Teaching · Speech & Language

Every structure looked at, every finding described.

Mark the face, lips, jaw, tongue, teeth, hard palate and soft palate at rest and as they move, and the student’s quick repeated syllables for rate, rhythm and accuracy, one key per cell. Describe what you noted, add airway and feeding observations, and the form lists the findings, what was not checked and the next steps.

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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The examination form

Records use the student’s initials or a code. Descriptions, not scores: nothing is compared with norms. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A documented oral mechanism examination for each student: setup and cooperation, seven structures at rest and in movement, four sets of repeated syllables by rate, rhythm and accuracy, written descriptions of every finding, airway and feeding observations, and next steps. The summary lists the noted items, what was not checked and anything that calls for another professional.
Who it is for
Speech-language pathologists and clinical fellows completing an oral mechanism examination as part of a speech sound or motor speech evaluation; graduate clinicians learning to document one.
Format
Browser form with two keyboard grids (arrow keys move, one letter marks a cell). Several saved examinations; printed with the summary or as a blank paper form; CSV with one row per examination; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Speech & Language toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
hard palatesoft palatetongue
Drawn for this page. The examination looks at each of these at rest and as it moves, and at how quickly and evenly the student can repeat syllables.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code and get your materials ready; ask about latex and food allergies.
  2. Look at each structure at rest, then ask for movements and mark each cell t, n or x.
  3. Ask for quick repeated syllables and mark rate, rhythm and accuracy by ear.
  4. For every item marked noted, write what you saw or heard in the descriptions table.
  5. Note airway and feeding observations, choose next steps and print the record.

Start an examination

What the form documents

Description, not a test

An oral mechanism examination checks whether the structures and movements used for speech look and work as expected. The form records what you saw and heard, cell by cell, and asks for a description of anything noted. It gives no score, and the repeated-syllable rows are judged by ear rather than timed against norms. Published examination protocols have their own procedures; this form reproduces none of them.

When it points elsewhere

Findings can call for other professionals: a dentist for a bite that does not close, the child’s doctor for enlarged tonsils or mouth breathing, a team that assesses palate function for air through the nose on pressure sounds, or a feeding and swallowing assessment. The form flags these from your marks; whether to refer is the clinician’s judgment.

Safety and privacy

Use gloves and ask about latex and food allergies before anything goes in a student’s mouth. Records use a code, never a name, and stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonology; Childhood Apraxia of Speech (asha.org/practice-portal), on the oral mechanism examination within assessment.
  2. Duffy, J. R. (2020). Motor Speech Disorders: Substrates, Differential Diagnosis, and Management (4th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier, on the nonspeech oral mechanism examination and alternating and sequential motion rates.
  3. Kummer, A. W. (2020). Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Conditions: A Comprehensive Guide to Clinical Management (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett, on nasal emission and referral for velopharyngeal assessment.
  4. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Standard precautions for infection control (cdc.gov/infection-control).

The example student is made up. The form documents observations; it does not diagnose a motor speech disorder or a medical or dental condition, and it holds no state rules. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.