Organizing Speech Articulation Practice

This is hardly rocket science in the speech therapy world, but it was time for something new around here so we're switching to speech binders instead of using the articulation cards in deck style.

Name is on the front. I just printed out the pages of cards leaving off the backs and punched holes in them. Michael is working on /f/ and /s/ so his binder has those two sections. As soon as the children have adjusted to the new format I'll add a section for the s-blends to Michael's folder.

I plan to pretty much drill the children. I'll cross off any of the cards I don't want them using. Michael can do all of the cards, but for Ava I'll cross off any word that includes non-targeted phonemes that aren't in her inventory yet (so, any word with /k/, /g/, /ch/, etc.). Every time they say the word the requested number of times (3 times in a row) or in the requested way (in a phrase/short sentence), they get to mark the card. Marking options include a stamp, sticker, check mark or dot with a crayon or paint marker, dot paint, etc. If you switch the marking options each time interest should be higher and they'll collect a wide variety of "marks" on each card. They have a visual representation of all the work they've put in over time.

The other advantage to the binder format is documentation and notes. I can jot down the date on the blank opposite page and take notes about % accuracy, the level I'm working on that day (imitation, single words, x3, phrases, etc.), and any words that were particularly difficult. Over time, I can analyze those difficult words for patterns. I might notice that Michael has an easy time with /s/ on all the front vowels, but struggles with /s/ paired with back vowels and adjust therapy accordingly. This is an advantage over randomly shuffling a card deck. When we practice that way it is more difficult to document properly.

In a school setting using this format for therapy would make it easier to work with children on different phonemes during a single session. Do one row with child A from their folder and then switch and do one row with child B from their folder...

If you're working in a setting where you can send the binder home to a parent, you can make a homework section of words that are ready for parent led practice. Having a parent work in this way will let you see visually exactly how much practice happened at home because you can look for the marks on the cards. Parents could also easily jot down questions or comments for you to read and respond to on the blank backs of the pages in their section. You could check for parent comments in just a couple of minutes at the beginning or end of each session. You could possibly also use this format if you had a teacher, teacher aide, volunteer, or even super responsible classmate who could do speech work with your student in the classroom for 5 min/day.

Making Yarn Dolls

Pinterest is dangerous. I was browsing pinterest to find something quick to do with the children yesterday and came across a link to a page with a tutorial on how to make a yarn doll. I thought to myself, we have yarn. I bet the kids would like this activity.

Then I was sucked into a two-hour time warp where the first one turned out all right and was well received, but I knew the next one could be even better (and then both children could have one). After the second was complete I was so much better at it that I wanted to try a second girl doll.

So, here they are. The first attempt is a girl doll. The second attempt was a boy doll for Michael. I tried adding a smile. I have to admit, the end result was a little creepy. The third is another girl doll and my personal favorite. She was bigger than the first and so we called her the mama doll.

The children adore the dolls and I had fun making them so I consider the activity a success.

The Weekly Review: Week 51

SLP Resource of the Week

I found this articulation rating scale at The Learning Curve. Michael's /f/, /v/, /s/, and /z/ are all habitually produced interdentally. When I ask him to close up his teeth to keep his tongue behind his teeth for the production of /s/, he locks those teeth together successfully, and then all the air escapes laterally. The sound of his /s/ production is much sharper if I just let him produce it interdentally. In fact, if I'm not looking at his mouth, I cannot tell it from an /s/ produced in the traditional fashion. You'd think it would sound like a /th/, but instead it comes out as a crystal clear /s/ sound.

So, I tested to see if he could hear the difference between a sharp clear /s/ and a mushy /s/ production with a lot of lateral air escape, and he could tell the difference when I do it. But I have difficulty giving him feedback. It is certainly an improvement if he keeps his tongue behind his teeth, but that isn't good enough. The visual rubric of the articulation rating scale might be just the thing to give him feedback that is more meaningful.

Ava this Week

We got the book The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker a while back. The children and I thoroughly enjoyed it. During the first reading the children were captivated and just the right amount of scared when the dragon snatched the baby sister. The book ended up in Ava's room and she's been requesting it nightly. Her second-favorite part is when the baby's first word is "help". Her most-favorite part is when the baby shouts "No!" at the dragon.

One morning this week, as I was downstairs in the kitchen early making breakfast for the children I heard Ava's voice coming clearly through the monitor. I knew exactly what I was hearing when I heard her saying, "No! No, no, no dragon." I stood there motionless hovering by the monitor straining to hear every word as she flipped pages reading the story to herself. It made me so very happy.

Weekly Michael

I wish I could capture this moment in parenting time. Michael has been a delight lately. I love him and enjoy him more every day. He is fun to be with. He's having true conversations with his sister. He is delivering appropriately timed, genuinely felt thank yous. He loves to sing, tell stories, create art, and build complex creations from legos. All of his songs/stories/art/creations have elaborate back stories that are actually pretty interesting if you just take some time to listen. And it is so simple to make him happy in return. All he needs is a little undivided attention. He absorbs the positive attention and then continues happily on his way.

Ava's and Michael's Weekly Home Therapy Notes

I've continued to work with both children together and we're finding a new rhythm. We work for 20-30 minutes a night (4-5 nights/week). Right now I'm pushing the s-blends and l-blends pretty hard. Our sessions are pretty intense and I probably get a minimum of 100 productions per child per session. I usually just drill. I tried my speech caterpillar just one time. It slowed us down too much. For the most part I stick to drill because my children will tolerate it and it allows us to get more speech productions in during the session. I'm going to stick with it as long as it works.

Ava began working on blends three weeks ago. At that time, they were almost impossible for her. She tried and failed to sequence the motor planning over and over until I finally found the right combination of simplifying the production and cueing that worked for her (very slow production, separate the two consonants of the blend, emphasize the second consonant of the blend auditorily, use tactile cueing to emphasize each consonant of the blend). When I switched blends it took her several attempts to reboot her system for a new consonant (sp instead of sm for example).

Since then, she has made amazing progress. She can produce the blends and switch from one blend to another with only light to moderate cueing. She still needs a slight separation of the two consonants in the blend. She also does better with a visual cue that emphasizes that she is trying to produce a two-part blend. And that's it. With those two aids, she's at about 85% accuracy in direction imitation of single CCVC words.