbal description  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 words and a verbal description of a word, STUDENT will select the correct word  to match the given verbal description  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Prepositions

Given 3 to 5 objects or pictures and a verbal preposition, STUDENT will point to the correct object or picture  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given object(s) and a verbal or written prepositions directive, STUDENT will follow the directions and  act out the preposition using the given object(s)  (e.g., “Put the doll under the table.”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a verbal question, STUDENT will select the picture of the noun that tells WHO and WHAT  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a story read aloud, STUDENT will select the picture of the noun that tells WHO and WHAT  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a verbal question, STUDENT will select the picture of the  verb  that tells the action  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a story read aloud, STUDENT will select the picture of the  verb  that tells the action  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a verbal question, STUDENT will select the picture  that tells WHERE  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a story read aloud, STUDENT will select the picture  that tells WHERE  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a verbal question, STUDENT will select the picture that tells HOW  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a story read aloud, STUDENT will select the picture that tells HOW  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a two word phrase that calls attention to an object or picture (e.g., “that car”, “her toy”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that shows the  disappearance  (e.g., “crackers all gone”, “no cookie”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that shows the  recurrence  (e.g., “more crackers”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that contains an  adjective and a noun  (e.g., “red shoe”, “big ball”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that shows  possession  (e.g., “Dad’s cat”, “girl’s shoe”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that uses  action object form  (e.g., “Tie shoe”, “read book “), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that indicates the  location  (e.g., “pencil down”, “car outside”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that uses  agent action form  (e.g., “boy jump”, “girl eat”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase that shows an  emotion  (e.g., “girl sad”, “man angry”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given an object or picture and a phrase to achieve a  desired end  (e.g., “shoe on”, “go home”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase describes the object or picture accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  articles  (e.g., “a”, “an”, “the”, and “some”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the articles  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  adjectives  (e.g., “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the adjectives  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes plurals  (e.g., s, es) and irregular plural nouns , STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the plurals  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  possessive nouns  (e.g., “the girl’s bike”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the possessive  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  subject pronouns  (e.g., “I”, “he”, “she”, “you”, “we” “they”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the pronoun  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  object pronouns  (e.g., “me”, “him”, “her”, “you”, “us”, “them”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the pronoun  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  possessive pronouns  (e.g., “my/mine”, “his”, “her/hers”, “your/yours”, “our/ours”, “their/theirs”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the pronoun  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  reflexive pronouns  (e.g., “myself”, “himself”, “herself”, “yourself”, “yourselves”, “ourselves”, “themselves”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the pronoun  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes present progressive verb tense  (e.g., “The man is running”, “The girls are waving”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the verb tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  past progressive verb tense  (e.g., “The man was running”, “The girls were waving”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the verb tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  present tense “s” and “es” marker  (e.g., “The boy jogs”, and “The bee buzzes”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  “have” and “has”  (e.g., “The boy has a dog”, and “The girls have ice skating”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  regular past tense  (e.g., “The dog jumped”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a phrase or sentence that includes  irregular past tense  (e.g., “The boy ran”), STUDENT will answer “yes or no” if the phrase or sentence uses the tense  accurately   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Speech Therapy Goals for Auditory Discrimination

Given multi-step directions, STUDENT will follow 2-step, 3-step, and 4-step directions of  increasing length and complexity  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given 10 words, STUDENT will recognize the differences between same or different words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a sentence, STUDENT will remember and repeat  of  increasing length and complexity  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a word broken down into isolated sounds, STUDENT will combine the isolated sounds together to form words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Phonological Awareness

Given 10 words, STUDENT will identify the sounds in the words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 words, STUDENT will identify the number of sounds in the words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 words, STUDENT will identify the similarities sounds in the words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 2 words with matching beginning sounds or ending sounds, STUDENT will identify and/or match the words with the same beginning sounds or ending sounds  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a sentence with two rhyming words, STUDENT will identify the two rhyming words  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a rhyming word, STUDENT will produce two or more words that rhyme with the given word  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a word, STUDENT will substitute initial and/or final sounds  to  create new words (i.g., cat/fat; man, mad) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Autism

• Play Skills
• Joint Attention
• Following Instructions
• Getting the Teacher’s Attention
• Friend Making
• General Conversation
• Perspective
• Problem Solving
• Dealing with Feelings
• Alternatives to Aggression
• Predictions/Inferences

-Play Skills

Given a toy(s), STUDENT will play with the toy(s) using their appropriate function  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a toy(s), STUDENT will demonstrate parallel play with peers for X minutes  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a toy(s), STUDENT will demonstrate symbolic play  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a toy(s), STUDENT will demonstrate pretend play  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a toy(s), STUDENT will take X turns during a play activity with peer or teacher  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to offer someone help, STUDENT will ask what the other person needs, listen, provide the help requested  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given offered help from a peer or adult, STUDENT will accept the help and thank the person, or politely decline the help  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to volunteer, STUDENT will look at the person, use a clear voice, ask to volunteer for a specific task or activity  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a task or activity to take turns, STUDENT will wait for HIS/HER turn, sit or stand quietly, keep HIS/HER legs and arms still, avoid whining or begging, and engage in activity or task when it is HIS/HER turn  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an opportunity to borrow something, STUDENT will make a polite request to borrow an item or material, accept “no” as an answer, and if the other person agrees promptly return the materials in the same condition  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a game activity, STUDENT will display good sportsmanship and play by the rules, accepting winning without bragging, and accepting losing without complaining  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a toy or object and asked to share, STUDENT will share the toy or object with a peer or adult  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Joint Attention

Given an activity with a partner, STUDENT will demonstrate joint attention for X minutes  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will point to gain the communication partner’s attention  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will use eye gaze to direct the communication partner’s attention  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will track the eye gaze of others and predict what they are thinking and will modify their behavior based on what others are looking at  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Following Instructions

Given a direction, STUDENT will follow the 1-step direction  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 2-step directions, STUDENT will follow the 2-step directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3-step directions, STUDENT will follow the 3-step directions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given verbal directions, STUDENT will begin task with only 1 prompt within 1 minute of receiving the instructions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given written directions, STUDENT will read the instructions, follow each instruction in order, and ask for help if needed  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given verbal or written directions to change to another activity, STUDENT will change to the new activity within 1 minute of receiving the instructions  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Getting the Teacher’s Attention

Given the need to get the teacher’s attention, STUDENT will  look at the teacher, raise HIS/HER hand, wait to be acknowledged, and ask their question  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a need to ask a question, STUDENT will get the person’s attention appropriately, look at the person, use a pleasant tone of voice, use words such as “please”, “would”, “may I”, and listen to the person’s answer  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a need to ask for help, STUDENT will look at the person, ask if he or she has time to help, clearly describe what kind of help HE/SHE needs  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social setting, STUDENT will identify expected and unexpected behaviors in themselves and others  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social setting, STUDENT will demonstrate expected behaviors  that are expected in that setting  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given expected and unexpected behaviors, STUDENT will identify how the expected and unexpected behaviors affect the thoughts and feelings of others  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given feedback regarding HIS/HER behavior, STUDENT will modify their behavior based on the feedback  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an example of their own behavior, STUDENT will identify how their own behavior will affect the thoughts and feelings of others  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given others’ behaviors, STUDENT will identify HIS/HER thoughts about others’ behaviors  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given actions from others, STUDENT will modify their own behavior based on the actions of others  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given social interactions, STUDENT will maintain appropriate personal space and maintain safe hands and body  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given classroom or small group discussion, STUDENT will demonstrate active listening skills (e.g., body facing the speaker, keep mouth and body still, nodding head to show listening, asking questions and/or making comments) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given different social settings, STUDENT will monitor HIS/HER volume and adjust it based on setting and/or situation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given classroom or small group discussion, STUDENT will make on-topic and appropriate comments  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a specific behavior, STUDENT will identify how it makes others feel , the consequences, and how that then makes HIM/HER feel about HIMSELF/HERSELF  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social situation, STUDENT will identify how others are feeling and identify at least one visual cue that lead them to that conclusion  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a task, STUDENT will listen carefully, gather materials, and begin working quietly  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a task, STUDENT will read the directions and attempt the assignment before asking the teacher for help  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Group Work

Given a group activity, STUDENT will cooperate with others, use a kind voice, and follow the set group guidelines  for the activity with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a group activity, STUDENT will use appropriate volume level  for the activity and setting with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a group activity, STUDENT will discuss what goal needs to be achieved with the group, decided HIS/HER role is going to be, accept help or feedback from peers, follow rules, share materials, and give praise to others,  for the activity with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a new class period, STUDENT will come prepared for class by bringing all necessary materials (i.e., books, papers, homework, and writing tools) , being on time, and handing in assignments as requested by the teacher  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a new class period, STUDENT will determine what materials HE/SHE needs for class, gather materials, and only take those materials HE/SHE needs for class  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.     Given an assignment, STUDENT will write down the assignment in HIS/HER planner or electronic device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a make-up or missed assignment, STUDENT will ask the teacher for the make-up or missed assignment  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Friend Making

Given an unfamiliar person to meet, STUDENT will introduce HIMSELF/HERSELF by looking at the person, use an appropriate greeting (i.e., Hi, my name is…”) and telling the person it was nice meeting HIM/HER when leaving  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a familiar or unfamiliar person to greet, STUDENT will look at the person, use a kind voice, and say “hi” or “hello” following all 3 steps with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given an opportunity to compliment someone, STUDENT will look at the person, use a kind voice, give HIM/HER a compliment, and give the person time to respond  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a compliment, STUDENT will look at the person, use a kind voice to thank the person (i.e., “Thank you, it’s my favorite shirt.”) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-General Conversation

Given a greeting from a peer or adult, STUDENT will acknowledge the greeting by  looking at the person and  returning the greeting  (e.g., “hello”, “hi”, “how are you?”, etc.)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group or classroom discussion, STUDENT will initiate the conversation (e.g., ask a question, make a comment, give a compliment, etc.)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a need or desire, STUDENT will  spontaneously communicate HIS/HER needs or desire (e.g., “I need…”, “I want…”)   with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group discussion, STUDENT will take turns during the conversation with a peer or an adult with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group discussion, STUDENT will identify expected and unexpected behaviors for a conversation (e.g., topic maintenance, topic changes, asking questions, on-topic comments, unrelated comments, appropriate interruptions, long talking turns, not responding, initiating conversations, etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversational partner, STUDENT will describe the conversational partner’s emotional responses of HIM/HER when HE/SHE uses expected and unexpected behaviors during a conversation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group discussion, STUDENT will demonstrate expected behaviors during preferred and un-preferred conversational topics  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversational partner, STUDENT will identify how that person is feeling based on observing their body language  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group discussion, STUDENT will use conversation maintenance strategies  (i.e., making comments, take turns, ask questions, etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversational partner, STUDENT will maintain a topic for at least 3 conversational turns  (e.g., ask partner-focused questions, make comments, etc) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will look at the speaker, ask questions when appropriate, and not interrupt others  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will use the appropriate volume based on the setting  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversation, STUDENT will appropriately join the conversation by looking at the people, waiting for a moment when no one else is talking, make a comment or ask a question that relates to the topic  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversational partner who is busy talking with someone else, STUDENT will wait until the other person is finished speaking, look at the person, get their attention  (“Excuse me…”, “Do you have a minute…”) and wait for the person to acknowledge HIM/HER before continuing  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a need to interrupt, STUDENT will look at the person, wait for the person to acknowledge them, begin with “Excuse me for interrupting, but…” make a specific request or give information  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a small group or classroom discussion, STUDENT will demonstrate active listening skills   (track the speaker with their eyes, keep mouth and body still and quiet, nodding head to show listening, ask questions and/or make comments, etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner and a communication breakdown, STUDENT will use  communication breakdown strategies,  such as restating what HE/SHE said, adjusting volume, using a slow rate, use precise articulation, move hands/items away from mouth  to improve HIS/HER intelligibility level so that the listener can understand HIS/HER request or question with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Perspective

Given a social interaction, STUDENT will accurately identify another’s perspective  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given different conversational partners (e.g., peer, teacher, authority figure, etc.), STUDENT will adjust HIS/HER language style and topics of conversation based on the conversation partner  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or social interaction, STUDENT will identify another person’s emotion and why HE/SHE is feeling that way  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Problem Solving

Given a problem and problem solving graphic organizer , STUDENT will identify 3 solutions, the 3 consequences of those solutions, then determine the best solution, and explain why that is the best solution  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a problem, STUDENT will appropriately  identify the size of the problem  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given problems at differing sizes, STUDENT will identify appropriate reaction size to the problem  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Dealing with Feelings

Given a time when the student is angry, STUDENT will use a calming strategy (e.g., breathe slowly, take a break, count to 10, listen to music, etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given warning and a change in routine, STUDENT will identify exactly what is changing, ask questions, remain calm, and explain HIS/HER feelings of concern  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given warning and a change in routine, STUDENT will accept the change without becoming upset  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social interaction, STUDENT will identify HIS/HER emotion and why HE/SHE is feeling that way  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Alternatives to Aggression

Given a real-life or role-play scenario, STUDENT will demonstrate how to accept teacher help to make an appropriate decision during a conflict situation  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a real-life or role-play conflict scenario, STUDENT will demonstrate appropriate peer mediation skills to resolve the conflict  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a real-life or role-play conflict scenario, STUDENT will remain calm and relaxed, listen to the other person, determine what they can agree on  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given criticism or feedback, STUDENT will look at the person, say “okay”, and not argue  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a problem, STUDENT will define exactly what the problem is, brainstorm possible options, consider disadvantages and advantages of options, and choose the best option  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a defeat or loss in a game, STUDENT will look at the person who won , remain calm, and congratulate the other person  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an upsetting situation, STUDENT will express HIS/HER anger with non-aggressive words to describe how HE/SHE feels  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Predictions/Inferencing

Given a picture, STUDENT will make a prediction or inference about the picture with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a short story, STUDENT will make a prediction or inference about the story with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a social scenario, STUDENT will make a prediction or inference about the scenario and identify at least one visual cue that contributed to HIS/HER inference  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Augmentative Alternative Communication

Speech therapy goals for aac.

• Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
• Sign Language

-Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

Given a want or need, STUDENT will request a want or a need by pulling off a picture symbol and placing it into the teacher’s hand  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a want or need, STUDENT will choose the “I want” or “I need” symbol plus the desired item , then place them both onto the sentence strip , then and hand the sentence strip to the teacher  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.  

Given a simple question, such as “What do you want?”, STUDENT will independently choose a picture symbol to answer a simple question  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.    

Given augmentative symbols or device, STUDENT will carry device to various school and community locations  (lunchroom, classroom, recess etc.) with minimal prompting with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given augmentative symbols or device, STUDENT will independently navigate to the “home” page  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a question or community helper or form, STUDENT will identify HIS/HER contact information  selecting (i.e. name, address, phone number, etc.) using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a community sign, STUDENT will identify the community sign  (i.e. restroom, stop sign, crosswalk, exit, etc.) using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a question, STUDENT will express HIS/HER preference selecting “yes or no” using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a group of pictures, STUDENT will identify the category of the pictures using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object, STUDENT will identify the color  of the picture or object using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object, STUDENT will identify the shape  of the picture or object using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object, STUDENT will identify the attributes  (hot/cold, big/little, soft/hard) of the picture or object using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a group of objects, STUDENT will count the objects  and select the appropriate number of objects (1-10)  using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a picture or object, STUDENT will select matching word  using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 pictures of facial emotions, STUDENT will identify the emotion  using  augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities. 

Given a spoken question, STUDENT will select the desired activity  using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will initiate a conversation with a peer or teacher (i.e. hello, how are you ?, etc.) using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will maintain a conversation  and engage in up to 3 conversational exchanges with a peer or teacher using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given augmentative symbols or device, STUDENT will select HIS/HER meal choices  (in the school lunchroom, restaurant, etc.) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will spontaneously make a request or greet a peer or teacher using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a time of frustration, STUDENT will independently indicate a break or refuse an undesired item or activity  (i.e. “no”, “I don’t want”, “I don’t like”, etc.)   using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner, STUDENT will inform others of past events  using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a communication partner and a communication breakdown, STUDENT will repair the communication breakdown  using augmentative symbols or device  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

-Sign Language

Given a need and a verbal prompt, STUDENT will sign a basic “need” sign , such as ( help, more, done, want, need etc.) to make a request  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a need, STUDENT will sign a basic “need” sign , such as ( help, more, done, want, need etc.) to make a request  spontaneously across multiple school environments and the community  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a conversational partner, STUDENT will  introduce HIMSELF/HERSELF by fingerspelling HIS/HER name or using HIS/HER name sign  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a signed picture or object, STUDENT will receptively identify the picture or object that was signed with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 pictures or objects, STUDENT will expressively label  the pictures or objects using sign with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 pictures of facial emotions, STUDENT will identify the emotion  using sign with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals for Figurative Language

Given a reading task, STUDENT will identify and interpret the meaning of  idioms , metaphors, similes, or proverbs  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing task, STUDENT will create similes and/or metaphors in a sentence or paragraph  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a reading task, STUDENT will make predictions and inferences based on  textual evidence  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a reading task, STUDENT will make inferences based on a character in literature   about why they say, feel, and do the things that they do  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals Written Language

Given a writing task, STUDENT will produce  grammatically correct sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a writing task, STUDENT will vary HIS/HER use of sentence starters to enhance HIS/HER writing with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a short story or video, STUDENT will answer wh -questions (who, what, when, where, why, & how) using complete sentences  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a graphic organizer, STUDENT will produce a five paragraph essay including an  introduction, topic sentences, transitions, and conclusion  with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Speech Therapy Goals Intelligibility

Given a communication partner and a communication breakdown, STUDENT will use  clear slow speech  and pausing to gather HIS/HER thoughts to improve HIS/HER intelligibility level so that the listener can understand HIS/HER request or question with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

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Speech therapy goals conclusion.

I hope you find these speech therapy goals helpful or they gave you an idea for how to write speech therapy goals.

Let me know if there are other speech therapy goals and objectives that would be helpful or if you have examples of speech therapy goals.

Monday 12th of December 2022

This is one of most GO-TO Goal banks. Thank you so much!

Melissa Berg

Tuesday 27th of December 2022

Hi Jannette, I'm SO happy to hear that this is your GO_TO goal bank. Wishing you all my best! Melissa

Tuesday 4th of October 2022

Hi! I use this goal bank frequently but am always wondering why it was decided to label the goals for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people as "Hearing Impaired/Impairment"? From my understanding and work with the DHH population, most prefer the terms, deaf, Deaf, or Hard of Hearing rather than Hearing Impaired. Just wanted to check in about it! Thanks!

Wednesday 5th of October 2022

Hi Melissa, Thanks so much for the feedback! I have made the updated suggestion. All my best, Melissa

Janet Pevsner

Monday 19th of September 2022

Your materials are sooo great AND you are soooo generous with your materials! Thank you so much for this Melissa.

Tuesday 20th of September 2022

Hi Janet, Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words! It means so much to me. I'm happy to know you like my materials! Wishing you all the best, Melissa

Monday 29th of August 2022

I love your material, it's so helpful! Thank you so much!

Lorena Bazarte

Thursday 25th of August 2022

Can you include goals for consultation for students in language articulation and fluency--when students have mastered the objectives but want to keep them in consult to monitor that they maintain their skills.

Saturday 27th of August 2022

Hi Lorena, I love this idea! I currently don't have anything in the works, but can add this to my future ideas list! All my best, Melissa

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30 Problem Solving Scenarios for Speech Therapy Practice

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Problem solving scenarios.

• Your friends came over to your house for a movie night. One of your friends brought another friend so there are more people than you planned for. You want to pass out the drinks but you only have five cans of soda and you need 6 for everyone to have one. What could you do?
• After basketball practice you go back to the locker room with your team to shower and change. When you are done dressing, you can't find your shoes. What could you do?
• You have been waiting all day for lunch to come because you are starving. Finally class gets over and you get to go to lunch. Except when you go to get to your lunch, it's not there. You probably left it at home. What could you do?
• There is a guy in your class who is always mean to you. He always bumps you when he walks by and he calls you names. He knocks stuff out of your hands and makes you feel stupid. You don't think you can take it anymore. What could you do?
• You really want to invite this new girl/guy to come to your birthday party, but you have never talked to them before. You are worried they will say no. What could you do?
• You rode the bus to school today and on the way in people are pointing and laughing at you. You go in the bathroom and see that you have pink gum all over the back of your pants. What could you do?
• You wake up and see that your alarm never went off. So you are starting your morning 15 minutes later than you planned. It is a really important day at school and you cannot be late. What could you do?
• You are giving a group presentation in front of class and it's your turn to talk. All of the sudden you sneeze. You cover it with your hand, but now your hand is full of stuff you sneezed out. What could you do?
• You are eating dinner at a fancy restaurant with your parents and their friends. You have a really messy dinner and accidentally flip a noodle into the lady's lap. They are busy talking and don't notice it. What could you do?
• You are taking a test and there is no talking allowed. You are writing your answers on the paper and your pencil breaks. What could you do?
• You are taking a test and the guy behind you asks you for help. He wants to know what you put for question number two. What could you do?
• You are at a birthday party and you have waited in line for a long time for your turn to hit the pinata. It is finally going to be your turn and it looks like the next hit will break the pinata. But you suddenly have to go to the bathroom. What could you do?
• You are hanging outside with your friend and she decides to pick your neighbor's flowers. She gives you the pretty handful of flowers and right then your neighbor opens the door. She asks you why you picked her flowers. What could you do?
• You borrowed your sister's skates one day without asking and they broke while you were using them. What could you do?
• You are eating at a friend's house and the mom piles your plate full of food. It looks really good and you want to eat it all but you can't because you just ate a snack. What could you do so you don't hurt her feelings?

SEE ALSO:   The Best Free App for Speech Therapy

• Your teacher was working at her desk.  You wanted to ask her a question, but she didn't see your hand raised. What should you do?
• You started to do your work, but you weren't sure if you were doing it right. What should you do?
• You were playing tether-ball and were the champion so far.  In the next game, you slightly touched the rope.  Only one student saw you touch the rope. What will you do?
• The teacher is giving directions, but your friend sitting next to you keeps talking.  You can't hear the directions. What should you do?
• You didn't do your homework.  Your teacher was upset with you. What should you do?
• You finished eating and felt a burp coming. What are you going to do?
• You were waiting to swing.  When it was your turn, another boy jumped in front of you and took the swing. What would you do?
• You waited a long time, but your mom didn't come to pick you up after school. What should you do?
• A bully threatened to beat you up after school. What should you do?
• A boy on the playground keeps pushing you and making you mad. What would you do?
• You were sitting in class doing your work and you hear the fire alarm. What should you do?
• An adult you didn't know came on to the playground and asked if you would help look for his lost dog. What would you do?
• You forgot your lunch at home. What would you do?
• The person sitting behind you keeps tapping your chair with his foot. What should you do?
• You finished your work early. What should you do?

This list of functional words was professionally selected to be the most useful for a child or adult who has difficulty with problem solving scenarios.

We encourage you to use this list when practicing at home.

Home practice will make progress toward meeting individual language goals much faster.

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week. This is not enough time or practice for someone to handle Problem solving scenarios.

Every day that your loved one goes without practice it becomes more difficult to help them. 

SEE ALSO:   The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

We know life is busy , but if you're reading this you're probably someone who cares about helping their loved one as much as you can.

Practice 5-10 minutes whenever you can, but try to do it on a consistent basis (daily).

Please, please, please use this list to practice.

It will be a great benefit to you and your loved one's progress.

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We are both MS CCC-SLPs and fell in love while studying for our degrees. Since then we have done everything together - graduated, worked, and started a family. We spend most of our time with our family and the rest making this site for you.

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Goal Bank Speech Therapy for SNF

Goal Bank for speech therapists working in a skilled nursing facility. Goals for Cognition, Memory, Attention, Problem Solving, Aphasia, Dysarthria, Voice, Swallowing, Tracheostomy, and Skilled Maintenance. For an all in one download please see end of document.

ST Goal Bank

Cuing Hierarchy

Independent

Setup/cleanup assistance

Supervision or touching assistance

Partial/mod assist

Substantial/maximal assistance

• Pt will complete further cognitive assessment (SLUMS/RIPA/ALFA/ACA) in order to assess cognitive communication skills by (DATE).
• Pt will be able to verbally express compensatory strategies to improve cognition in order to return to PLOF.

Long-Term Goal

• Pt will increase memory abilities to (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) demonstrating improved (orientation, basic functional recall of everyday activities, biographical information, safety precautions) in order to (return to PLOF/increase independent on nursing unit).
• Pt will increase memory to (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) demonstrating independence with (functional memory tasks, use of compensatory strategies and precautions, recall of medication schedule) in order to (return to PLOF/increase independence on nursing unit).

Short-Term Goal

• Pt will complete further memory assessment with (SLUMS/RIPA) in order to determine current cognitive level and goal set appropriately.
• Pt will utilize memory book with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist) in order to assist with everyday functional recall.
• Pt will utilize external/internal memory strategies to solve functional (immediate/short-term/working) memory tasks at (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist) with ___% accuracy to return to PLOF.
• Pt will complete (alternating/sustained/selective) attention activities with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to increase independence with functional activities.
• Pt will complete alternating attention tasks with ___% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues to attend in a noisy environment in order to increase independence during functional tasks.
• Pt will sustain attention to (visual information/auditory information/activity) for ___ minutes in a quiet environment given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) to increase independence during functional tasks.
• Pt will selectively attend to (visual/auditory information/activity) for __ minutes given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) to attend to functional activities.

PROBLEM SOLVING

• Pt will demonstrate problem solving skills with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) or higher, demonstrating improved (insight, safety, executive functioning, reasoning, functional problem solving) in order to return to (IADL’s, increase independence on nursing unit).
• Pt will demonstrate problem solving skills with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) or higher, demonstrating improve problem solving required for independence with basic ADL’s and safety.
• Pt will complete ALFA assessment in order to determine patients’ problem-solving functioning to goal set appropriately.
• Pt will complete basic problem-solving tasks related to safety (use of call light/walker/O2 precautions) at __% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to (return to PLOF/increase independence on nursing unit).
• Pt will sequence functional activities with ___% with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to (return to PLOF/increase independence on nursing unit).
• Pt will complete higher-level problem-solving tasks r/t IADL’s at ___% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to (return to PLOF).

SOCIAL INTERACTION

• Pt will increase social interaction to (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) demonstrating increased ability to (manage emotions, cope, engage in social communication, maintain topic, use appropriate pragmatics, turn-take).
• Pt will increase social interaction to (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) or higher demonstrating improved (behavior, pragmatics, eye contact, emotional regulation, coping with anxiety/depression.
• Caregivers/Staff will be able to teach back pt behavioral plan to manage (agitation/restlessness/anxiety/depression) in order to improve quality of care.
• Pt will demonstrate techniques of emotional regulation to manage negative ideation and behavior (deep breathing, positive thinking, mindfulness) with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent in order to benefit quality of life.
• Pt will communicate in social interactions given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) for (turn taking, eye contact, pragmatics, appropriateness) in order to increase appropriate social interactions with staff/residents/family.

APHASIA RECEPTIVE

• Pt will demonstrate (verbal/written) expression skills with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) concerning improved (motor speech, word finding, fluency, voice, initiation, pragmatics) in order to express (simple wants/needs/higher level/complex ideas).
• Pt will answer simple biographical yes/no questions presented (verbally/visually) with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to communicate simple biographical information.
• Pt will follow (simple/complex 1-step commands/2-step commands) with ___% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to complete functional tasks.
• Pt will identify the correct picture in a field of (2/4/6) when presented with the word (verbally/visually) at ___% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to recognize functional language.
• Pt will read (sentences/paragraphs) and answer comprehension questions with ___% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to improve functional communication.

APHASIA EXPRESSIVE

Long-Term Goals

• Pt will be able to communicate using (simple/complex) (words/phrases/sentences) with ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to increase ability to express (simple/complex) (wants/needs/ideas/feelings).

Short-Term Goals

• Pt will name common objects at __% accuracy with (independence/mod assist/max assist) given (phonemic/orthographic/semantic) cues in order to increase ability to express wants/needs.
• Pt will generate sentences with 3 or more words in response to a situation with __% accuracy with (independence/mod assist/max assist) given (phonemic/orthographic/semantic) in order to increase ability to communicate basic wants and needs.
• Pt will participate in (simple/complex) conversation with ___% accuracy with situation with __% accuracy with (independence/mod assist/max assist) given (phonemic/orthographic/semantic) in order to increase ability to communicate complex thoughts, feelings, and needs.
• Pt will produce (vowels/phrases/paragraphs/conversation) with appropriate intelligibility given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants and needs.
• Pt will produce (vowels/phrases/paragraphs) with appropriate voicing in ___% of opportunities given ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants and needs.
• Pt will produce phrases with (5 or fewer words/7 or more) in one breath in __% of opportunities with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants/needs.
• Pt will produce phrases with appropriate stress in __% of opportunities given ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants/needs.
• Pt will produce (words/phrases) with appropriate voicing with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to express wants/needs.
• Pt will produce (easy onset/non-nasal/tense vowels/minimal pairs) words with appropriate voicing in ___% of opportunities with ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants/needs.
• Pt will produce (words/phrases) at (70dB/80dB) vocal loudness with ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase ability to express wants/needs.
• Pt will improve MPT to __ml with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent)  to demonstrate increased breath support req for voicing.

COMPREHENSION

• Pt will d/c with ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to increase comprehension (reading/expression) of (simple/complex) ideas and instruction.
• Pt will d/c with ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) (reading/expression) in order to increase comprehension of functional information.
• Pt will follow (1/2/3) step directions at ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) level with ___% accuracy in order to complete functional activities.
• Pt will respond to (simple/complex) questions at ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) level with __% accuracy in order to increase ability to participate in functional communication.
• Pt will respond to (simple/complex) questions at independent level with __% accuracy demonstrating improved auditory processing/comprehension
• Pt will answer paired Y/N questions at with __% accuracy at ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to increase ability to participate in functional communication.
• Pt will identify (object/pic/word) in a field of (2/4/6) with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to participate in functional activities.

Pt will be able to use (low tech/high tech) AAC device with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to communicate basic wants/needs.

Pt will (type/identify) single (words/icons) with ___% accuracy given ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to communicate basic wants/needs.

Pt will answer simple biographical questions at __% accuracy given (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase functional communication.

Pt will be able to navigate device with ___% accuracy given ( independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase independence with device.

Pt will be able to add new (icons/vocabulary) to AAC device with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) cues in order to increase functional communication.

• Pt will d/c on IDDSI diet of (Regular-7/Easy to Chew-7b/Soft and Bite Size-6/Minced and Moist-5/Puree-4) (Thin/Nectar Thick) liquids) with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) use of swallow strategies in order to improve (oral/pharyngeal) swallowing safety and improve (nutrition/hydration)
• Pt will d/c on PO diet maintaining nutritional needs PO requiring no alternative means of nutrition (IV/PEG/NG).
• Pt/caregiver will demonstrate/verbalize understanding of diet recommendations, swallowing strategies, swallowing exercises for (home/facility) maintenance program.
• Pt will complete instrumental swallow evaluation to assess swallow function and determine appropriate diet level.
• Pt/caregiver will demonstrate understanding of oral care and be able to follow oral care program with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to benefit oral health.
• Pt will decrease (oral pocketing/anterior labial spillage) with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) to reduce risk of aspiration.
• Pt will manage trials of (Regular-7/Easy to Chew-7b/Soft and Bite Size-6/Minced and Moist-5/Puree-4) following swallowing strategies with ___% accuracy with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to decrease s/s of aspiration.
• Pt will complete (pharyngeal/oral motor exercises) with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to increase swallow function.

TRACH/DECANNULATION

Secretion Management/Suctioning Goal

• Pt will independently manage secretions as demonstrated by requiring no suction (deep or oral suction) over __hr period.
• Pt will utilize quad cough at spv level to clear deep secretions and req no deep suction over __hr period.
• Pt with demonstrate ability to clear pharyngeal secretions without need for deep suction over __period.
• Pt will independently utilize yanker to clear oral secretions
• Pt will decrease anterior spillage of saliva req __ cueing to clear secretions
•  Pt will increase awareness of drooling req __ cues in __ min/sessions to wipe/mng secretions
• Pt will improve labial seal in order to decrease anterior spillage of secretions by meeting IOPI peak of __ kPa when measuring lip strength
• Pt will improve lingual strength req to mng secretions as demonstrated by IOPI peak of __kPa when measuring base of tongue strength.

DECANNULATION

• Pt will meet decannulation goals in order to increase independence to return to PLOF.
• Pt will tolerate uncuffed trach for __ hrs/days in order to demonstrate readiness for passy muir speaking valve
• Pt will down size to _ size trach in order to tolerate PMSV/demonstrate readiness for capping trials
• Pt will tolerate PMSV for __hrs in order to increase independence with verbal communication
• Pt will tolerate PMSV for __hrs in order to demonstrate readiness for capping trials and decannulation
• Pt will tolerate capping trials for __min/hrs in order to work towards decannulation
• Pt will be decannulated in order to improve swallow function/in order to improve verbal communication
• Pt and family will demonstrate understanding of trach related goals
• Pt/family will demonstrate understanding of trach/pmsv care (placement/clearing)
• Pt will meet incentive spirometer peak of __ ml to demonstrate improved breath support req for decannulation
• Pt will meet __ syllables per breath over 3 trials demonstrating improved breath support req for decannulation
• Pt will meet MPT of ___ sec over 3 trials to demonstrate breath support req for decannulation
• Pt will digitally occlude (stoma/trach) to improve breath support req for intelligible speech at __ level.

SKILLED MAINTENANCE

• Pt will maintain cog/communication skills at level of (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) with implementation of __% verbal cues and environmental modifications to decrease risk of cognitive decline.
• Pt will maintain comprehension skills at (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) with implementation of min cues during discussion of familiar topics to decrease risk of social isolation and to facilitate communication opportunities.
• Pt will maintain current diet with pleasure feedings with SLP in order to benefit quality of life.
• Pt will maintain safe swallow function while consuming (thin liquids/texture) by (spoon/cup/straw) with SLP only for pleasure feedings.
• Pt will continue to engage in 3-minute social interactions with staff during daily care in order to maintain communication skills.
• Pt will maintain short-term memory skills using a memory book and verbal cues from staff in 80% of opportunities.
• Pt will maintain ability to recall self-relevant pieces of information at __% accuracy with verbal/visual cues to maintain ability to recall events and leisure activities scheduled.
• Pt will maintain current reasoning skills at ___% accuracy and occasional (min/mod) cues to prevent cognitive decline and to maintain independence within this environment.
• Pt will maintain thought organizational skills at __% accuracy and occasional cues with task modifications as needed to prevent cognitive decline within this environment.
• Pt will maintain ability to respond to yes/no questions at __% accuracy with implementation of verbal cues to increase ability to engage in meaningful interactions.
•  Pt will demonstrate ability to use verbal and non-verbal communication to make decisions related to preferences during care tasks and daily routine with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) to facilitate highest level of independence in current environment.
• Pt will maintain ability to complete 3 conversational exchanges related to direct and observable topics using multisensory stimuli in order to reduce risk of social isolation.
• Pt will maintain current level of cognitive-communication to actively participate (following along with handout, switching between tasks, singing along, etc) in weekly activity with (independence/setup/supervision/mod assist/max assist/dependent) in order to maintain quality of life and highest level of independence with leisure activities of choice.

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Home » Blog » General » Understanding the Role of Speech Therapy in Problem Solving Development

Understanding the Role of Speech Therapy in Problem Solving Development

Keywords: speech therapy, problem solving

I. Introduction

Problem-solving skills play a crucial role in our everyday lives. From making decisions to resolving conflicts, these skills enable us to navigate through various challenges. However, for individuals with speech and language disorders, developing effective problem-solving abilities can be a significant challenge. This is where speech therapy comes in. In this blog post, we will explore the role of speech therapy in problem-solving development and how it can help individuals overcome communication barriers and enhance their problem-solving skills.

A. Importance of Problem-Solving Skills in Everyday Life

Problem-solving skills are essential for individuals of all ages. From a young age, we encounter various situations that require us to think critically, analyze information, and come up with effective solutions. Whether it’s figuring out how to complete a puzzle or resolving conflicts with friends, problem-solving abilities are crucial for personal, academic, and professional success.

B. Role of Speech Therapy in Problem-Solving Development

Speech therapy plays a vital role in supporting individuals with speech and language disorders in developing their problem-solving skills. By addressing underlying communication difficulties, speech therapists can help individuals improve their ability to express themselves, understand others, and engage in effective problem-solving strategies.

II. Understanding Speech Therapy

A. definition and purpose of speech therapy.

Speech therapy, also known as speech-language therapy, is a specialized form of therapy that focuses on assessing, diagnosing, and treating communication disorders. The primary goal of speech therapy is to improve an individual’s ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and non-verbally.

B. Common Speech and Language Disorders

Speech and language disorders can manifest in various ways, impacting an individual’s ability to communicate and, consequently, their problem-solving skills. Some common speech and language disorders include:

• Articulation disorders: difficulties with pronouncing sounds and forming words correctly.
• Language disorders: challenges with understanding and using language effectively.
• Fluency disorders: disruptions in the flow of speech, such as stuttering.
• Voice disorders: abnormalities in pitch, volume, or quality of the voice.

III. Speech Therapy and Problem Solving

A. connection between speech and language skills and problem-solving abilities.

Speech and language skills are closely intertwined with problem-solving abilities. Effective communication involves not only expressing oneself clearly but also understanding others, interpreting social cues, and adapting to different situations. Individuals with speech and language difficulties may struggle with these essential components of problem-solving, making it challenging for them to navigate through everyday life.

B. How Speech Therapy Can Enhance Problem-Solving Skills

Speech therapy provides individuals with the necessary tools and strategies to improve their communication skills, thereby enhancing their problem-solving abilities. Through targeted interventions, speech therapists work on improving language comprehension, expressive language skills, social communication, and cognitive-linguistic abilities. By addressing these areas, individuals can develop the foundation needed for effective problem-solving.

IV. Techniques Used in Speech Therapy for Problem Solving

Speech therapists utilize various techniques and approaches to support individuals in developing their problem-solving skills. Some common techniques include:

A. Communication Strategies

Speech therapists teach individuals effective communication strategies, such as using visual aids, gestures, and alternative communication systems (e.g., augmentative and alternative communication devices). These strategies help individuals overcome communication barriers and express their thoughts and ideas more effectively, facilitating problem-solving.

B. Cognitive-Linguistic Exercises

Cognitive-linguistic exercises focus on improving cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving. Speech therapists incorporate these exercises into therapy sessions to enhance an individual’s cognitive abilities, which are essential for effective problem-solving.

C. Social Skills Training

Social skills training is a crucial component of speech therapy for individuals with speech and language disorders. By teaching social communication skills, such as turn-taking, active listening, and perspective-taking, speech therapists help individuals navigate social interactions and problem-solving situations effectively.

V. Collaborative Approach in Speech Therapy

A. working with parents and caregivers.

Speech therapy is most effective when it extends beyond the therapy room. Speech therapists work closely with parents and caregivers to ensure that strategies and techniques learned in therapy are reinforced and practiced in everyday situations. By involving parents and caregivers, speech therapists create a collaborative approach that maximizes the impact of therapy on problem-solving development.

B. Collaboration with Other Professionals

Speech therapists often collaborate with other professionals, such as educators, psychologists, and occupational therapists, to provide comprehensive support to individuals with speech and language disorders. This interdisciplinary approach ensures that all aspects of an individual’s development are addressed, including problem-solving skills.

VI. Benefits of Speech Therapy in Problem Solving Development

A. improved communication skills.

One of the primary benefits of speech therapy is improved communication skills. As individuals develop their speech and language abilities, they can express themselves more effectively, understand others better, and engage in meaningful conversations. These enhanced communication skills directly contribute to improved problem-solving abilities.

B. Enhanced Cognitive Abilities

Speech therapy interventions, such as cognitive-linguistic exercises, can enhance an individual’s cognitive abilities. By improving attention, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving skills, speech therapy helps individuals develop the cognitive foundation necessary for effective problem-solving.

C. Increased Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem

Individuals with speech and language disorders often experience challenges in social interactions, which can impact their self-confidence and self-esteem. Through speech therapy, individuals gain the skills and strategies to navigate social situations and communicate effectively. As a result, their self-confidence and self-esteem improve, enabling them to approach problem-solving tasks with a positive mindset.

VII. Conclusion

A. recap of the role of speech therapy in problem-solving development.

Speech therapy plays a crucial role in supporting individuals with speech and language disorders in developing their problem-solving skills. By addressing communication difficulties, speech therapists provide individuals with the necessary tools and strategies to express themselves, understand others, and engage in effective problem-solving strategies.

B. Encouragement to Seek Professional Help for Speech and Language Concerns

If you or someone you know is experiencing speech and language difficulties that are impacting problem-solving abilities, it is essential to seek professional help. Speech therapists are trained professionals who can assess, diagnose, and provide targeted interventions to support individuals in their communication and problem-solving development.

Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial today and take the first step towards enhancing problem-solving skills through speech therapy.

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Speech Therapy Care

Author: shadase

Pragmatic goals for speech therapy

We need to be able to talk to each other every day. We talk to each other so that we can share our thoughts , feelings, and ideas. Communication is important for building connections, letting people know what we need, and reaching our goals. But some people may find it hard to talk to other people. Speech treatment helps in this situation. Speech therapy tries to improve a person’s ability to communicate, and pragmatic goals for speech therapy are an integral part of this process.

Pragmatics is the study of how language is used in real life . It means being able to use words correctly in different social situations, like conversations, group activities, and relationships. Speech therapy has practical goals that focus on improving a person’s ability to interact in a variety of social settings.

Speech therapists help people with speech problems like autism, cerebral palsy, stuttering, and language delays. The pragmatic goals for speech therapy are meant to help these people improve their ability to communicate and get along better with others.

Taking Turns

Taking turns is an important part of communicating. It means taking turns talking, listening to others, and answering in the right way. People with communication problems may have trouble waiting their turn, not know when to speak, or interrupt others. Speech therapy can help people learn how to take turns by having them do things like games, role-playing, and conversation practice that involve taking turns.

Understanding Non-Verbal Cues

Non-verbal cues like facial expressions, gestures, and body language are very important for good conversation. People who have trouble communicating may have trouble understanding nonverbal cues, which can lead to mistakes or miscommunication. People can learn to understand nonverbal cues better with the help of visual tools, role-play, and social stories in speech therapy.

Keeping Conversations Going

To keep a conversation going, you have to listen, ask questions, and answer in the right way. People with communication disorders may find it hard to keep up a talk, which can make interactions one-sided or make it hard to build relationships. Speech therapy can help people learn how to talk to other people by having them practice starting conversations, asking open-ended questions, and giving the right answers.

Understanding Social Norms

Social norms are the expected and accepted ways of acting in different social settings. People who have trouble communicating may find it hard to understand social rules, which can lead to bad behavior or social isolation. Using social stories, role-playing, and visual aids, speech therapy can help people understand social rules.

Making Requests

Making requests means asking for help or letting people know what you need. People who have trouble communicating may find it hard to make requests, which can make them frustrated or make it hard to meet their needs. Speech therapy can help people learn how to make requests by doing speech activities like role-play, games, and social stories that involve making requests.

Understand Sarcasm and Figurative Language

In both sarcasm and figurative language, words or sentences are used in a way that is not literal. People who have trouble communicating may have trouble understanding sarcasm or figurative language, which can lead to mistakes or social isolation. People can learn to understand sarcasm and figurative language better in speech therapy by using visual tools, role-play, and social stories.

Using Polite Language

Using proper language in different social settings is part of using polite language. People with communication disorders may find it hard to use polite words, which can lead to bad behavior or being left alone. Speech therapy can help people learn how to speak in a polite way by having them practice using polite words in activities like role-playing and social stories.

Resolving Conflicts

Managing conflicts and coming up with answers that work for everyone is what it means to resolve a conflict. People who have trouble communicating may find it hard to solve problems, which can lead to confusion or social isolation. Speech therapy can help people learn how to solve conflicts by having them do things like role-play, social stories, and problem-solving tasks that involve solving conflicts.

Show Empathy

To show empathy, you have to be able to understand and share the thoughts of others. People with communication disorders may find it hard to show empathy, which can make it hard to build connections. Speech therapy can help people learn to be more empathetic by having them practice communicating in ways that show empathy, such as through role-playing and social stories.

Using Humor

Using words in a playful or funny way is one way to use humor. People with communication problems may find it hard to understand or use humor, which can make it hard to make friends or leave them alone. People can learn to understand and use humor better in speech therapy by using visual tools, role-play, and social stories.

Final Words

In short, pragmatic goals for speech therapy focus on improving a person’s ability to communicate successfully and appropriately in different social situations.

People with communication disorders can learn to take turns, understand nonverbal cues, keep conversations going, understand social norms, make requests, understand sarcasm and figurative language, use polite language, fix conflicts, show empathy, and use humor by working on these goals.

People with communication disorders can improve their speech skills, make friends, and reach their goals if they work toward these goals.

About the Author: shadase

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