Issue 22: Digging Deeper | Rachel Beckwith

When I first met Daveed, he was a wiry 9-year-old who was squirmy, distractible, and just a bit chaotic. He had immigrated from Guatemala within the past year. As his assigned speech-language pathologist, I was tasked with improving his articulation and language skills. He often disrupted those early therapy sessions with off-topic conversations in a combination of English and Spanish. It did not take long until his teacher was voicing her frustration at his performance and behavior. Then, I casually mentioned (American) football one day, which he heard as “futbol.” Suddenly, I had his full attention. It turned out that Daveed was not only a soccer player, but he was also quite the soccer aficionado. From that moment, Daveed and I had a connection. He opened up and quoted statistics, past coaches, player strengths, and intricate recounts of past soccer matches, all of which were recounted in a combination of English and Spanish – heavy on the Spanish. I searched for ways to connect futbol or soccer to our therapy targets. As the year progressed, Daveed would attempt to escape from his classroom (and a teacher who just did not understand him) to my therapy room. He was always asking me to check the scores of soccer matches.

It created quite a quandary for the committee, and the picture presented by the psychological examiner did not match the Daveed I had come to know.

It was not long until Daveed showed that he was capable of much more than his assessment and previous data showed. While he came to me with very basic vocabulary goals (such as naming basic categories), he quickly proved he could do that and much more as long as he could answer in either Spanish or English. I spent a lot of therapy time with an English-Spanish dictionary handy and the district interpreter on standby. He even compared and contrasted two premier league soccer teams independently. In fact, I learned that Daveed was capable of complicated statistics when it related to soccer. This became apparent when I learned he was using the betting information at the bottom of an article about an upcoming match in order to set odds and accept bets from his fellow classmates. Graduate school did not prepare me to deal with shutting down the 3rd grade bookie.

When it was time for Daveed’s re-evaluation, the decision was made by the examiner to give a verbal IQ test despite Daveed’s continued status as an English Learner. (I suspect this was largely due to his total time in the United States, but I do not know.) His scores showed that he had considerable cognitive limitations. His progress in learning English was slower than expected, and his reading skills remained well below what was expected for his age and grade level. At the same time, his language scores in Spanish (and a few given in English!) showed that his skills in those areas were average. It created quite a quandary for the committee, and the picture presented by the psychological examiner did not match the Daveed I had come to know.

Working successfully with Daveed required a paradigm shift as his SLP. He forced me to go beyond the surface level of data and truly interpret the results. While I had always attempted to be diligent in providing evidence-based services, Daveed required that I hone my skills regarding executive functioning, dyslexia, English Learners, and culturally and linguistically sensitive services. He required a much deeper look into what was happening. In fact, Daveed has significantly limited working memory due to a medical diagnosis and medication. These medical issues mimic fairly severe ADHD-like symptoms. While these issues appeared obvious when working with him on a day-to-day basis, those who did not interact with him as frequently missed them. Research tells us that working memory is an even better predictor of academic success than IQ. Working memory is a critical skill for English Learners and is directly related to vocabulary acquisition and reading skills. In Daveed’s case, his working memory deficits significantly limited his overall IQ score. Furthermore, his IQ scores (and underlying working memory deficits) were camouflaging his dyslexia. Lack of reading progress was attributed to his status as an English Learner and limitations related to his IQ without considering the limitations or idiosyncrasies within those results.

Research tells us that working memory is an even better predictor of academic success than IQ.

While I continue to believe that data should lead educational decisions, Daveed is a perfect example of how we must be cautious in how we interpret that data and of the limitations of our data. While assessment results are important, we cannot discount the effect of connecting to our students. Daveed had proven over and over that he was much more than the results of one test. When outliers or questionable results arise, we must dig deeper to find out why they do not match our current view of this student. If we had blindly followed the data without really deconstructing and interpreting it, Daveed might have had very different outcomes.

Daveed is also a cautionary tale of working within a vacuum. My coworkers and I had implemented procedures to improve our communication and collaboration. However, Daveed proves that there were gaps. There are limited opportunities to reach out to each and every team member for each student. However, the onus is and should continue to be on each member of a student’s team to ensure that communication exists and is sufficient for meeting the needs of the student. This often requires considerable thinking outside of the box, but it also ensures that each team member is valued.

When outliers or questionable results arise, we must dig deeper to find out why they do not match our current view of this student.

Never lose sight of the individual.

Daveed is ultimately a conglomeration of several students. However, the core of Daveed is based on a student who is now in middle school. He has grown so much and is now reading between one and two grade levels below his current grade. He continues to receive services for his dyslexia and articulation deficits. He is beginning to understand how to use his strengths to leverage his weaknesses. I am also happy to report that, to the best of my knowledge, he did not continue taking bets at school. He continues to love and play soccer, and I have promised to watch him play in his first professional soccer match. Whatever the future holds for Daveed, I can promise that I learned more from him than he ever learned from me.

References

• Boudreau, D., & Costanza-Smith, A. (2011). Assessment and Treatment of Working Memory Deficits in School-Age Children: The Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 42(2), 152–166. [doi.org]
• Meltzer, L., Greschler, M. A., Davis, K., & Vanderberg, C. (2021). Executive Function, Metacognition, and Language: Promoting Student Success With Explicit Strategy Instruction. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1–14. [doi.org]

Rachel Beckwith

Rachel Beckwith, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, is a school-based clinician who works in a rural yet diverse area. She works primarily with upper elementary students. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and her master's degree from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Rachel has been an SLP since 2004 and has experience in a multitude of settings. In 2023, she obtained her board certification in childhood language and language disorders and her state teaching license in English as a Second Language (ESL). Rachel also has three children who keep her very busy.

Extracts from Dystinct Magazine