If you haven’t yet realised, ‘speech’ is my favourite area and I always have those kiddos who my usual sound elicitation techniques fall flat with… and so the hunt begins! Just as every child learns differently, so to does every SLP. So I’ve tried to appeal to every modality of learning and broaden your perspective on how you elicit speech sounds.
1. The Book: While my US readers might be familiar with Eliciting Sounds: Techniques and Strategies for Clinicians, by Wayne A. Secord, I just recently bought this… 10 years after practicing. It’s a great reference. Actually it’s an essential reference but I only wish I had it earlier. I particularly like how it breaks down strategies according to their cues as sometimes I find that some kids are, for example more stimulable for motor-kinesthetic cues. While this is fab for those tricky sounds we all struggle with, I actually found it really useful for sounds that are less common because I don’t have as many ideas on how to get the sound. It also made me realise that sometimes I teach a few specific ways and actually need to expand my elicitation repertoire.
2. The Cards: I love using cards with pictures of the mouth to cue my kids on what they might need to do to achieve a specific sound. Let’s face it, sometimes the reflection of themselves in the mirror is just too distracting 😉 Go on Teachers Pay Teachers to view these few from different sellers: Speech Sound Cue Cards, Speech Sound Cards and Articulation Posters.
3. The Apps: – I use these three apps a lot. The first is Speech Tutor which shows front/side images of the articulators and their movement for specific sounds. It’s a little spooky, but as an SLP it also helps me see how the articulators should be moving and I like how they visualise things such as air coming out of the mouth. Another that I like is Speech Sounds on Cue (and it is not just because there is a US and Aus edition) as they show nice close ups of the mouth. Speech Sounds For Kids also has US/Aus editions with close ups of the mouth, but I like the cartoon visual representations (e.g. Babbling Barry) that they also have and the different kid friendly options.
4. The Tools: Speech Buddies have been around for a few years – while I haven’t personally used them, you can go on their website for more information about these tools which target R, L, S, Sh and CH sounds. For some less ‘formal’ tools (think straws and lollipops) I’ve added a few ideas on my Pinterest page related to this.
5. The Professional Development: I completed the PROMPT course early on in my career and have found it invaluable, particularly for my severe CAS or complex clients. It made me look at speech and sound production in a whole new way. They offer training around the world, but the US site is here.
6. The Blog Posts: We sure have some talented SLP bloggers! Caroline Bowen is my SLP idol and her page on Metalinguistic Cues and Imagery is something that I have memorised for use with my clients. For some great and succinct handouts, Heard in Speech have a lovely 1 page summary on sounds that I like to upload on my iPad for quick access. I love the Playing With Words 365 blog. Katie has a series of posts on sound elicitation techniques and with comments from SLPs, you have a lovely range of tips to try. Mommy Speech Therapy also has posts on ‘How to teach…’ sounds well worth reading.
7. Pinterest: Follow my Pinterest board Sound Elicitation for Speech for even more links and ideas… I’ll add them as I find them!
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Yes you are right! It is not uncommon for people to need to take speech therapy lessons. There are many services available for teaching speech therapy; like mommy speech therapy.