Month: May 2008

Lisps and Missing Front Teeth

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have heard you say that if kids have problems with sibilants and are missing their front teeth you prefer not to see them until their teeth come in. Could you explain your rationale? Without front teeth true stridency cannot be produced. Stridency is produced as the midline air stream hits the front teeth and then escapes between them. Without front teeth, a client would have to be taught a compensatory movement. He would have to produce his sibilants…

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Becoming Verbal With Autism and Apraxia

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My son is 9 years old and has been diagnosed with autism and apraxia. He is non verbal and low-to-medium functioning. We are trying to determine the best methodology to help him talk more. I read a lot about your Apraxia experience but nothing about your experience with Autism. Since my son has Autism as well I was hoping if you could give me your expert opinion on what to do as I am trying to determine what is…

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Toddler With Autism

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My son is 2 1/2 years old and has a great level of oral motor difficulty and has been diagnosed with autism. He has only one word that he can produce on command, and that is “mom.” He tries very hard to talk and things come out a jumble. We are working on letter sounds with him as he really enjoys letters. He can make the sounds for the letters S, M, H, A, U, E. It sometimes takes…

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Time Off From Therapy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Do you recommend therapy breaks for preschoolers with phonological delay? For example, summer off after the year of early childhood in a public school? I have usually found that a break from therapy (especially in the summer) is a fruitful experience for kids. Most often they come back to therapy having made considerable progress on their own. It always seemed to me that all that sunshine, gross motor activity, and new experiences helped them move along. Plus, they are…

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