A first-grader, Jessica, is very quiet both in the classroom
and in speech-language therapy. Her teacher thinks she is extremely shy. She
will often shake her head, which is interpreted as “she doesn’t know the
answer.” She is learning English as a second language; her first language is
Spanish. You hypothesize that she might be going through a silent period. What
could you do to help the teacher understand this developmental process? What
could you do as a clinician in speechlanguage therapy to aid in this
transition, remembering that Jessica is trying to understand English as best as
she can?
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