SLPs Collaborating on Literacy Disability Diagnoses: A Team Model

Part TWO of TWO:
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Constitution of the Collaborative Diagnostic Team

Figure 1 illustrates the constitution of a collaborative diagnostic team for literacy disability diagnosis. While a team's membership may differ according to the setting in which it is employed, most teams should consist of four professionals in addition to the student's parents. Parents play an important role on the team because they are the source of developmental and medical history as well as current performance. In many cases, they are the original source of concern leading to a referral for a diagnostic evaluation.



Professional team members should include the student's classroom teacher, special educator, psychologist, and speech-language pathologist. The child's classroom teacher begins the process by supplying referral information to the team. She or he will move on and off the team, based on the students to be evaluated. In the case of middle and high school students, one teacher may represent others, or multiple teachers may participate directly. Ideally, classroom teachers will have undergone in-service education regarding language and literacy. Such training equips them with specific knowledge regarding the risk factors for literacy disability, so that a given student's current symptoms or behaviors may be placed within a meaningful context. The classroom teacher provides the team with critical information about the child's performance in the regular education curriculum, relying upon observational as well as objective data from classroom assignments. In addition, he or she provides the team with information about curricular expectations and teaching methodologies in that particular classroom.