Speech is important for making friends.

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Speech Therapy - 7 steps to Successful Articulation Therapy for your Child

 

    Speech therapy is a tool used to help a child that has difficulty pronouncing the sounds of certain words correctly. As a Speech Therapist, after a proper assessment, and then through speech therapy sessions, I help a child learn and pronounce these sounds. This gives me great satisfaction because I am able to see the child's speech improving firsthand, helping the child gain confidence in themselves. 

    There are many reasons why a child may have difficulty pronouncing a certain sound correctly. Some of these reasons may be related to apraxia of speech or phonological disorders. In some special cases, they are also related to craniofacial abnormalities (e.g. cleft lip / lycostoma), etc. 

    Right now we will discuss traditional articulation therapy. This is a simple therapy technique that you can use to teach your child how to correctly pronounce certain sounds that they are having trouble with.

    If your child has been recommended therapy, it is first essential to contact a Speech Therapist so that there is a complete evaluation of your child's speech. The Speech Therapist will use an articulation test to pinpoint exactly which sounds are mispronounced and at which point in the word (beginning, middle, or end). Once this is determined, they will note if these mistakes are typical for children of this age or not, and then recommend treatment if needed.

    There are different ways of teaching speech sounds to children. Through traditional therapy and depending on the age, the number of sounds that are pronounced incorrectly, and a few other factors, the Speech Therapist will choose the most appropriate approach to help your child. 

   

Below, we will outline the steps for treating an articulation disorder.

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​1. Production of the phoneme individually

    The first thing you need to do is to see if your child can pronounce the sound.

Have your child watch you pronounce the sound, for example,/θ/ ("th"), and see if he can copy you. If he can imitate you correctly that means he can pronounce it correctly from a physiological point of view.  From that point on, he will learn how to incorporate that particular sound into words and sentences!

Now you can start using the correct sound in your everyday speech with your child. Try to bring it out and emphasize it every time you say it. If you hear your child using the wrong sound, for example: "Today is my birfday!", you can answer: "Yes! It's your birthday today! Happy Birthday!"

    You simply repeat the sentence your child said, emphasizing the correct sound. This is much better than telling the child they are wrong and asking them to repeat the word or phrases over and over again - something that can be very tiring for them.

    If your child cannot imitate you, then you will have to show them the correct position of their tongue in their mouth to say the particular "sound" ( for example, behind the upper teeth (for / τ/ "t" ) or ( at the back of the throat for / к / "k" ).

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​2. Production of the phoneme in syllables

    The second part of therapy is focusing on syllables. At this level of therapy, we combine the sound the child is learning, along with a vowel -  for example, the word "me".

    Let's say the sound your child is learning is "m". You will start with syllables at the beginning of the syllable, i.e. me, mo, my, ma, mou, mi. Then you proceed to the end of the syllable: am, em, im, om, oum, and finally in the middle of the syllable: omo, eme, imi, ama, oumou. When your child can say the sound at the syllable level, you can move on to words!

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​3. Production of the phoneme in words 

    Now it's time to start saying words with that sound. Start with words that have the sound at the beginning, then at the end, and finally words that have the sound in the middle of the word. You can create a game at home that will have your child look for things or toys that have that particular sound. Opportunities to say words are everywhere, for example in picture books, on the playground, and even in the supermarket!

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​4. Production of the phoneme in sentences

    Now that your child has achieved correct articulation of words, you are ready to increase the difficulty level. A phrase is a good way to do this because it combines one word with a particular sound and one or two additional words. Let's use the "m" sound as an example: "I want milk", or "More milk", etc. Use words that have the sound at the beginning, middle, and end. 

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​5. Production of the phoneme in sentences

    We are now ready to add more words to make a sentence. This level is more challenging because it requires the child to maintain the correct production of the sound by adding additional words to express a complete thought! This can be a little difficult for some kids, and it will just take a lot of practice. Use words that contain their sound in all positions of the word (beginning, middle, and end). Help the child to correctly pronounce the words in sentences by using images corresponding to the word: " (bananas) _______ are yellow ." Then continue with the sound in the middle of the sentence and at the end of the sentence: "The  ________ (big) car."  " A red ______ (ball). 

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​6. Phoneme production in reading

    Reading, or oral narration for non-readers is the next level in articulation therapy.

If your child can read, then you will be able to choose books and ask your child to read along, using the correct sound where appropriate. If your child is not yet reading, ask them to tell you a story of their own. You can also read a story to them and then discuss what happened in the story with them afterward.

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​7. Production of the phoneme in spoken language

    We have reached the final stage of articulation therapy. When your child has progressed through reading / story-telling, they should be ready to use the correct sound during their everyday speech. You can continue to repeat their sentences if they forget to use the correct sound. You can also remind them to use the "good sound __!" if they make a mistake. At this level, there should only be occasional errors. Their articulation and speech should be almost automatic.

    Lastly and most importantly, always remember to be patient, and don't forget to reward your child often, so that you can provide them the confidence that will help them overcome every obstacle in their life!



 

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Maria Kehagia, MSc

Speech Therapy/Special Education

Adelphi University, New York
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