By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a three-year-old male client who is beginning to talk. He is a very picky eater and rarely eats at school, although he has started eating a few bites of pear, apple, or fish crackers for me. He bites, lateralizes, and chews, but then he leaves the food smashed all over between his teeth and lips. Can you tell me why he may be doing this? How I can help him with creating a bolus and swallowing? He…
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
Q: I have a 15-months-old client with a repaired cleft palate who drools. Should I be working on the drooling issue? It is normal for a child to drool now and again until age three or so. I would not be concerned about the drooling unless the child was drooling profusely most of the time. If she were drooling most of the time, I would look at her feeding skills. Most children who drool to excess have feeding/swallowing issues as well….
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My son is 2-years and 5-months. His therapist seems frustrated by his stubborn personality and his continual effort to get out of doing his speech cards. I know we can help him more if he would only try. Can you suggest anything? It sounds like the therapist is trying to work with him as though he were four or five years of age. He’s only two and a half! Children this young should balk at doing speech cards. …
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…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My preschool client can produce all the consonants and vowels, but his speech is somewhat unintelligible at times. I seem to be working on just general enunciation. Is this correct? Should I be doing more? Yes! You are on the right track. Teach him to enunciate. This is the essence of therapy at this level, and it applies to all clients of all ages and ability levels. This is part of what I call “Lessons from the Elocutionists”. Teach…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have worked with a 4-year-old for two years who had a frenectomy about 3 months ago. His speech is quite intelligible now, but he still has heart-shaped tongue, he cannot dissociate his tongue movements from his jaw movements, and he cannot sweep his tongue around lips to clean himself. He stabilizes his tongue with his teeth and can barely extend it beyond lower lip even after surgery. Since speech is good would you still see him for therapy?…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My beautiful nearly four-year-old son was diagnosed with verbal apraxia around the age of two. There does not seem to be any other developmental issues of concern. Have you found that an alternative schooling program is better for the preschool aged children with apraxia? If so what type of schooling would you suggest? He currently is enrolled in the public school system and only receives one half-hour of speech therapy three days per week there. We also go to…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Is it normal for child 4;6 to mouth everything, including toys, walls, and doorknobs? If this isn’t normal, do you have any ideas how to eliminate this problem? I need ideas for mom to try at home. This always is a difficult topic. This is how I think about it… Mouthing this much in a four-year-old definitely is not normal. The client is over-doing it for some reason. Oral craving due to significant limitations in the ability to process…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Can you correct a frontal lisp in a toddler? We can help a child with a frontal lisp beginning at two years of age, however, most SLP’s hold off until these kids are 7, 8, or 9 years of age because of developmental norms. In a private practice, one can see these clients at any age, however one usually counsels the parents that the child does not really need therapy until later because the error is considered “normal” until…
