By Pam Marshalla
Q: Can a clipped frenulum grow back? I have a student with a hearted-shaped tongue and a restricted frenulum but his mom said it was clipped at 9 months of age. As far as I know, it won’t grow back — however a lot of scar tissue can develop, and some people might need to have the procedure done twice.
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a student with a frontal lisp and an anterior open bite. Can you suggest compensatory strategies to help him? If he is going to get his teeth fixed I might wait to do anything until after he teeth are fixed. If he is not going to get his teeth fixed, then the compensation simply involves getting him to produce the best sibilants he can given his dental structure. He needs to stabilize the tongue at the back-lateral…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client is 4;0 and has a combined frontal and lateral lisp. I have not taken any of your classes or read any of your books. Any suggestions as to how to proceed with treatment? I have written volumes on this topic and it is somewhat difficult to describe in a quick QA. But I will do my best. The short and sweet answer to this question as I see it is as follows (and if you have not…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client is 4;0 with a frontal lisp with a very small mandible (underbite) and chronic upper respiratory problems––congestion, nasal drip, mouth breathing, snoring, etc. He cannot breath through his nose. Do you think he is capable of learning to keep his tongue in for the sibilants given his underbite? Yours is a very common question for which we have no clear answers. In all likelihood both the under-bite and the upper respiratory problems are contributing to his speech…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a client who has what you call an “Omni Lisp” meaning that there is no central groove at all and the air comes out the entire front of the mouth from L to R. It sounds lateral because some of the sound is. I have tried your “Long T Method” with this client but it doesn’t seem to be as effective. Have you listened to his T through the straw? I will bet it sounds flat and…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client has no back sounds, and he substitutes Sh and Ch for S. I cannot get a good S out of him. I have tried straws and the Ts technique you talk about, but he always makes a Sh or Ch. What do you think I should try next? I think you should try putting more attention on his tongue-tip to stimulate S and Z. The following excerpt about improving awareness and control of the tongue-tip is from…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My 10-year-old student with a profound hearing loss and a recent cochlear implant cannot produce any back sounds. We have tried all of the elicitation techniques (tongue depressors, lying on back, gargling) which usually result in her using a glottal plosive instead. Do you have any other suggestions? I am not sure what you mean by “all of the elicitation techniques.” You mention using a tongue depressor, but you do not say HOW you used it. It’s all about…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Do you have any tips for promoting good /r/ and /l/ in toddlers? Not to correct the phonemes directly, but to set the child up for future success by doing certain oral activities? Most would agree that we do not have to correct R and L in toddlers, but the idea that we can set them on the right development path is right on. This is what I do to set a child on the right developmental path for…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My preschool client backed all lingua-alveolars until I taught him D. But not — it is distorted (his tongue looks funny) and the other sounds aren’t coming. Help! Most kids with a restricting lingua frenum use what the elocutionists used to call “thick speech” meaning that it was speech produced without the tongue bowled. The tongue was humping, bulging, or what the researchers today would call arching upward. This is probably what your client is now doing on D,…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Can I expect correct articulation on S, Z, Sh, ZH, CH, J, T, D, N, and L when my client has a tongue crib that fills the entire alveolar ridge? The orthodontist is recommending SL therapy for the phonemes and to fix the swallow. In my experience clients usually cannot produce any of their lingua-alveolar and/or sibilant sounds correctly as long as an appliance like that is in the mouth. The appliance distorts sound, especially stridency. I usually do…
