North Carolina SLP-Assistant Exam: (Latest 2026/2027 Update) NC SLPA
Licensure & Scope of Practice | Q&A | Grade A | 100% Correct (Verified
Answers) – NC SLPA Program
Subject: North Carolina SLP-Assistant Exam – Licensure, Scope of Practice, Ethics, and Clinical Tasks
Source: NC Board of Examiners for SLP and Audiology (NCBOE) & ASHA Guidelines
Format: Q&A Guide with Rationale | All Questions Exhausted
Total questions: 115 (every definition, true/false, scenario, and concept from raw data)
1: What are the 5 Objectives of Intervention?
Correct Answer: 1) Client should show improvement generalized to real-world environments. 2) Should be automatic. 3)
Should be self-monitored. 4) Should make optimum progress in minimum amount of time. 5) Intervention should be
sensitive to personal and cultural characteristics.
1. Generalization ensures skills transfer from clinic to natural settings (home, school, community).
2. Automaticity means the client can produce the skill without conscious effort, freeing cognitive resources for other
tasks.
3. Self-monitoring empowers clients to recognize and correct their own errors, promoting independence.
2: What is a Treatment Protocol?
Correct Answer: Written guideline that specifies therapy frequency, duration, and type of service. Also has goals, skilled
interventions, antecedents, cues/prompts, and consequences used during the session.
1. Treatment protocols are written by the supervising SLP and must be followed by the SLPA.
2. Protocols ensure consistency across sessions and allow data-driven decision making.
3. Changes to protocol require SLP approval and new written documentation.
3: As an SLPA, why is it important to be culturally competent?
Correct Answer: To treat the client to the best of your ability while being sensitive to cultural differences that you may
have to adapt to in order to treat the client properly.
1. Cultural competence prevents misdiagnosis of language difference as disorder.
2. Respect for cultural values improves therapeutic alliance and client engagement.
3. SLPA must adapt materials, activities, and communication styles to client's cultural background.
4: What is Modeling?
Correct Answer: Showing the child exactly what to do.
1. Modeling is a direct teaching technique where the clinician demonstrates the target behavior.
2. The client then imitates the modeled behavior.
3. Most-to-least prompting hierarchies often start with full modeling.
5: What is a Verbal Model?
Correct Answer: Tell child exactly what to say.
1. The clinician says the target word/phrase and instructs the child to repeat it.
2. Example: "Say 'ball.'" This is a direct verbal prompt.
3. Contrast with verbal cue (partial information).
,6: What is a Tactile Model?
Correct Answer: Use touch to help the child.
1. Tactile cues involve physical guidance or touch to facilitate correct production.
2. Example: Touching the child's jaw to help it drop for an open vowel.
3. Tactile cues are part of multisensory treatment approaches.
7: What is a Verbal Prompt?
Correct Answer: Starting to say what the child is supposed to say.
1. Verbal prompt gives partial phonetic information to trigger the target response.
2. Example: "It starts with a 'b'..." to cue "ball."
3. Less invasive than full verbal model; used in least-to-most prompting.
8: What is a Verbal Cue?
Correct Answer: Telling the child what to do. Example: "Find the ball."
1. Verbal cue is an instruction or direction, not a model of the target.
2. Example: "Point to the picture of the cat."
3. Used to elicit a response without directly providing the target production.
9: What is a Visual Cue?
Correct Answer: Using visual supports to cue. Examples: pictures, mirror.
1. Visual cues include pictures, written words, diagrams of mouth position, and mirrors.
2. Mirror allows client to see their own articulatory placement.
3. Visual schedules and choice boards are also visual cues.
10: What is a Gestural Cue?
Correct Answer: Use gestures to help the child. Example: pointing.
1. Gestural cues include pointing, hand signals, facial expressions, and body language.
2. Example: Tapping lips to cue bilabial sound production.
3. Often combined with other cue types for maximum effect.
11: What is Apraxia?
Correct Answer: Acquired oral motor speech disorder affecting an individual's ability to translate conscious speech plans
into motor plans, resulting in limited difficult speech ability.
1. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurologically based motor speech disorder.
2. Inconsistent speech errors, difficulty with prosody, and groping movements are hallmark features.
3. Acquired apraxia occurs after brain injury (stroke, TBI) in adults.
12: SOAP Notes Acronym.
Correct Answer: Subjective (concerns of family/individual); Objective (specific clinical findings, test results, data);
Assessment (compares client performance across sessions); Plan (states course of action).
1. Subjective includes client/family report, feelings, and observations from others.
2. Objective includes measurable data (percentages, test scores, tally counts).
3. Assessment is SLP's clinical interpretation (SLPA may not write the Assessment section).
, 13: What is Baseline Data?
Correct Answer: Data before intervention starts.
1. Baseline establishes the client's current performance level before treatment begins.
2. Used to set measurable goals and measure progress over time.
3. Typically collected over 3-5 sessions to ensure stability.
14: Extension vs. Expansion (in language facilitation).
Correct Answer: Extension - add more information to child's utterance. Expansion - keep child's word order the same,
expand to make more grammatically correct.
1. Child says "dog run." Extension: "Yes, the brown dog is running fast."
2. Expansion: "The dog is running." (corrects grammar without changing meaning).
3. Both are evidence-based language facilitation techniques.
15: What are Non-Linguistic Cues?
Correct Answer: Gestures, body language, facial expressions, physical distance.
1. Non-linguistic cues communicate meaning without words.
2. Includes prosody (tone, pitch, volume) as well as visual signals.
3. Important for social communication and pragmatic language.
16: What are compensatory strategies for disfluent speech? (List at least 5)
Correct Answer: 1) Sliding/pullouts; 2) Relaxing the stutter; 3) Catching the stutter; 4) Intentional stuttering; 5) Easy
stuttering; 6) Bouncing; 7) Cancellation; 8) Preparatory set; 9) Light contact; 10) Slower speech rates; 11) Relaxed breath
patterns; 12) Slow/stretched speech; 13) Easy onset; 14) Pausing and chunking.
1. Compensatory strategies help manage stuttering moments and reduce secondary behaviors.
2. Easy onset and light contact prevent tension buildup before speaking.
3. Cancellation and pullouts are used after a stuttered moment to release tension.
17: What is an Articulation Disorder?
Correct Answer: Difficulty in production of individual speech sounds.
1. Articulation disorders involve errors in producing phonemes (substitutions, omissions, distortions, additions).
2. Example: "wabbit" for "rabbit" (substitution).
3. Different from phonological disorder (patterns of errors across sound classes).
18: What is a Language Disorder?
Correct Answer: Difficulty in comprehension, speaking, writing.
1. Language disorders affect receptive (understanding) and/or expressive (production) language.
2. May impact vocabulary, syntax, morphology, semantics, or pragmatics.
3. SLPA implements language therapy per SLP-developed protocols.
19: What is a Fluency Disorder?
Correct Answer: Bumpy speech characterized by non-smooth and interrupted speech.
1. Fluency disorders include stuttering (repetitions, prolongations, blocks) and cluttering (rapid/irregular rate).
2. Characterized by disruptions in the forward flow of speech.
3. May include secondary behaviors (eye blinks, head movements) and negative affective reactions.
Licensure & Scope of Practice | Q&A | Grade A | 100% Correct (Verified
Answers) – NC SLPA Program
Subject: North Carolina SLP-Assistant Exam – Licensure, Scope of Practice, Ethics, and Clinical Tasks
Source: NC Board of Examiners for SLP and Audiology (NCBOE) & ASHA Guidelines
Format: Q&A Guide with Rationale | All Questions Exhausted
Total questions: 115 (every definition, true/false, scenario, and concept from raw data)
1: What are the 5 Objectives of Intervention?
Correct Answer: 1) Client should show improvement generalized to real-world environments. 2) Should be automatic. 3)
Should be self-monitored. 4) Should make optimum progress in minimum amount of time. 5) Intervention should be
sensitive to personal and cultural characteristics.
1. Generalization ensures skills transfer from clinic to natural settings (home, school, community).
2. Automaticity means the client can produce the skill without conscious effort, freeing cognitive resources for other
tasks.
3. Self-monitoring empowers clients to recognize and correct their own errors, promoting independence.
2: What is a Treatment Protocol?
Correct Answer: Written guideline that specifies therapy frequency, duration, and type of service. Also has goals, skilled
interventions, antecedents, cues/prompts, and consequences used during the session.
1. Treatment protocols are written by the supervising SLP and must be followed by the SLPA.
2. Protocols ensure consistency across sessions and allow data-driven decision making.
3. Changes to protocol require SLP approval and new written documentation.
3: As an SLPA, why is it important to be culturally competent?
Correct Answer: To treat the client to the best of your ability while being sensitive to cultural differences that you may
have to adapt to in order to treat the client properly.
1. Cultural competence prevents misdiagnosis of language difference as disorder.
2. Respect for cultural values improves therapeutic alliance and client engagement.
3. SLPA must adapt materials, activities, and communication styles to client's cultural background.
4: What is Modeling?
Correct Answer: Showing the child exactly what to do.
1. Modeling is a direct teaching technique where the clinician demonstrates the target behavior.
2. The client then imitates the modeled behavior.
3. Most-to-least prompting hierarchies often start with full modeling.
5: What is a Verbal Model?
Correct Answer: Tell child exactly what to say.
1. The clinician says the target word/phrase and instructs the child to repeat it.
2. Example: "Say 'ball.'" This is a direct verbal prompt.
3. Contrast with verbal cue (partial information).
,6: What is a Tactile Model?
Correct Answer: Use touch to help the child.
1. Tactile cues involve physical guidance or touch to facilitate correct production.
2. Example: Touching the child's jaw to help it drop for an open vowel.
3. Tactile cues are part of multisensory treatment approaches.
7: What is a Verbal Prompt?
Correct Answer: Starting to say what the child is supposed to say.
1. Verbal prompt gives partial phonetic information to trigger the target response.
2. Example: "It starts with a 'b'..." to cue "ball."
3. Less invasive than full verbal model; used in least-to-most prompting.
8: What is a Verbal Cue?
Correct Answer: Telling the child what to do. Example: "Find the ball."
1. Verbal cue is an instruction or direction, not a model of the target.
2. Example: "Point to the picture of the cat."
3. Used to elicit a response without directly providing the target production.
9: What is a Visual Cue?
Correct Answer: Using visual supports to cue. Examples: pictures, mirror.
1. Visual cues include pictures, written words, diagrams of mouth position, and mirrors.
2. Mirror allows client to see their own articulatory placement.
3. Visual schedules and choice boards are also visual cues.
10: What is a Gestural Cue?
Correct Answer: Use gestures to help the child. Example: pointing.
1. Gestural cues include pointing, hand signals, facial expressions, and body language.
2. Example: Tapping lips to cue bilabial sound production.
3. Often combined with other cue types for maximum effect.
11: What is Apraxia?
Correct Answer: Acquired oral motor speech disorder affecting an individual's ability to translate conscious speech plans
into motor plans, resulting in limited difficult speech ability.
1. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurologically based motor speech disorder.
2. Inconsistent speech errors, difficulty with prosody, and groping movements are hallmark features.
3. Acquired apraxia occurs after brain injury (stroke, TBI) in adults.
12: SOAP Notes Acronym.
Correct Answer: Subjective (concerns of family/individual); Objective (specific clinical findings, test results, data);
Assessment (compares client performance across sessions); Plan (states course of action).
1. Subjective includes client/family report, feelings, and observations from others.
2. Objective includes measurable data (percentages, test scores, tally counts).
3. Assessment is SLP's clinical interpretation (SLPA may not write the Assessment section).
, 13: What is Baseline Data?
Correct Answer: Data before intervention starts.
1. Baseline establishes the client's current performance level before treatment begins.
2. Used to set measurable goals and measure progress over time.
3. Typically collected over 3-5 sessions to ensure stability.
14: Extension vs. Expansion (in language facilitation).
Correct Answer: Extension - add more information to child's utterance. Expansion - keep child's word order the same,
expand to make more grammatically correct.
1. Child says "dog run." Extension: "Yes, the brown dog is running fast."
2. Expansion: "The dog is running." (corrects grammar without changing meaning).
3. Both are evidence-based language facilitation techniques.
15: What are Non-Linguistic Cues?
Correct Answer: Gestures, body language, facial expressions, physical distance.
1. Non-linguistic cues communicate meaning without words.
2. Includes prosody (tone, pitch, volume) as well as visual signals.
3. Important for social communication and pragmatic language.
16: What are compensatory strategies for disfluent speech? (List at least 5)
Correct Answer: 1) Sliding/pullouts; 2) Relaxing the stutter; 3) Catching the stutter; 4) Intentional stuttering; 5) Easy
stuttering; 6) Bouncing; 7) Cancellation; 8) Preparatory set; 9) Light contact; 10) Slower speech rates; 11) Relaxed breath
patterns; 12) Slow/stretched speech; 13) Easy onset; 14) Pausing and chunking.
1. Compensatory strategies help manage stuttering moments and reduce secondary behaviors.
2. Easy onset and light contact prevent tension buildup before speaking.
3. Cancellation and pullouts are used after a stuttered moment to release tension.
17: What is an Articulation Disorder?
Correct Answer: Difficulty in production of individual speech sounds.
1. Articulation disorders involve errors in producing phonemes (substitutions, omissions, distortions, additions).
2. Example: "wabbit" for "rabbit" (substitution).
3. Different from phonological disorder (patterns of errors across sound classes).
18: What is a Language Disorder?
Correct Answer: Difficulty in comprehension, speaking, writing.
1. Language disorders affect receptive (understanding) and/or expressive (production) language.
2. May impact vocabulary, syntax, morphology, semantics, or pragmatics.
3. SLPA implements language therapy per SLP-developed protocols.
19: What is a Fluency Disorder?
Correct Answer: Bumpy speech characterized by non-smooth and interrupted speech.
1. Fluency disorders include stuttering (repetitions, prolongations, blocks) and cluttering (rapid/irregular rate).
2. Characterized by disruptions in the forward flow of speech.
3. May include secondary behaviors (eye blinks, head movements) and negative affective reactions.
