“Just tell me a few bottom-line things I need to know about ‘r’ so I can remediate my seven /r/ kids!” A fellow SLP earnestly asked me this during our 15-minute seminar break with 3-minutes left. Well, here ya go—this is the shortest version I can come up with and (hopefully) it still makes sense!
PROOF: “Results indicate that tongue bracing [lateral margin stabilization] is both pervasive and active in running speech and essential in understanding tongue movement control.”
Have you ever worked with a child with a significant speech sound delay but was unsure if the child’s speech was apraxic or dysarthric but you knew something “motoric” was going on? Yes? You’re not alone.
“Th” looks easy to say and remediate, but it isn’t. Once a substituted movement pattern has been established, it’s difficult to replace. But not impossible!
Puh-tuh-kuh is making a come-back! Actually for me, it never really left. I've always like doing repetitive syllable analysis with my therapy-kids because I glean so much information from it. Here's a new twist on an old favorite to analyze mouth movements.
I’ve frequently shared this in my seminars, but very rarely in print. I've promised to share more on Solidification and how to nail-down oral movement patterns. This is it. And wow, it is helpful.
The following focuses on the /r/, but the strategies can be modified and applied to any speech sound.
Greetings R-Therapist!
The key to generating a good /r/ is to first address all the /r/ production components: The Placement, the Lingual Tension, and the Resonance Chamber (See R-Therapy Parts 1 and 2).
Do you do a Back-up /r/ or a Retroflex /r/ in your own speech?
The easiest way to figure it out is to observe your front-tongue. Grab a mirror if you have one handy, or, just close your eyes; think, feel, and
Greetings Fellow R-Therapist!
If you work with children who have a distorted /r/, the following may be the most valuable and critically important strategy you’ll ever use. To know where we're going...