Every sound of speech has a place of production, manner of production and can either be voiced or voiceless sounds. Place of production is the accurate placement of articulators. Manner of production is the restriction of airflow in the oral cavity. A voiced sound has the voice box on versus a voiceless sound when the […]
Every speech sound has a place of production, manner of production and can either be voiced or voiceless sounds. Place of production is the accurate placement of articulators. Manner of production is the restriction of airflow in the oral cavity. A voiced sound has our voice box on versus a voiceless sound when our voice […]
Identifying different sounds that make words and associating these sounds within written words are an essential foundational component for early literacy skills. There are forty-four phonemes (sounds) in the English language; this includes letter combinations such as /th/. In addition to identifying these sounds, one must be able to manipulate the sounds. This is often […]
Speech sound development varies greatly between boys and girls as well as between ages. Below are two charts that provide information about age of acquisition of speech sounds. Speech Pathologists have researched the age of acquisition of consonant sounds in Standard American English for many decades. Each study found slightly different results regarding the age of mastery. […]
I worked in the restaurant industry for many years as a hostess as well as a waitress. I recently observed a family out at dinner on a Saturday night. After seeing some of the behaviors of their son and hearing some feedback from their waiter, it became obvious to me that this family had a child with […]
Development of oral facial muscles is important for a child to accurately produce speech sounds. Poor coordination and strength of articulators can adversely affect skill development for speech sound production. When looking at oral development it is important to ensure the child is provided a variety of movement opportunities to build a variety of oral […]
Play time provides a natural context for early language learning and is also important for the development of social communication skills. Children learn through play and often practice newly acquired language skills and words during play time. There are three stages of play development: The first stage is referred to as “self-related” symbolic play. This […]
The more you practice a movement, the stronger your muscle memory gets, until the movement becomes habitual. This concept applies to both gross and fine motor movements as well as to the movement of the articulators: the jaw, tongue, and lips. If a child focuses on practicing speech sounds once a week, they will progress. However, if the […]
Home programs are important for the generalization of speech and language therapy goals. With today’s busy lifestyles, families need to be taught how to practice with children without putting life on pause. There are common goal categories that SLP uses to create clients’ individual goals. These include the improvement of: expressive and receptive vocabulary skills, production […]
From the first trimester in utero, each of us seeks oral stimulation for comfort. Babies seek pacifiers often for comfort. Pacifiers are a personal choice for self soothing, therefore I will not provide a definitive age as to when the use of pacifiers should discontinue but provide insight on limitations pacifiers may have on oral […]