Comments on: When Bilingualism is Confused with a Speech Disorder

By: Sarita

Sarita — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:51:04 +0000

My brother, Juan, once flunked an English language proficiency test because he was shown images of the sun in the early morning hours and another in the evening hours and was asked to give a one word description for each of the images, he said “dawn” and “dusk” instead of “sunrise” and “sunset.” Instead of seeing that his English skills were so developed that he could recite the more unexpected synonyms for each word he was deemed language deficient. It shocks me to no end that skilled professionals are not able to see the bigger picture and think on their feet in this multicultural/multilingual word.

By: Lendy Salazar

Lendy Salazar — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:30:54 +0000

Great article! But what was the final result for your son ? Resolution? Did you provide the school with the results from the multilingual specialist? Or is he still considered below average in English and if so, what does that mean? Will he be put in a special class? I remember going through this as a child, but I also recall loving school and many telling my parents how smart I was, but those tests make you feel otherwise. Therefore, I want to be prepared if my daughter goes through it.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:59:39 +0000

Gracias

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:02:52 +0000

Thanks for your support.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:02:15 +0000

A bilingual speech pathologist can really help with any concerns you may have.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:45 +0000

I’ve heard of that happening.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:59:22 +0000

Thanks!

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:39:00 +0000

The same thing happened to me when I was a child. I was sent to a speech therapist because I had trouble with my alphabet. I would switch back and forth between the English and Spanish pronunciation in class. Fortunately the speech therapist that worked with me understood that it was not a disability but was because I was acquiring two languages and had not yet learned to “code switch.”

By: Claudia

Claudia — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:23:04 +0000

And you have to remember that schools love to have this kids with “problems” because they get money from the School District …. My daughter doesn’t even speak Spanish… she understand everything but she always answer in English to me. I felt that she was being discriminated because “I speak Spanish”.

By: Tally

Tally — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:05:17 +0000

I had the same problem with my son’s school who is bilingual in English/Spanish.