This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of characteristics of Hispanic children identified as communication disordered. Subjects were seventy-three randomly sampled Hispanic children within the ages of three to twelve, with comparison groups of Anglos (n = 24) and Blacks (n = 28). The subjects were sampled from the population of communication disordered students in a large metropolitan school district in the southwest. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from student program folders.
Areas studied included district policies and procedures, criteria for referral, incidence of communication disorders, characteristics of students, and instructional interventions. Profiles of speech and language disordered Hispanics were developed and implications for diagnosticians and school personnel were deduced.
Major findings of this study included: (1) Special education policies and procedures for identification, assessment, placement and intervention did not address the unique characteristics of linguistically/culturally different children. (2) Hispanic children identified and served as communication disordered displayed characteristics typical of second language learners rather than communication disordered students. (3) Hispanics from Spanish-only, English-only, and dual language homes made the same articulation errors but these occurred with different frequencies across these groups. (4) Interventions for all children labeled communication disordered were implemented in English regardless of the children's linguistic background and characteristics. (5) Although the district had a significant percent (45%) of bilingual speech/language therapists, therapy interventions were provided only in English. (6) Language dominance and proficiency assessments were not routinely administered by speech/language pathologists. (7) The majority of the subjects were provided therapy for articulation disorders.
