*Preschool Children; Preschool Education; *Spanish Speaking; Speech Evaluation; Speech Impairments; *Speech Language Pathology; Speech Therapy

Approximately 10 percent of Latino preschoolers are at risk for developing communication problems unrelated to second language acquisition. Many of these children are Spanish-speaking and have difficulties in producing speech sounds in their native language. One of the services afforded Latino preschoolers by speech-language pathologists is the assessment and treatment of phonological disorders. Providing these services is a challenge because many Latino children served are Spanish-speaking. The purpose of this paper is to provide normative data on phonological development and disorders in Spanish-speaking children and to briefly outline assessment and intervention techniques. Normative data are presented with regard to common and uncommon phonological patterns in Spanish-speaking preschool children. The paper then offers four principles to be followed when assessing the phonological skills of Spanish-speaking children: (1) use an assessment tool designed specifically to assess Spanish-speaking children; (2) take the child's dialect into account; (3) determine if the child's use of speech sounds is sufficiently different from normal development to warrant intervention; (4) determine treatment direction. The paper concludes with a discussion of treating phonological disorders in bilingual speakers. Contains 14 references. (EV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document