Spring has sprung, and what better time to practice those “s” sounds! Did you know that the “s” sound is one of the most mispronounced sounds in the English language? According to Pronunciation Workshop, approximately half of all “s” sounds in English are pronounced as a letter “z” or “th.” For a child with a speech impediment, the “s” sound proves particularly challenging. Common in articulation disorders, a child drops the “s” sound all together such as “and,” instead of “sand”. Or a child may mispronounce the “s” sound at the beginning or end of a word, giving him a lisp.
Speech Buddies Coming to A School Near You! Sign Up to try a Professional Set for FREE!
Articulate Technologies is taking its Speech Buddies tools on a road trip! Now through the middle of May, we will be visiting schools in California, Washington, Colorado & Arizona. While we have toured schools throughout the Southeast region for the past year, we are excited to bring Speech Buddies to schools and SLPs in the Western part of the country.
Technology has a place in all facets of our lives, and in terms of speech therapy, we thought we’d cover some ofour favorite types of technology in the form of apps. Apps for a mobile device or tablet are excellent tools to help develop a child’s speech, language and cognitive skills. Technology continues to take on an increasingly important part of our daily lives. While there are seemingly endless applications available, we’ve narrowed down a few of our favorites that can be used to improve and/or maintain vocabulary, articulation, speech and language skills. These are some of our favorite apps designed to help kids with speech impediments.
Song, Music and Melodies are Excellent Speech Therapy Tools for Kids!
We finalize our in-depth look at tools for speech therapy with Music. Yes…music can truly be an effective tool for speech therapy! Think about it, rhymes, patterns, sounds and movement all help bring about speech language comprehension and articulation. According to “Use of Music in Speech-Language Therapy,” an article by Mary B. Zoller, “Using music is a multi-sensory experience that enhances a number of other skills that impact on speech and language development.” The use of music as a speech therapy tool serves to energize and engage a child, and encourages the child to actively participate. And the good news? You do not need to be a musician or a great singer to reap the benefits of music as therapy! Even using a silly voice and acting out the lyrics is helpful in engaging your child and a way to get them to listen attentively and unknowingly engage them in speech therapy exercises. As we have mentioned throughout this series, this does not serve to replace a proper evaluation or treatment from an SLP, rather music as a tool for speech therapy that you can do at home or in conjunction with your current speech therapy regime. Continue reading →
Worksheets and Printables Are Excellent Additions To Your Speech Therapy Regimen.
Our in-depth look at tools for speech therapy continues with a look at free speech therapy tools that you can use at home. Worksheets and Printable Handouts. We have searched the Internet for worksheets that you can use with your child to use as support material in your speech therapy efforts. There are many different worksheets and handouts to choose from, so we have narrowed it down for you and organized these activities into two categories: activities to help build speech and language skills and activities to help build literacy. And, as we continue to emphasize, these are not a substitute for proper evaluation and treatment from an SLP. These handouts are purely to provide your child with hands-on resources for improving articulation, language building and increased literacy at home and to help build a foundation for correct speech patterns and comprehension.