Assessing phonological skills in Hispanic/Latino children

Phonological assessment of Hispanic/Latino children (many of whom are bilingual) is often difficult because of the limited information on appropriate assessment techniques. Without information on appropriate assessment strategies for these children, there may be a delay in their receiving diagnostic (and intervention) services and an inappropriate characterization of phonological skills in both typically developing children and children with phonological disorders. In order to assess the phonological skills of Hispanic/Latino children appropriately, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) must make modifications to the standard assessment protocol. To that end, SLPs must determine language of assessment, choose assessment tools, complete phonological analyses, and consider dialect in their assessment. The purpose of this article is to delineate the procedures for completing a thorough phonological assessment for Hispanic/Latino children.