This advice-column-style blog for SLPs was authored by Pam Marshalla from 2006 to 2015, the archives of which can be explored here. Use the extensive keywords list found in the right-hand column (on mobile: at the bottom of the page) to browse specific topics, or use the search feature to locate specific words or phrases throughout the entire blog.
Final C’s: Recommended Methods
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client produces final consonants inconsistently. Do you suggest using minimal difference pairs? Multiple oppositions? I have tried targeting individual sounds as well as teaching several sounds at the same time. I’m wondering what methods you recommend.
I use every technique I have ever heard of. I believe that all methods have value. Our job is to pair the right technique to the right client at the right moment. A certain technique might work perfectly well with one client and not at all for another. Also, a certain technique might work perfectly well with a client one day and not the next. This makes therapy a process of trial and error. It’s not the method. It’s the process of figuring out how the client learns, and doing that. It’s a process of figuring out how to get certain ideas into our clients’ heads, and how to get them back out again.
Having said that, I have written about stimulating final consonants before. Please see:
If the child is learning or has learned letter to sound associations, and is beginning to read or is reading, I like to add the visual component. “Look at the last sound in this word. What sound does that make?……You’re saying __, but you told me it’s ___.) etc, etc, etc. Also, I use headsets and recordings of how the word or words are said contrasted by what they are saying, with a little bit of amplification. Just today, a 3rd grader said, “Wow, that sounds weird” after listening to his recording. He was able to say it correctly after just a minute.
Excellent. I would do the same. The orthographic symbol acts to further his comprehension of what he hears and what he says. I always use written letters this way. I usually keep a stack of blank paper and colorful markers next to me for this very purpose. I print bold letters, usually in lower case. I have found that the written orthography is the key to success in many children.