Screening Program & School Services
NOSHC Speech-Language-Hearing-Vision Screening Services
Our screening program is comprised of speech-language, hearing, and vision screenings. Our team of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and technicians travel to daycare centers, charter, and private schools to perform screenings. We screen newborns to 18 years old. The type of examination performed varies according to the child’s age. We now offer vision screenings from age 6 months to 18 years old.
After the screenings are complete, the results are compiled and distributed to the child's parents and teachers. The results are designed to aid parents and teachers in finding services to further evaluate any concerns that may have been presented during the child’s screening.
NOSHC provides screenings at 70+ schools in the metro New Orleans area. We offer screenings as well as ongoing therapy services at a number of schools. See below for a list of schools that we provide ongoing therapy in addition to our screening program.
To see an explanation of screening results, scroll below.
If you are a school contact or nurse and would like to schedule a school screening, please contact Susan Stouder:
sstouder@noshc.org or 504-897-2606 x 236.
School Services
NOSHC offers screenings and ongoing therapy at the following schools.
Meet Your School's SLP
Ongoing Therapy Services:
(click on the school to meet the NOSHC lead therapist)
Academy Of The Sacred Heart (Laura Harwood)
Arden Cahill Academy (Ashley Becher)
Good Shepherd School (Ellen Korman & Holly Neel)
Green Trees at Isidore Newman School (Julie Tortorich)
Holy Name of Jesus (Julie Tortorich & Brittany Costello)
Isidore Newman School (Julie Tortorich)
Louise S. McGehee School (Julie Tortorich)
Metairie Park Country Day (Laura Harwood)
McGehee's Little Gate (Julie Tortorich)
St. Andrew's Episcopal (Julie Tortorich)
St. Paul's Episcopal School (Michelle Daigrepont)
Stuart Hall School for Boys (Julie Tortorich & Brittany Costello)
Explanation of Screening Results
An evaluation may be recommended for your child because…
Articulation/ Speech – Your child may have mispronounced sounds in words or conversation. Misarticulations may or may not be age/developmentally appropriate. Articulation skills develop along a continuum, as do a child’s motor skills. An evaluation will determine if therapy is warranted.
Voice – Your child may have presented with a deep, hoarse, and raspy voice, pitch breaks, and visible neck tension when speaking. We also checked if loudness and pitch are age appropriate. Vocal abuse can cause damage to the vocal cords.
Fluency – Your child may have exhibited signs of stuttering, such as sound or word repetitions or prolongations.
Language – In this portion of the screening clinicians assess a child’s ability to comprehend & produce spoken language.
Language Comprehension – Your child may have had difficulty following directions, understanding, sentence structure, repeating sentences or had problems with spatial, temporal, or descriptive concepts.
Language Production – Your child may have experienced difficulty labeling objects, describing pictures, answering questions appropriately, and relating information in a sequential and cohesive manner, using age-appropriate grammar & sentence structure.
Hearing – Determines if the child’s hearing sensitivity is within normal limits and if there is any possible middle ear dysfunction.
Tympanometry –Your child may have exhibited signs & symptoms consistent with possible middle ear fluid or middle ear dysfunction.
Pure Tone – Your child may not have responded to tones presented through headphones or your child’s ability to respond may have been impacted by the results of the tympanometry. If your child had fluid in the middle ear, it may have made it more difficult to respond to the tones presented. Therefore, the child’s hearing should be rescreened following medical intervention.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) – If your child is under 3 years, or could not be conditioned to respond on the pure tone screening, the OAE, which evaluates cochlear functioning may have indicated the need for further testing.
Vision – PlusOptix Vision Machine was used to screen your child.
CNT – Could Not Test - means your child could not be conditioned or trained to respond, possibly due to crying and no results were obtained.
DNS – Did Not Screen - means screening was not conducted due to age limitations or parent or school request.