Super Star Speech, Speech Therapy Made Simple

74 Pages·2007·8.31 MB·English

by  Deborah Lott

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Speech Therapy Made Simple!

By Deborah Lott
M.Ed. in Speech Language Pathology

Illustrations by Katie Lott
Cover by Allison Lott

Super Star DML Publishing – Huntsville, Alabama

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Super Star Speech

ISBN 13 978-0-9798041-0-6

Copyright 2007 by Deborah Lott

Published by:
Super Star DML Publishing
2702 Gawain Rd.
Huntsville, AL 35803
www.superstarspeech.com

Permission is granted to the purchaser to photocopy record-keeping forms and reproducible pages in the
appendix for personal use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

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Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………….……………….….……...……1

Articulation Test Directions………………………………………...………..……2

Articulation Test…………………………………………………….…….….……5

Speech Therapy………………………………………….………………….……18

Specific Sound Instructions……………..………………………………............23
P and B………………………………….……………..………..…….……23
T and D………………………………………………….…….……...……24
N………………………………………..……………….…….……………25
K and G………………………..…….….…………………..……………...26
NG………………………….…………………………………………….…27
F and V……………………..…….…………………….…….…………….28
L..………………………..…………………………………………………29
SH…………………………………………………………….…...;…...….30
CH and J……………..………………………………………...…………...31
TH…………………………………………………………………………..32
S and Z………………………………………………….……..………..….33
R……………………………………………………………………………35

Therapy Games and Activities……………………………….……….……….…37

Bibliography……………………………………………………..…...…………..39

Games, Practice pages, and Picture Cards…….………..……...……….Appendix

Additional Super Star Speech Materials are available at:
www.superstarspeech.com.

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Introduction

The purpose of this book is to assist parents in helping their children achieve
developmentally appropriate speech and to provide some of the necessary resources. The
focus of this book is the correction of articulation (speech sound) errors. If your child has
many articulation errors or another type of speech problem such as a language delay or
stuttering, please seek the assistance of a speech-language pathologist, who is trained in
the diagnosis and remediation of a broad range of speech and language disorders in adults
and children. Likewise, if your child has a physical problem that affects his speech, such as a
hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, or cleft palate, this book does not attempt to address
these more complex issues. If your child has only a few speech sound errors, I hope that you
will find this book a useful resource in helping your child to improve his or her speaking skills
at home.

Many articulation problems are not difficult to correct. The process requires basic
knowledge of how to teach the sounds and a lot of directed practice. In my private therapy
practice, I often have parents sit in on therapy sessions and I send practice pages home with
the children, asking the parents to help their child practice for a few minutes every day. The
children who practice frequently at home typically make much faster progress than those
who practice their speech for only a weekly 30 minute session. Because of their ability to
provide consistent daily practice, parents are in an excellent position to correct their
children’s speech sound errors at home.

As toddlers begin to learn speech, they make many errors. These errors include omitting
sounds in words (“da” for “dog”) and substituting one sound for another (“wun” for “run).
Sometimes speech sounds are distorted—the sounds are incorrect, but the error is not a
different speech sound. An example of a distortion would be a “slushy-sounding” S.

Errors are a normal part of speech development and many children do not have perfect
articulation until around 7 years of age. However, there are milestones that children should
be making in their progress toward “adult speech.” Children who do not meet these
milestones are at high risk for not developing correct speech on their own and may also
experience frustration with or embarrassment about their speech. In my experience,
children who are five or six years old have more success in speech therapy than do eleven
year olds who have been practicing wrong habits for many years. I much prefer to catch the
problem and deal with it early.

Generally, a three year old should be able to speak clearly enough to be understood by
his parents. If not, this is one sign of an articulation delay. Certain sounds should be
mastered by different ages. The following test will help you assess whether your child’s
errors are normal for his age or not.
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S uper star speech

Articulation Test

Your first task will be to do a thorough test of your child’s articulation abilities. The test
may be omitted if you are certain that your child only has one or two error sounds and you
therefore already know which sounds to begin teaching. The articulation test will cover
most of the speech sounds. (Vowels and a few of the easiest sounds will not be tested.) The
test consists of 4 sections:

1. Articulation Test Pictures

2. Response Sheet

3. Sound Error Analysis Sheet

4. Therapy Plan

Test Directions

1. Take the Response sheet out of the binder and place in front of you. (Feel free to
make additional copies of the Response Sheet, Analysis Sheet, and Therapy Plan if
needed.) Place the binder in front of your child and open to page one of the
Articulation Test pictures.

2. Point to the first picture (pie) and ask “What is this?” It is ideal for the child to name
the picture without prompting, but if the child does not know the word, you may
prompt him. (“Say, “pie.”)

3. Listen ONLY for the correct production of the target sound for each word. Don’t
worry about any other sound errors in the word. Score as follows by recording the
response in the corresponding box on the response sheet.
correct √
omitted sound --
substituted sound (record error)
distorted sound (common with s, z, and sh) dist.

Example: “abbit” for rabbit write “—“
“wabbit” for rabbit write “w”
“u-abbit” for rabbit write “dist”

4. Continue asking your child to name pictures, proceeding in rows across the page. You
will notice that the target sound will be tested in the initial, medial (middle), and final
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Articulation Test
positions of words. Remember, you are only listening for the target sounds. If other
sounds are produced incorrectly, they do not have to be noted at this time.

5. You may want to use a blank sheet of paper to cover the non-target pictures if your
child finds looking at the entire page distracting.

6. Next, go back to each sound that was produced incorrectly. Model the sound for the
child in isolation (“Say, ‘ssssss.’”) Circle the sound on the response sheet if the child
can imitate it correctly. Do the same for every word. (“Say, ‘sun,’” “Say, ‘pencil,’”
“Say, ‘house.’”) Circle each error that the child can imitate correctly. Sounds that the
child can already imitate will be easier for him to learn and assimilate into his speech.
These sounds will be easier to begin therapy on.

Sound Error Analysis

If you find that your child has several error sounds, circle each sound on the analysis
sheet, following the directions on the sheet.

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S uper star speech

Therapy Plan

The sounds on the response sheet are categorized by the ages at which most children
have mastered the sound. Sounds that are usually taught together because they are very
similar (p and b, t and d, s and z, etc.) are listed together.

Record all of the error sounds that are listed at your child’s current age or younger on
the Therapy Plan under “target sound,” beginning with the sounds that should be mastered
at the youngest age. Any errors that may not be mastered by an older age child are within
normal limits and need not be listed on the therapy plan at this time. For example, it is
normal for many 5 year olds to have errors with the th, s, or z sounds, so these sounds
would not be a priority for speech therapy. If all of the child’s error sounds are within normal
limits for his/ her age, then therapy is not needed. Retest again in a year to make sure that
the child’s articulation skills are continuing to progress normally. (There is no harm in
working with a child on later-developing sounds, and this may even be advantageous if the
child is experiencing any frustration, but often these errors will self-correct as the child
matures.)

Consider the results from the Sound Error Analysis sheet when making the Therapy Plan.
For example, if your child has difficulty with all of the tongue tip sounds, you may want to
work on these at the same time. Likewise, note any other patterns. If your child can produce
many of the sounds at the beginning and middle positions of words, but omits final
consonants (a common error pattern), consider teaching final consonant production for all
consonants instead of just focusing on one or two sounds at a time. Alternatively, you may
want to begin with a sound that is important in the child’s life, such as a sound in his name.

As the child progresses in therapy, you should record on the therapy plan the date that
each sound is mastered.
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Articulation Test

Articulation Test p. 1

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