Articulation Practice

Two charts are provided above regarding the development of speech sounds. There are some generalities about speech sound development as well as some variances.  As sounds develop the sound could begin to develop  at the age level noted above or be developed by the age listed.  Depending upon the researchers  who studied sound development, the age levels vary.

As your child participates in speech therapy it is a good idea to have some practice opportunities at home.  Your child will learn to make their sounds in a progressive manner.  First: isolation (learning correct tongue placement, lip structure,  air flow, and voice characteristics).   Second: syllables (making the sound with a vowel, example: pa, ap, apa, ip, pi, ipi, etc.). Third: words, using the sounds in a word.  Fourth:  using the sound/ word in a short phrase or sentence.  Fifth: using the sound in a longer sentence. Sixth: using the sound in conversations.  This is the last level, it  is called  generalization, using the sound in all contexts/ settings. 

It is important to remember that learning any new skill is progressive, same as for sound development.  When a child can make the sound in isolation, he/ she will have go through the  progressive stages before you will hear the sound in conversations.  It is important to practice at home so that the consistency with practice is provided.   This will facilitate the maintenance of the sound  as well as progression. 

Another skill that is important for a child to learn is self monitoring and self correction. This involves your son/daughter listening to their speech and noticing/correcting their own errors.  This seems to be an easy skill to learn however, it progresses over time (and is very hard to do).   Try it: when you speak make a conscious effort to notice your tongue and lip movements.  What happens? Does your rate of speech slow down? Can you listen to your speech sounds and get your message across to another person at the same time? Is this easy to do?

Below are some suggestions to work on speech sounds with your child.  Your child's speech therapist will let you know the sound or group of sounds your child is working on.

• Find articulation practice sheets on the Internet. Do a google search of: articulation, sound practice sheets, sh worksheets, z pictures, etc.

• Play a memory game and find pictures that have your child's speech sound. Use the picture cards in the game.

• Cut pictures from magazines that have your child's speech sound. Make a picture collage or a book. Practice using the pictures.

As always, talk with your speech therapist if you have any questions.  We are here to help.  Remember that practicing with your child should be a fun experience. If it is not, please contact your speech therapist for further ideas/suggestions.

Sherri Shire-Susser M.A. CCC/SLP

What is Auditory Processing?

Simply stated, auditory processing is the how well our brain perceives and makes sense of incoming information. Think about this common school scenario when a classroom teacher says to her students:

“Ok class, before we open up our math books to page 55, get out your homework from last night and put it on the left hand corner of your desk for me to collect and review. While I am collecting your homework you can work with problems 1-10 on page 55.“ Some students may take out their math book and then not have a clue as to what to do next. Some students may take out their homework but not their math book. Some students may do nothing at all. Why does this happen? Is it because the student was distracted? Do they have difficulty following multi-part directions? Were they socializing and missed the instruction entirely? Does the student have a hearing loss? Could this be an auditory processing issue? All of these explanations are possibilities and can occur by themselves or in conjunction with each other.

Some students hear the words or sounds but have a problem processing them or making sense of them especially when the language is lengthy or complex, when it is spoken rapidly, when there is a lot background noise occurring in conjunction with the words or when there is a lot of visual stimulation going on. The actual cause of an auditory processing disorder is often unknown.

Both an audiologist and a speech/language pathologist determine the diagnosis of an auditory processing or a central auditory processing disorder. Often the terms central auditory processing disorder and auditory processing disorder are used interchangeably. The audiologist will rule in or out a hearing disorder while the speech/language pathologist will look at both the receptive and expressive language that a student understands and produces. Processing disorders affect approximately 5% of students. Processing disorders affect learning particularly in the areas of reading and spelling. Early intervention and treatment are the most beneficial ways to help your child learn strategies to minimize their processing issues.

Once a processing disorder has been diagnosed most children will work with their school speech pathologist on their specific areas of weakness within the processing profile. They could have a specific weakness with memory, comprehension or phonemic awareness. Below are a few classroom accommodations that will be very important to be part of your child’s overall intervention process:

• Use simple, brief directions.
• Give directions in a logical, time ordered sequence. Use words such as first, next and finally in order to make the sequence clear.
• Repeat as well as rephrase directions.
• Use visual aids and write instructions to supplement spoken information. Teach the student with a multimodal approach whenever possible.
• Emphasize key words when speaking or writing especially when presenting new information. Pre instruction with emphasis on the main ideas to be presented may also be helpful.
• Check comprehension by asking the student questions or asking for a brief summary after key ideas have presented.
• Encourage the student to ask questions for further clarification.
• Provide advantageous seating, away from distractions and close to the teacher. This will enable the student to make better use of auditory and visual cues.
• Make instructional transitions clear.
• Continual repetition and review of previously learned material may be beneficial.
• Recognize periods of real fatigue and give breaks as necessary.
• Avoid asking the student to listen and write at the same time. Tape recording and teacher-generated notes may be beneficial.
• Provide the student with as many graphic organizers as possible.
• Give the student additional processing and formulation time as needed.

Submitted by:  Randi Weinberg

http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/adhd-related-issues/auditory-processing-disorders/auditory-processing-disorder-by-age-group

http://www.ldonline.org/article/8056/

Word Retrieval Strategies/Suggestions

Below is a list of strategies to facilitate word retrieval skills. Suggestions are provided for both teachers and parents.

·         Provide ample time for the student to respond.

·         Use cuing strategies. A cue is a "hint" or "clue" as to what the missing word might be.  The cues include the following:

o   phonemic cue/phonetic - this cue is providing the first sound of the word the student is trying to retrieve. For example, if the student is thinking of the word "vehicle" you might say, "ohh you're thinking of a word that starts with a "vwvvvvvv...." (Make an extended /V/  sound).

o   semantic cues - these cues are categories, background, associations, synonyms, antonyms, functions. For example, for the word "vehicle" you might provide the category name or features of the word: "This word is another word for car", or "This is an object that you ride in, has wheels, has a horn, people drive it to work, etc."  Another example, for the word "horse", you might say "It's a farm animal". Background is what you know about the word/item. For example, if you saw this item at a car show, you might say "remember the time we went to a car show and I said the red corvette was a cool " (vehicle).

o   cloze exercises - this cue involves saying a familiar phrase or a sentence and leaving the last word out. For example, "We played a game of "(Checkers, monopoly, etc.).

·         When the child has a difficult time retrieving a word use the above cues. If you notice the student is still struggling then provide choices or just tell the answer. For example, "Is this a vehicle or an instrument?"

·         Avoid interrupting or filling in a word. This could increase a child's frustration.

·         Use a slower rate of speech. This encourages the child to speak slowly, which makes it easier for him/her to retrieve words.

·         Encourage your child to advocate for himself or herself. Instead of a child saying "I don't know", the student could say, "I am having trouble thinking of the word", "I need extra time to think". "Wait I am thinking". "Could you help me?"

·         In the classroom, provide word banks when possible, provide tests that incorporate multiple choice questions, provide cue cards to use during tests, implement take home exams, incorporate true/false statements on tests/quizzes.

by Sherri Shire-Susser

M.A. CCC/SLP

Thinking about Word Retrieval

We have all had the experience of talking to a friend and not being able to recall the name of the restaurant that we went to, or meeting somebody that you have met before and not being able to recall their name. We think of this experience as “It’s on the tip of my tongue.” My students experience this also, some to a much greater extent than others. As adults we know a few things that we can do to help move our conversation along. We might say that the restaurant name sounds like… or it starts with a “P” sound, or we might even begin to describe what we can remember about the restaurant such as its location, or the specialty dish that they serve. As adults we can do this because we are savvy conversationalists. For the students that are continually plagued with retrieval issues, they need to be taught ways to move through this conversational blockage.

Kids that experience word retrieval issues may seem to grope for words and have many pauses within their discourse. They may have a lot of revisions or reformulations in their speech. They may use a lot of fillers, such as “um” and “you know.” They often use a lot of general words for their intended word. They use many words such as “things” and “stuff” in their conversation and often have difficulty labeling specific nouns and verbs. Kids experiencing retrieval issues may give a word that sounds like the target word such as “strump” for “stump.” They may use a related but inaccurate word such as “leopard” for “lion.” These kids have a difficult time relating past experiences, talking about their day etc. Sometimes those with retrieval issues may use a lot of hand gestures to help convey their words and conversational meaning.

As parents of a child experiencing retrieval issues we can ask them to provide a synonym or another word that means the same thing.  We can ask our child to describe the word that they are thinking of. To help our children be more word proficient we can play rhyming, opposite and word association games with them as you drive to and from daily activities. You can play timed games with them such as “Tell me all the holidays that you can think of in one minute.”

For teachers within the classroom we may be able to help our student’s retrieval issues by offering a preview of targeted lesson vocabulary so that the child is more familiar with the words. We can call on them in a group discussion when they are most likely to succeed. Providing visuals to accompany our lessons is helpful. We can offer alternate methods of responses to demonstrate their knowledge.  Rather than requiring a verbal response, students can write it down, draw a picture etc. We can provide alternate methods of assessment such as multiple choice and true/false formats on tests or even offer take home tests. We can provide word banks on tests.

For more information on word retrieval you may wish to visit some of the attached links:

http://speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:wordretrieval&catid=11:admin&Itemid=101

http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/185%20Understanding%20Word-Retrieval%20Problems.pdf

submitted by:  Randi Weinberg