Speech anxiety tests are used a lot in pediatric settings. Speech anxiety refers to fear, hesitation, or
discomfort during verbal communication, and in pediatrics, it is commonly assessed through structured screening tools or instruments such as the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) (McLeod and Verdon, 2017). These tools help doctors and teachers catch early signs of trouble with
communication. But I’ve noticed a pattern. When these screenings are used with children from immigrant or multilingual families, the results can be misleading. Most of the tools used today were designed for kids who grew up speaking only English, specifically in the United States, in households that follow Western cultural expectations (Bedore and Peña, 2008). If a child doesn’t respond the way those tools expect, they can be misunderstood.