Articulation therapy or speech sound therapy is working on the placement of articulators (lips, tongue) inside of their mouth to correctly produce their sounds.
Children that experience difficulty in articulation may be difficult to understand, which can often lead to frustration and a breakdown in behavior. An example of this is twic or tweet instead of trick or treat.
Articulation Therapy
Articulation therapy or speech sound therapy is working on the placement of articulators (lips, tongue) inside of their mouth to correctly produce their sounds.
Children that experience difficulty in articulation may be difficult to understand, which can often lead to frustration and a breakdown in behavior. An example of this is twic or tweet instead of trick or treat.
My Unique Approach
Articulation therapy in this speech setting is unique because we’re going to empower the child and boost the child’s confidence by giving them success in small, structured activities. We’re going to use visual cues, verbal and tactile cues to facilitate these consecutive successes and then hand off that successful activity to the parent so the parent can use those same cues and the child is successful with them.
Benefits of Articulation Therapy
- Developing conversational skills to improve interactions with others
- Expressing thoughts, ideas, and needs in a more understandable way
- Self-regulation and following rules for conversation
- Non-verbal communication skills such as facial expressions or body language
- Putting together words in a sentence that make sense
- Understanding the meaning of more words and how to use them
Benefits of Articulation Therapy
- Developing conversational skills to improve interactions with others
- Expressing thoughts, ideas, and needs in a more understandable way
- Self-regulation and following rules for conversation
- Non-verbal communication skills such as facial expressions or body language
- Putting together words in a sentence that make sense
- Understanding the meaning of more words and how to use them
FAQs
How common is this?
While most busy parents hope their children outgrow these types of issues, most need some sort of intervention. Nearly 1 in 12 (7.7%) U.S. children ages 3-17 has had a disorder related to voice, speech, language, or swallowing in the past 12 months.
Where do articulation disorders come from?
The exact origin of disorders that affect articulation is unknown. However, there is a link between genetics and environmental influences that impact the way a child speaks.
Children should be able to pronounce all sounds of the English Language properly by the age of 8.
Constant changes in a child’s surroundings like excessive moving also affects the way he or she articulates.
How long will it take?
The short answer is that it varies. There are many factors to consider, including how many sounds need remediating, frequency of therapy (once, twice, or even three times weekly), consistency of home practice, and motivation.
Does every child follow the same therapy framework?
Nope! A child may be able to produce /k/in the final position of words (“back”) but not in the initial position of words (“car”). I check stimulability for a target sound in initial, medial, and final positions of words and start with the position that is easiest for the client. Our goal is to meet our clients at their skill level and then scaffold from there.
Should we look into a diagnosis of Apraxia and/or Oral Motor Therapy?
This question comes up all the time, but what does the research really say? While it’s tempting to see a child with hearing loss struggling with speech despite all our best efforts and label it “apraxia” in an effort to explain/exonerate/reassure ourselves, the research shows us that childhood/developmental apraxia of speech is grossly over-diagnosed, to the tune of about 75% of cases being false positives.
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