By Pam Marshalla
Q: Do you know of any good books about remediating speech (not language) in children with Down syndrome? My client is 12 years old and I think it is time to concentrate more on intelligibility after years of language work. I answered this question through a personal exchange with the SLP, however I thought I would say a few things about the topic here on my blog. Always remember that with Down syndrome you always have dysarthria and that means that…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have tried “everything” to teach R to this one client and he has gotten nowhere. Then one day he learns a Spanish trilled /r/, and WHAM! He gets an American R right away. Can you explain this? Van Riper wrote about this as one method for teaching the retroflex R: “Have the child imitate you as you trill the tongue-tip. Then use this trill to precede the vowel E” (Van Riper, Speech Correction, 1947, p. 142). Think of…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a two-year-old client who only says “Mmmm” and “Ahhh.” He won’t do anything for me. How can I get him to talk? First, I would like to refer you to my book called Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia. I am not trying to sell you a book, but I wrote it precisely for this type of case. It will help you understand how to help little kids become more vocal, verbal, interactive, communicative, and imitative. It discusses…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Your Vowel Tracks program was great and the child I am writing about now has all his vowels. His language is improving but most staff cannot understand him because his prosody is drawling, singsong-ish, and inflection is always up at the end of each statement like a question. Any thoughts about how to approach this? The interesting thing about this rising intonation pattern used on statements is that I hear many young people use this today. They say things…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My two-year-old son has Pierre Robin Syndrome and cleft palate. He had oral surgery at 6-days of age, and again at 9 months. He makes a few sounds like “Eh-eh-eh,” “Mmmmm,” “Baba,” and “Papapa.” There has been little if any vocal play until just recently. Receptive skills are good and he signs many words. Can the syndrome be a cause for his delay? I need suggestions. Yes, the syndrome is most assuredly the cause of the delay. Surgeries and…
By Pam Marshalla
This opinion paper was originally posted as a downloadable PDF on my website, authored in September, 2011. Download the original PDF here. *** Making Speech Targets Salient Classic Auditory Training Tools for Amplifying Speech By Pam Marshalla, MA, CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Making Speech Targets Salient One of the most important things we do in articulation therapy is to make speech units stand out so the client can focus on them. Our most important tool for making speech units salient is our own…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have an adult Chinese student with /r/ and /l/ problems. She produces these phonemes with additional sounds I cannot describe in words. Can you give me any tips in correcting them? I think your best method for correcting this would be to have her say the sounds enough times that you will be able to imitate them exactly. Then model for her what she is doing and help her hear what she is doing wrong. And then help…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My daughter is 31 months old. She speaks in single words and uses single syllables. She leaves off the endings off words. I have been teaching final sounds to her, and now she says them, but she separates them from the rest of the word. For example, she says “uh—puh” for “up.” What should I do now? Ooo- No worries. You are on the right track! If she is saying final consonants as a second syllable, THIS IS GOOD. She…
By Pam Marshalla
Children who cannot say many words need help learning how to imitate sounds and words. The best way to do this is to imitate the child.
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a question regarding some information in your book called Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia. I have found the information in this book to be quite valuable in my work in early intervention. Where can I find more information on Piaget’s four basic stages in the development of imitation skills? I am the only person I know who has abstracted Piaget’s information in this way, and that is why I spelled it out in that book. I originally…
