The Process of Articulation Therapy

Hello Underhill Families:

Today I’m sharing information about the process of articulation therapy for those students who are seeing me for help with speech sound production.  Online I found this great visual by www.mommyspeechtherapy.com that I LOVE:

The Process of Articulation Pinwheel

Isn’t it cool?  Let me explain a little about it…..

When children are learning to produce a new sound, we start of at the level of isolation.  This involves figuring out where to place the tongue, jaw position, and the type of airflow that is necessary.  Once established we quickly move on to the syllable level and teach the transition movement needed between the consonant and vowel.  As the child progresses they move up the hierarchy to words, phrases, sentences, stories, conversation, and then to generalized use in a variety of settings and with many different communication partners.  Some students move quickly up to the sentence level and into reading stories.  Other students take a longer time to fully acquire the motor movement pattern for the new sound and their progress through the hierarchy may take a little longer.  Children are ready for the next level on the pinwheel when they are consistently meeting at least 80% success on the present level.  This hierarchy may be different for the multiple positions a sound is in.  For example, if your child is working on initial /k/ at the sentence level, he/she may be in the early stages of learning how to produce /k/ in the medial position at the word level.  Typically sounds are easier to produce in the initial position, then the final position, and lastly the medial position.  

Please let me guide your child on what level is most appropriate for their speech sound.  I will indicate at what level your child needs to practice on the homework sheets that I share with you.

As you can see, generalizing a new sound takes a lot of hard work and many steps to achieve.  If your child is currently working on the word level, do not expect them to be using the sound correctly in sentences or when speaking with others in conversation.  Your child will get there, don’t you worry!  It just takes time!

If you have any questions about the process of articulation therapy, please do not hesitate to contact me.  As always, thank-you for partnering with me in improving your child’s speech sound skills!

~Wendy