By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client produces some vowels with nasality. Do you know how to get rid of this problem? Old-fashioned articulation texts (pre-phonology) used to contain large sections, even whole chapters, on how to do this. Let me give you one method to get you started. This one is central to all the rest because it uses a simple biofeedback procedure. Getting rid of nasalization is mostly a matter of ear training. The following represents the way that therapists like Alexander…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client breathes in (inhales) on S. How do I fix this? Teach him to exhale and inhale on demand using a straw or other blow toy. Then teach him to exhale and inhale on S. Teach him to hear and appreciate the difference between an inhaled S and an exhaled S. Teach him which one is correct. Practice the exhaled S. Work on syllables, words, and so forth. Also, see my previous post on this topic.
By Pam Marshalla
Several questions have come in recently about how to get rid of hypernasality on a specific phoneme, particularly the hypernasal R and the nasal snort on one or more of the sibilants. I’d like to address these questions together… We are talking about clients who produce nasal emission on one or more specific phonemes in the absence of more generalized hypernasality. These clients sniff, snort, or allow some nasal sound to escape during production of their error phoneme(s). Peterson-Falzone and…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client lets air come out the side of his mouth when he makes Th. It’s not a big deal, but it is noticeable and distracting. This could be classified as a minor lateral lisp. The client is lacking the firm push of the side of his tongue against his side teeth that would prevent the airstream from staying midline. I would use a straw. Place one end of the straw outside the central incisors and tell him the…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Recently I came across an SLP who was using oral-motor tools but not following sanitary procedures. Ahhhhhh! What resources can I share with her? SLPs must follow sanitary procedures at all times when touching a client in, on, or around the mouth with the hands or other objects. The following notes are from my upcoming book, The Marshalla Guide. Sanitizing the Hands Wash the hands with a sanitizing soap. Dry the hands with a paper towel and dispose of…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My 7-year-old male client has a lateral lisp. I have been trying to use T and Ts, but he just can’t get it. He still lateralizes his /s/ and /z/. He can produce /str/ appropriately but I just can’t get S alone. I wish I could generalize it to /s/ and /z/. Let’s ignore the cluster “Str” for the moment. I think it is too complex to work with and, as you have said, he cannot generalize. Let’s assume…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I struggle with a student who can say the R sound correctly in the prevocalic position but not unless I correct her. I say, “What’s a wabbit?” and then she corrects herself. She has been in therapy for a few months. Should I film her? And what else can I do to help her? If the R sounds correct, you are doing fine! She is on her way. Filming is always a great idea to help clue kids in…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client is having trouble with L. When he makes his L it sounds as though he is forming some type of constriction in the far back of his mouth. It almost sounds like a glottal stop, but it is not that far back. He can hear the error but cannot change it. This has been called a “Retroflex L”. It means that the client is lifting the back of his tongue instead of the tip of his tongue…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Can you give me a short course on stimulating the tongue to move? This is about as short and sweet as it could possibly be–– The first thing to understand about the oral mechanism is that the muscles of the facial structures are contiguous and integral to the skin. This is different from the entire rest of the body where skin and muscles form completely separate structures. This means that tactile stimulation is the most powerful way to “wake…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My student substitutes T/K and D/G. As per suggestions on your website, I am facilitating posterior tongue elevation by using a tongue depressor and having the student push against it with the posterior part of the tongue. I have been able to elicit H but not K or G. Is H the sound you refer to as a velar fricative? I need help with this method. Let me straighten this up first- H is a glottal fricative and not…
