SLP Practice Praxis Exam Questions Solved
Correctly to Pass
As part of a routine preschool screening, an SLP tests a 4-year-old whose speech is characterized by
sound omissions, hypernasality, nasal emission, and weak consonants. Which of the following would be
most appropriately evaluated initially?
A. Oral-motor behavior
B. Velopharyngeal function
C. Laryngeal function
D. Phonological awareness - Answer B
Which of the following is the minimal contrast approach most appropriately used to treat?
A. Phonological disorders
B.Dysphagia
C.Dysarthria
D.Global aphasia - Answer A
Alicia is a fourth-grade student with a language impairment that interferes with her academic
performance and social communication. On a standardized test of expressive language ability, she
received an overall score of 97.5, placing her in the 65th percentile. Alicia's test result indicates that she
A.performed as well as or better than 65% of the individuals on whom the norms were developed
B.responded correctly to 65% of the 150 items included in the expressive-language test
C.performed as well as or better than 65% of the other fourth graders who took the same test
D.responded correctly to 97.5% of the test items, as did 65% of the other children taking the test -
Answer A
Which THREE of the following variables are considered risk factors for late language emergence?
A.Male gender
B.Access to print material
C.Low socioeconomic status
D.Moderately low birth weight
,E.Exposure to rich and varied vocabulary - Answer A, C, D
During a trip to the grocery store, a three-year-old boy with delayed language points to an apple on the
floor and says to his mother, "Apple." The boy's mother says, "Yes, that's a big, shiny apple."
Based on the mother's response, which of the following language stimulation techniques is she using?
A.Imitation
B.Parallel talk
C.Think aloud
D.Expansion - Answer D
An SLP works with a 4-year-old patient diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The patient is
nonverbal, does not have a functional communication system, and does not follow simple directions.
Which of the following communicative target goals is most appropriate for the SLP to prioritize for the
patient?
A.Matching identical pictures in an array of pictures
B.Requesting wants in any modality
C.Labeling of common items verbally
D.Imitating a sequence of two actions - Answer B
A 75-year-old patient with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent a three-vessel
coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The patient needed to be intubated for three days following
surgery. After extubation, the medical team requested a swallow consultation to determine if it was safe
for the patient to take oral medications and initiate oral nutrition. Based on the patient's condition,
which of the following assessment procedures is most appropriate for an SLP to practice?
A.Administering a clinical bedside swallow evaluation and recommending an oral diet as there were no
clinical signs or symptoms of aspiration during the evaluation
B.Deferring the evaluation for 24 hours because the patient was just extubated to allow a possible
improvement in the patient's swallow function before evaluation
C.Completing a clinical bedside swallow evaluation to determine patient readiness for an instrumental
ev - Answer C, Option (C) is correct. Several studies using instrumental assessment have concluded that
some patients recover airway protection and swallow function within 24 hours of extubation and others
much later than 24 hours post-extubation following prolonged endotracheal intubation, suggesting that
a 24-hour "deferral time" benchmark is not particularly useful.
,Which of the following procedures is most important for an SLP to consider when assessing the social
aspect of a school-age child's communication skills?
A.Collecting a language sample to assess narrative skills
B.Assessing expressive vocabulary used by the child on a picture vocabulary test
C.Observing the child interacting with peers in natural settings, such as during recess
D.Looking for a discrepancy between the child's IQI Q and communication skills to determine eligibility -
Answer C
A study is conducted to determine how well a dysphagia screening test predicts aspiration that is later
confirmed with a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSSV F S S). The study results are presented in the
table below.
(Top left) Failed Screen/Aspiration: 45
(Bottom left) Passed Screen/Aspiration: 5
(Top right) Failed Screen/No Asp: 20
(Bottom right) Passed Screen/No Asp: 30
Which THREE of the following statements about this dysphagia screening test are true?
A.The screening test's sensitivity is 90%
B.The screening test's sensitivity is 69%
C.The screening test's specificity is 90%
D.The screening test's specificity is 60%
E.The number of false negatives was 5
F.The number of false negatives was 20 - Answer A, D, E, Options (A), (D), and (E) are correct. The
screening test's sensitivity is the proportion of patients who aspirated and failed the screen (top cell in
the first column) to the total of all patients who aspirated on the VFSS (total of the first column);
therefore, 45/50 = 0.9045 divided by 50, equals 0.90. The screening test's specificity is the proportion of
patients who did not aspirate and passed the screen (bottom cell in the second column) to the total of
all patients who did not aspirate on the VFSSV F S S (total of second column); therefore, 30/50 = 0.6030
divided by 50, equals 0.60. False negatives are patients who passed the screen who actually aspirated on
the VFSSV F S S (bottom cell of first column).
, A study is conducted to determine how well a dysphagia screening test predicts aspiration that is later
confirmed with a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSSV F S S). The study results are presented in the
table below.
(Top left) Failed Screen/Aspiration: 45
(Bottom left) Passed Screen/Aspiration: 5
(Top right) Failed Screen/No Asp: 20
(Bottom right) Passed Screen/No Asp: 30
Which TWO of the following statements about the results of a screening test are correct?
A.Sensitivity is the proportion of people who fail the screening test who are aspirators
B.Specificity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are aspirators
C.Sensitivity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are not aspirators
D.Specificity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are not aspirators - Answer A,
D
During a speech-language evaluation at a preschool, a child has difficulty with receptive language tasks
and responds with only one-word utterances to expressive language items. The child's eye contact is
poor throughout the session. When observed with the other children in class, the child does not engage
with peers but prefers self-stimulating behaviors such as flapping arms and throwing papers up in the
air. According to the child's teacher, these are typical behaviors for the child. Given the data obtained,
which of the following steps is most appropriate for the SLP to take next?
A.Engaging in an inter-professional practice (IPP) to determine the appropriate diagnosis of ASDA S D
B.Conducting the full evaluation when the child is more cooperative so that accurate recommendations
can be made
C.Initiating expressive language therapy to focus on expanding conversational utterances
D.Training the teacher to deliver - Answer A
Christel and Sharon are 14-month-old fraternal twins. Christel has more intelligible words than her
sister, although she talks far less frequently. Sharon speaks almost exclusively in running jargon that
nobody understands. Their parents are worried about Sharon's development because her language skills
appear to be behind those of her sister. Which of the following is an SLP's best response to the parents'
concern?
Correctly to Pass
As part of a routine preschool screening, an SLP tests a 4-year-old whose speech is characterized by
sound omissions, hypernasality, nasal emission, and weak consonants. Which of the following would be
most appropriately evaluated initially?
A. Oral-motor behavior
B. Velopharyngeal function
C. Laryngeal function
D. Phonological awareness - Answer B
Which of the following is the minimal contrast approach most appropriately used to treat?
A. Phonological disorders
B.Dysphagia
C.Dysarthria
D.Global aphasia - Answer A
Alicia is a fourth-grade student with a language impairment that interferes with her academic
performance and social communication. On a standardized test of expressive language ability, she
received an overall score of 97.5, placing her in the 65th percentile. Alicia's test result indicates that she
A.performed as well as or better than 65% of the individuals on whom the norms were developed
B.responded correctly to 65% of the 150 items included in the expressive-language test
C.performed as well as or better than 65% of the other fourth graders who took the same test
D.responded correctly to 97.5% of the test items, as did 65% of the other children taking the test -
Answer A
Which THREE of the following variables are considered risk factors for late language emergence?
A.Male gender
B.Access to print material
C.Low socioeconomic status
D.Moderately low birth weight
,E.Exposure to rich and varied vocabulary - Answer A, C, D
During a trip to the grocery store, a three-year-old boy with delayed language points to an apple on the
floor and says to his mother, "Apple." The boy's mother says, "Yes, that's a big, shiny apple."
Based on the mother's response, which of the following language stimulation techniques is she using?
A.Imitation
B.Parallel talk
C.Think aloud
D.Expansion - Answer D
An SLP works with a 4-year-old patient diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The patient is
nonverbal, does not have a functional communication system, and does not follow simple directions.
Which of the following communicative target goals is most appropriate for the SLP to prioritize for the
patient?
A.Matching identical pictures in an array of pictures
B.Requesting wants in any modality
C.Labeling of common items verbally
D.Imitating a sequence of two actions - Answer B
A 75-year-old patient with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent a three-vessel
coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The patient needed to be intubated for three days following
surgery. After extubation, the medical team requested a swallow consultation to determine if it was safe
for the patient to take oral medications and initiate oral nutrition. Based on the patient's condition,
which of the following assessment procedures is most appropriate for an SLP to practice?
A.Administering a clinical bedside swallow evaluation and recommending an oral diet as there were no
clinical signs or symptoms of aspiration during the evaluation
B.Deferring the evaluation for 24 hours because the patient was just extubated to allow a possible
improvement in the patient's swallow function before evaluation
C.Completing a clinical bedside swallow evaluation to determine patient readiness for an instrumental
ev - Answer C, Option (C) is correct. Several studies using instrumental assessment have concluded that
some patients recover airway protection and swallow function within 24 hours of extubation and others
much later than 24 hours post-extubation following prolonged endotracheal intubation, suggesting that
a 24-hour "deferral time" benchmark is not particularly useful.
,Which of the following procedures is most important for an SLP to consider when assessing the social
aspect of a school-age child's communication skills?
A.Collecting a language sample to assess narrative skills
B.Assessing expressive vocabulary used by the child on a picture vocabulary test
C.Observing the child interacting with peers in natural settings, such as during recess
D.Looking for a discrepancy between the child's IQI Q and communication skills to determine eligibility -
Answer C
A study is conducted to determine how well a dysphagia screening test predicts aspiration that is later
confirmed with a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSSV F S S). The study results are presented in the
table below.
(Top left) Failed Screen/Aspiration: 45
(Bottom left) Passed Screen/Aspiration: 5
(Top right) Failed Screen/No Asp: 20
(Bottom right) Passed Screen/No Asp: 30
Which THREE of the following statements about this dysphagia screening test are true?
A.The screening test's sensitivity is 90%
B.The screening test's sensitivity is 69%
C.The screening test's specificity is 90%
D.The screening test's specificity is 60%
E.The number of false negatives was 5
F.The number of false negatives was 20 - Answer A, D, E, Options (A), (D), and (E) are correct. The
screening test's sensitivity is the proportion of patients who aspirated and failed the screen (top cell in
the first column) to the total of all patients who aspirated on the VFSS (total of the first column);
therefore, 45/50 = 0.9045 divided by 50, equals 0.90. The screening test's specificity is the proportion of
patients who did not aspirate and passed the screen (bottom cell in the second column) to the total of
all patients who did not aspirate on the VFSSV F S S (total of second column); therefore, 30/50 = 0.6030
divided by 50, equals 0.60. False negatives are patients who passed the screen who actually aspirated on
the VFSSV F S S (bottom cell of first column).
, A study is conducted to determine how well a dysphagia screening test predicts aspiration that is later
confirmed with a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSSV F S S). The study results are presented in the
table below.
(Top left) Failed Screen/Aspiration: 45
(Bottom left) Passed Screen/Aspiration: 5
(Top right) Failed Screen/No Asp: 20
(Bottom right) Passed Screen/No Asp: 30
Which TWO of the following statements about the results of a screening test are correct?
A.Sensitivity is the proportion of people who fail the screening test who are aspirators
B.Specificity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are aspirators
C.Sensitivity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are not aspirators
D.Specificity is the proportion of people who pass the screening test who are not aspirators - Answer A,
D
During a speech-language evaluation at a preschool, a child has difficulty with receptive language tasks
and responds with only one-word utterances to expressive language items. The child's eye contact is
poor throughout the session. When observed with the other children in class, the child does not engage
with peers but prefers self-stimulating behaviors such as flapping arms and throwing papers up in the
air. According to the child's teacher, these are typical behaviors for the child. Given the data obtained,
which of the following steps is most appropriate for the SLP to take next?
A.Engaging in an inter-professional practice (IPP) to determine the appropriate diagnosis of ASDA S D
B.Conducting the full evaluation when the child is more cooperative so that accurate recommendations
can be made
C.Initiating expressive language therapy to focus on expanding conversational utterances
D.Training the teacher to deliver - Answer A
Christel and Sharon are 14-month-old fraternal twins. Christel has more intelligible words than her
sister, although she talks far less frequently. Sharon speaks almost exclusively in running jargon that
nobody understands. Their parents are worried about Sharon's development because her language skills
appear to be behind those of her sister. Which of the following is an SLP's best response to the parents'
concern?
