Phonological Development Archives - Page 7 of 7

Tag: Phonological Development

Down Syndrome

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My son has Down syndrome and possible apraxia. Can you give me advice about this? Many therapists today are labeling children with Down syndrome as apraxia, but this is an incorrect diagnosis. The expressive speech and language problems of children with Down syndrome are the result of dysarthria and cognitive deficit. Dysarthria “A generic label for a group of motor speech disorders caused by weakness, paralysis, slowness, incoordination, or sensory loss in the muscle groups responsible for speech” Brookshire, R. H….

Prevocalic Voicing

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a preschool client who prevocalically voices everything – b/p, d/t, g/k, and so forth. Do you have any suggestions? Most kids get voicelessness in the final position months before they can do it in the initial position. Here is the order in which I usually work these sounds into the child’s phonological repertoire: Take a step back and work on final voiceless stops — /p/, /t/ and /k/. Use words like up, cup, eat, out, ick, book….

Outgrowing a Lateral Lisp

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Do you think a child should be able to outgrow a lateral lisp? I believe that a FRONTAL LISP is on the normal developmental continuum, but that the LATERAL LISP is not. To me, the lateral lisp is a motor pattern that is moving in the wrong direction, therefore, no matter how much maturity the client has, he will never reach correct production. The lateral lisp is an incorrect motor pattern as opposed to an immature motor pattern. An…

From Isolated Phoneme to Conversation

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My client with a lateral lisp can produce /s/ in words but does not carry over to conversation. Are there strategies you would recommend? You are expecting him to skip from words to conversation. It rarely happens that quickly. Help him build through the traditional sequence- words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and conversation. You are helping him gradually take control of his expressive speech. Be patient! This can take up to a year. Make sure your practice material is void…

Jargon and Intelligibility

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am working with a 7-year-old in first grade. He has received services since 3-years of age privately and at school. He is making very slow progress in speech, and is having great difficulty comprehending and completing first grade work. His speech is characterized mostly by jargon with a few intelligible words, so some meaning may be derived. He is able to produce two-syllable words but falls apart with more complexity. He occasionally produces three-word intelligible utterances such as…

Overlapping Stages of Vocal Development

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Your book, Apraxia Uncovered, describes seven stages of vocal development. If my son can only do 80% of Stage One, should I proceed with Stage Two? Or do I wait for him to be able to do 100% of Stage One before moving on to Stage Two, even though he is able to do some of the items already in Stage Two? The stages overlap. Many children learn a little bit of this and that from each stage without…

Differentiating My Books: ‘Apraxia Uncovered’ and ‘Becoming Verbal With Childhood Apraxia’

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Can you tell me how your books “Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia” and “Apraxia Uncovered, The Seven Stages of Phoneme Development ” are different? Which one should I read first? Think of Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia as Part 1. It is about how to get kids more vocal, verbal, communicative, imitative and interactive, and how to get them to play with the sounds they make. Read it first. Think of Apraxia Uncovered, The Seven Stages of Phoneme Development as Part…

“Popping” and Other Techniques to Teach Voicelessness

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I was at your Improving Intelligibility workshop this winter. On your handout, in regard to teaching voicelessness, you write: “Teach popping with p, t, k.” I did not write anything down and as I look back over the material I have no idea what “popping” is or how to teach it. Help! Ah yes, “Popping” is a term I made up. Let me explain… When children first learn [p], [t] and [k], they do so with productions that are…

Big Picture Thinking for Cerebellar Disorder and Cerebral Palsy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My granddaughter, Stephanie, is 4-1/2 years old and diagnosed with apraxia. She was born with the cerebellum not fully developed and is classified as having cerebral palsy. Her speech is non-existent, although I can get her to make a variety of sounds in different pitches. In class she seems not to be attending at all. The SLP reported that until Stephanie can let her touch her face and put a spatula on her tongue, she can do little. She…

Resonance

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have just picked up a young man of 14 years with a moderate degree of learning difficulties and a range of speech difficulties. He is in special school but has received very little direct therapy. He has a particularly hyponasal quality, and some hypernasality too. Would you view this as a priority? He is interested in singing and has been unmotivated by therapy, possibly due to its repetitive nature. He wondered if this might be a way to…