By Pam Marshalla
Q: My student is unable to produce the Sh sound and it sounds very slushy. When he tries to say the sound, I noticed that he puffs up his cheeks with air. How can I get him to not do this and make that air flow come out the front? Here is what Nemoy and Davis (1937) would have done–– Have him make a Long E–– “Eeeeeeeee.” Make it be a strong, exaggerated, very smiley, and prolonged E. Super-exaggerate it….
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client has no incisors and an underbite, and she distorts both S and Z. These errors sound like a lateral lisp, however when I use your straw testing method, there is no airflow coming out the sides, only the front. My colleague tells me that this is a lateral lisp. But how can it be if the air doesn’t come out the sides? Your colleague is wrong: If the airstream is not coming out the sides (as tested…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My 5-year-old client substitutes N for L. I cannot seem to help him make the sound oral and not nasal. These are the types of things I would try… Use a Vowel Have her open her mouth wide and say “Ah.” Then have her prolong “Ah” for 5 seconds or more. Then have her continue to say “Ah” while she lifts and lowers her tongue-tip up to the alveolar ridge about 5 times. Tell her, “Don’t try to say…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client started with a frontal lisp. Now he is now producing a “Whistling S.” How do I correct this? A whistling S usually is an S that is being made in just the right place that whistling occurs. Simply have your client begin to move his tongue-tip higher or lower, slightly more forward or back, or slightly more to the left or right as he prolongs his S. You are searching for the place that works to alleviate…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client inhales on S. I have tried using a straw and a cotton ball to teach him about airflow. He does fine with these, but he doesn’t transfer the skill to S. Help! Your client probably continues to inhale on S because he “thinks” he is trying to say S. He has an auditory/motor memory for his own S that he is continuing to access. You have to help him learn to block access to this memory. Here…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: You mentioned orthodontic referral in one of your lectures on the lisps and R. I am wondering if you also refer to ENTs for issues relating to and resulting from mouth breathing. I follow standard practices in SLP. Therefore I refer clients to orthodontics when there are indications that a dental malocclusion may exist, and when it seems to be interfering with sound production. I refer clients to an ENT when there are indications that there may be upper…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: When my 4-year-old client says a word that begins with a vowel, he adds /h/ before it –– “Ate” sounds like “Hate.” What are your thoughts? Let me answer this according to four different scenarios –– 1. Client generally uses no frication at all: If the client was not yet using any fricatives or affricates, and the extra appearances of H were just a fluke, then I would stimulate all eleven sounds for a while till the whole set…
By Pam Marshalla
This opinion paper was originally posted as a downloadable PDF on my website, authored in mid- 2011. Download the original PDF here. *** How to Teach Proper Oral-Nasal Resonance Balance I receive weekly questions from therapists struggling with how to decrease hypernasality in clients who have adequate velo-pharyngeal structure. I am not an expert in this area, but I would like to share what I do to help clients become less nasal. These clients generally can achieve oral sound, but they…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a nine-year-old client who inhales as she tries to say R. I have never seen this before. Do you know how to address this? There is a very simple old-time solution for this using a straw, a few sheets of tissue paper, and a few small cotton balls: Teach About Exhalation Place a cotton ball on the table and give the child the straw to hold at her mouth. Have the child blow through the straw at…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My inattentive three-year-old client suddenly has begun talking on both exhalation and inhalation. Do you have any suggestions to promote proper breathing for speech? The airflow toys can help teach young children all about the direction of airflow. These include horns, whistles, kazoos, harmonicas, sirens, and spirometers. A toy that works upon exhalation only (horn, whistle) can teach a child about moving air outward. Teach him “Blow out.” (These toys will not sound when inhaled.) A toy that works…
