Q: I have a 4th grade student who has trouble saying multi-syllable words in conversations. Do you have any suggestions for working with a student like him who doesn’t have any specific phoneme errors?

Charles Van Riper called these clients “clumsy-mouthed individuals.” In my opinion, this is mild dysarthria. The key to treatment at this level is to teach the client to over-pronounce while he learns to self-monitor. Teach him how to do the following:

• Speak up
• Speak out
• Punch out every syllable
• Take care not to let syllables drop out
• Take care not to let phonemes drop out
• Make full, round, and resonant vowels
• Make sure not to resort to the schwa
• Make diphthongs clearly with both parts
• Take care not to let final C’s drop
• Take care not to let morphemes drop off the ends of words
• Make nasal on M, N, and Ng clear and resonant
• Punch out the rhythm of utterances
• Use intonation with a little exaggeration
• Learn how to watch his listeners for signs of incomprehension
• Use a slower rate to control all this
• Learn when and why to control better

Also, please have a look at the other Q&A’s about dysarthria on this website.