By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have been teaching R using your L-to-R sliding and tapping methods. However the further back my client tries to pull his tongue-tip the more it pulls to his left. He cannot keep it at midline past the middle of his palate, and he is not able to get a good R. I have not encountered this, but these are the methods I would use to address it– Have him use his finger, or another tool, and trace down…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I attended your R seminar and have been having great success. However, I do not know what to do with R-Blends. I can’t seem to get Tr, Dr, and so forth. That is a great question, and represents a topic I never seem to get to in my seminars. I also did not describe it very well in my R book, so here is the best way I have been able to describe what I do to date ––…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Do you know how to teach the Spanish R? I believe there are YouTube videos of Spanish-speaking people teaching this sound. I would search around there for ideas. I have had to teach a trilled R to only a few people in my career. Here are two different approaches that have worked for me–– Bilabial Raspberry Have the client produce a bilabial raspberry. Then have him produce a raspberry with the front of the tongue pressing firmly up against…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: How young will you see a child for an interdental/frontal lisp? Yours is one of the toughest questions to answer because there are different perspectives and different reasons for early treatment. If there is a speech problem only, most therapists in the public schools seem to wait for a child with a frontal lisp to turn 7 years of age and older. However, I meet many school SLPs who see these kids in kindergarten and first grade. Therapists in…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I recently attended your seminar on R therapy. I have a student who can say “growl” but that’s it. Should I use your syllable method? Yes! Use the syllable method! If he can do the word “growl”, then he should be able to say “grah” by taking the end of the word off. Then if he can say, “grah”, he should be able to say “ground”, “grouch”, “grout” and so forth. Just make sure to make the words into…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I attended your conference on Frontal Lisp, Lateral Lisp, and Distorted R a few weeks ago, and I have been trying your methods. Your L-to-R tapping method has WORKED on my toughest clients! They can say “Ruh” but we don’t call it “R”––we call it “The way back L.” On all of your material, you have it typed out as “Ruh.” I am hesitant to write it that way for word practice because then my clients have been reverting…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a student, who has been working on R, and who can make it at the word and sentence levels, but who cannot seem to co-articulate automatically. He still articulates each sound individually within words. For example he does not automatically round his lips for the word “core.” When I say the word “core” my mouth stays rounded for the entire word however they don’t do this. Why don’t their minds just naturally catch on to coarticulation after…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: There seems to be a shocking lack of knowledge “out there” about how to do articulation therapy. I recently saw a girl with an R distortion who had been in therapy with another therapist for a year with no progress. I was able to get a correct sound from her in 15 minutes! The mother was amazed that I actually worked on tongue movement and placement. I agree, and I think I know why this is occurring. The tried-and-true…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am seeing two elementary age brothers with a history of enlarged tonsils and adenoids that are not significant enough to warrant surgery according to the ENT. Both are difficult to understand because of their resonance issues. We are working on R and L with limited progress. I don’t know where to go with them. Speech is starting to impact reading and writing. A child with mild-to-moderate upper respiratory problems and minor articulation errors is one of the most…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I attended your R course recently. It was wonderful! But I am stuck with one client. He has achieved a Tip R, but not a Back R. How much longer should I spend trying to help him get a Back R? If the Tip R works to get the sound quality you want, then that’s what you do, and you forget about the Back R. It does not matter which one he gets. Focus on what he can do….
