lacocare.fi

LaCo Oy (Language & Communication Care Oy) is a Finnish provider of assessment and practice materials for speech, language development and communication skills. Established in 1995, the company works with early childhood education and healthcare professionals, including teachers, nurses and speech therapists. Its materials are also used to assess school readiness, learning difficulties and the language skills of multilingual children, while families can use its exercises to support children’s development at home.

LaCo’s screening tools and tests are based on university-level research and were developed by Pirjo Korpilahti, a professor emerita and licensed speech therapist. Designed with the specific features of Finnish in mind, the assessments include the Kettu test for three-year-olds, the Lumiukkotesti for five-year-olds, Lausetesti for sentence comprehension, and Sama-Eri for auditory discrimination of Finnish speech sounds. The Jänis ja Kettu program offers stories and activities for practising narrative language skills. Swedish-language versions include Räven, Snögubbs-test and Satsförståelsetest; Kettu materials are also available in a Somali-language version for use in the Helsinki region.