Michelle D. Smith CCC-SLP
We Help You Talk Speech and Hearing Center
Huntington, WV 25705
304-697-1122

October 5, 2000

David and Judith Bermin
4567 1st Street
Barboursville, WV 25522

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bermin,

Your son Michael was referred to me for a speech and language evaluation by Dr. Michael White. Dr. White stated his concerns with Michael’s speech development. He also stated that Michael is in excellent health, and shows no signs of a hearing impairment.

I conducted a full speech and language evaluation on Michael October 5, 2000. This evaluation included a hearing screening, which confirmed Dr. White's results. Michael does not have a hearing impairment.
The results of the speech and language evaluation indicated that Michael's expressive language is significantly lower than his receptive language. In other words, Michael is understanding language far better than he is expressing it. Michael also presented with vowel distortions during the articulation assessment. This means that Michael often uses the wrong vowels in words. As a result of these findings and with Michael's limited spoken vocabulary, I am inclined to diagnose Michael with Development Apraxia of Speech disorder (DAS).

DAS is a motor speech disorder. Children with DAS have problems with sequencing and executing the motor movements necessary for speech. As a result, children with DAS have greater difficulty expressing language. Michael presents with many common characteristics of DAS. I will verify this diagnosis after more time spent with Michael.

With the appropriate help, it is possible that Michael will gain those expressive abilities needed in speech. I recommend that Michael begin speech therapy as soon as possible. I would be delighted to have Michael join us here at WE HELP YOU TALK Speech and Hearing Clinic.

I have enclosed some information on DAS. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the evaluation, please call me.

Sincerely,
Michelle Smith

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