I’ll never forget the moment I realised my articulation mouth cues were sabotaging my students’ progress. During COVID, wearing a mask forced me to rely heavily on visual cues and pictures—and that’s when I noticed something that changed the course of my therapy.
A child kept putting too many teeth on their bottom lip for the “f” sound. I was trying to explain to them that they needed to only gently press their front two teeth (not use all their top teeth) when I realized they were perfectly mimicking what my current mouth illustrations showed.
The mouth visuals were actually teaching incorrect placements!
No student should ever struggle because their articulation mouth picture cues were illustrated incorrectly.
Reason #1: Anatomically Obsessed (In a Good Way)
We knew our profession needed high-quality articulation mouth cues that realistically highlight tongue position, teeth placement, and lip shape. These are created by SLPs who understand that accurate visuals aren’t just helpful, they’re essential for speech success!
“They are much more accurate than any other mouth visuals I’ve previously used (like TH where the tongue rests on the lower lip and out of the mouth).” – Maria K
Reason #2: Tested with actual speech students
As a practising speech pathologist who only works on speech sounds, we used these mouth cues on our own caseload first, to ensure that the mouth cues helped our students.
We love sticking the cues on a tongue depressor to hold them in front of our mouth.
‘I would’ve thought mouth cue cards could be redundant… but my students have responded so well to these cues.” – Melanie
“I have noticed increased engagement and willingness to watch!” – Lindsey W
Reason #3: they help you be more effective!
We love this feedback from real life SLPs to understand how these articulation mouth cues help them be more effective – whether by reducing verbal instructions, highlighting airflow and voicing (which other cues don’t), and even supporting teletherapists!
“It took very little teaching about the mouth shapes for it to register with my students. I love that I can lessen my verbal cueing and let these mouths do most of the work for me!!” – Tina
“I love the details of these mouth visuals- different skin tones, shows the airflow and voicing.”
“I work in telehealth and these visuals are a life saver. Sometimes it is hard for my clients to see what I am doing with my mouth so these visuals provide better support.”
Reason #4: They represent your caseload
It is so important to Adventures in Speech Pathology that our materials can be used anywhere and with anyone around the world!
“I love these pictures because they are so accurate, by far the best ones I have tried in speech therapy and I have tried a few! NB I am from Iceland and I can still use them with my students.” – Alfhildur T.
The materials you use matter! So, make sure that you think about the students you work with and use resources that represent them.
reason # 5: they can help parents & teachers
Using consistent articulation cues to teach a speech sound can help parents and teachers support our students outside of the therapy room. Imagine if every adult was showing the child a different mouth picture or cue… it would be confusing, right?!
“This resource was super helpful in my speech session with a child working on the ‘sh’ sound. She is Autistic and having a visual support other than looking towards my face, which can be uncomfortable for her, was really helpful. The support assistant was also really impressed and asked to make a copy of those key pictures so she could offer the same support between sessions.”
