Author: Pam Marshalla

Pam’s Final Q&A’s and A New Baby

By Pam Marshalla

In our most recent newsletter, I presented Pam’s final new Q&A’s which were posted to the blog last November and December. Pam’s ongoing writing and unique perspective will be dearly missed. Moving forward, future newsletters will contain the best of Pam’s blog posts from the blog archives, in chronological order, starting from 2006. I think this will be a wonderful way to revisit the topics Pam loved to write about, and to keep the information in the blog alive for…

Update on The Marshalla Guide

By Pam Marshalla

I wanted to take a moment to speak about Pam’s most recent unpublished book, The Marshalla Guide. Many of you have written in to ask me about when it will be ready for publication and I am very grateful for your interest. The Marshalla Guide is a monumental work, containing over 500 pages of thorough content, with hundreds of illustrations and an enormous reference list. It will be Pam’s pinnacle work and her most important contribution to the field of…

Newsletter Archives Now Available

By Pam Marshalla

Dear Subscribers, We have decided to republish Pam Marshalla’s presently-discontinued books and CDs, so that the entirety of her body of work may continue to be available for future generations of SLPs. In the next year, I plan to bring back the CD Vowel Tracks and the Apraxia Uncovered 3-CD set, along with (hopefully) another lesser-known but widely-taught-live course called Improving Intelligibility in Apraxia and Dysarthria. The first item which we have already reprinted is Pam’s book, The Complete Newsletter…

Small Business Changes

By Pam Marshalla

Hello, I’m Shanti, Pam Marshalla’s daughter. I own and operate Marshalla Speech & Language. My mom passed away in June, 2015, having not published many of her most recently-created books and materials. Moving forward, we will continue to print Pam’s already-published works, and other books, DVDs, CDs, and posters of Pam’s that have already been scheduled for publication over the next several years. Pam’s pivotal work, The Marshalla Guide, is still in the design and illustration process, and will be…

Do Apps Interfere With Speech Therapy?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I want to get your feedback on my experience with speech apps. I am a seasoned professional and I work the old fashioned way –– with toys, games, books, drawing, coloring, etc.. But I have grad student interns who work with me and I always have them show me what they do in therapy with their iPads. At first I was excited (and envious), but then I noticed the kids were engaged with and pressing the screens, but they…

Down Syndrome: Keeping The Tongue Inside

By Pam Marshalla

Q: How can I get my client with Down syndrome (DS) to keep her tongue inside the mouth during speech? A client with Down syndrome has low tone, dysarthria, and lack of oral stability. The oral mechanism is supposed to be stabilized in a certain way during speech.  The jaw should move up-and-down in a very small restricted range that is high, and the tongue should anchor its movements in the back against the back lateral teeth or palate. Children…

Damaged Tongue-Tip

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My elementary-age client injured her tongue-tip. It has been a few weeks post the accident and her speech is moderately distorted and she still complains of pain. Her doctor says she is just trying to get attention. Do you have experience with this?   I have worked with a few patients who had injury to the tongue-tip.  In my experience it can take up to a year to fully recover from it.  If some of the nerves were damaged,…

Help for Adult with Articulation and Feeding Problems

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am an SLP with a lisp and mild problems with chewing and swallowing. I receive SL services as a child, but I quit too early and have not completely remediated my errors. What would you recommend? I would recommend that you find an SLP who is trained in orofacial myology to oversee your work on speech, eating, swallowing, and probably oral rest.  An orofacial myofunctional therapist who knows what s/he is doing would be of great help to…

When to Use the Dropper

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My 6-year-old male client drools has language and cognitive problems but no articulation problems, but he drools a lot. I know of your dropper technique. Should I use the dropper with him or just tell him to swallow every 90 seconds? As I am sure you know, a technique is just a technique. Therapy is all about finding out if a certain technique works for a certain client. Therefore in regard to this specific technique, if he can swallow on…

Low Cognition and SLP: Therapy vs. Babysitting and School Culture

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am very frustrated working in the public school. I am forced to see very low functioning children 2-4 times per week, and even with this much therapy they are not progressing in vocabulary, phonemes, nothing. Am I doing something wrong? Let me be very blunt here. Warning! Those of you who don’t know me need to be warned that I do not speak with political correctness. I find it to be an imposition on our freedom of speech…