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Speech screenings
District partners with UTEP to provide speech screenings
Posted on 10/24/2019
This is the image for the news article titled District partners with UTEP to provide speech screeningsBy Lhaisha Contreras

For the first time in El Paso, preschool students in the Canutillo Independent School District received a special benefit from The University of Texas at El Paso. The UTEP Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) Department collaborated with the district to provide free screenings to the district’s six elementary schools.

Approximately 250 Canutillo preschoolers were screened to identify potential speech or language delays that can possibly impact the academic success and social skills in children. Gloria Macias-DeFrance, SLP program coordinator at UTEP, supervised six second-year graduate students who conducted the screenings in August.

Canutillo ISD Speech-Language Pathologist Pamela Perez said that the UTEP students got the opportunity to improve their experience in the work environment and that the positive attitude of the kids was a huge benefit.

“The kids were very excited and also enjoyed doing the activities that the UTEP students asked them to do,” Perez said. “Their confidence has gone up and they learned what we do and where to go if they need help. Early is Best.”

Perez added that this is a great example of the collaboration between the district and UTEP and planning has already begun to help improve the screenings for next year.