Have you ever used the Nuffield program for Childh Have you ever used the Nuffield program for Childhood Apraxia or Speech?

We’re working on quiet plosives in CV and VC positions. I love that the program contains four cards for each word!

I’m also using @bjoremspeech cards to cue for the /p/ sound.

The reinforcer activity was to give felt pieces that then make a tangram picture!

#apraxiaofspeech #speechpathologist #childhoodapraxiaofspeech #slpa #speechtherapy #apraxiakids #adventuresinspeechpathology
This page always gets a lot of laughs!!! Using th This page always gets a lot of laughs!!!

Using the metaphor of “tail sounds” is such a fun way to talk about final consonant deletion with your kids ❤️

#adventuresinspeechpathology #speechpathology #speechtherapy #slp #slpeeps #phonology #minimalpairs
First therapy session for /r/. No, I did not focu First therapy session for /r/.

No, I did not focus on isolation.

I found words that the child COULD SAY correctly, and practiced those 🙌🏻

Can you see any patterns of where they are most accurate?

#articulation #speechtherapy #adventuresinspeechpathology #speechsounddisorders #articulationdelay
Love being able to SEE how much we have practiced, Love being able to SEE how much we have practiced, and what words the child can say correctly!

ALSO... THIS PAGE IS 100 TRIALS 🥳

Which means it’s one of my favourite pages to send for home practice!

#speechtherapyactivities #speechtherapy #slp #slpa #slpeeps #articulation #articulationtherapy
Simple therapy activity. You don’t need to be re Simple therapy activity. You don’t need to be really fun.

🥳 Just be fun enough! 🥳

We used a simple dinosaur mouth to practice our words. He was engaged, and we got 13 practices in a minute 🙌🏻That’s all that matters!!

Please don’t think that you need every fancy toy! Simple activities can be so effective.

FYI: two weeks ago I taught this little one /kl/ and /gl/ blends and they have generalised to final position!!! 💪🏻💪🏻

#articulationtherapy #Speechtherapy #Speechsounddisorders #spla #slpeeps #speechsounds #Adventuresinspeechpathology
Cues and syllables. At around the age of 4, I real Cues and syllables. At around the age of 4, I really like to check those early phonological awareness skills, especially for those kids who have been seeing me for a little while due to a severe speech sound delay.

Many of my kids show weak syllable deletion, difficulties perceiving and identifying sounds, or just lack awareness of “syllableness”.

While I love to use the body to clap and tap the syllables in words, I also little to use real objects to represent the “beats”. With this little one, I use Cued Articulation gestures to help them “see” the sounds.

What’s your fave thing to use to work on beats?

#articulation #phonologicalawareness #preschoolslp #speechsounddisorders #Adventuresinspeechpathology
Any guesses what this is?? I am LOVING making new Any guesses what this is??

I am LOVING making new metaphors for speech patterns and substitutions that you see in your caseload.

I think I have 5 new Minimal Pair Toolkits that I’m halfway through 🤗 it’s been so fun to get back to creating (vs. attending meetings, replying to emails and fixing problems 😅).

#minimalpairs #speechtherapy #phonology #articulation #slpsontpt
I saw a psychologist yesterday! And I was excited I saw a psychologist yesterday!

And I was excited. I have ups and downs. High expectations of myself. Difficulties balancing being a mum, SLP, wife and small business owner.

I have mum guilt. I’m stressed. I love working... maybe too much.

Anyway. It’s okay to admit that you need someone to help ❤️

FYI: before you ask, my jumper is from @beetheslp

#adventuresinspeechpathology #itsokaynottobeokay
Why do the SLOW way when you can make BIG CHANGES Why do the SLOW way when you can make BIG CHANGES and maybe have a child in and out of your door in three sessions?

👉🏻 I posted this last year, but I want to remind you all again!

So it might not always go like this, but for some kids, it is literally like you flicked a switch and their sound system almost instantly goes, “ohhhhhh.... L and W are different sounds so I should be saying them differently”. With this little example, I DID have to give placement cues in my first session as he wasn’t stimulable for /l/. And you’re allowed to!

But I stuck to my guns with the minimal pairs approach to help him understand that he has to contrast the sounds so that they make sense to people like me ☺️ At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be keeping our kids longer in therapy than they need to. Choosing an approach that thinks ‘big picture’ and can make big changes can speed up how long they’re on your caseload.

#phonology #speechtherapy #slp #preschoolslp #ashaweb #slp2b #speechlanguagepathology #slpeeps #schoolslp #slpbloggers #speechies #adventuresinspeechpathology
One set of cards, one type of gesture, one special One set of cards, one type of gesture, one special trick that you learned WILL NOT WORK for every child!!!

I get asked a lot what I’d do for kids who can’t say /k/, /r/, or a frontal lisp.

And it’s different every time, because what my kids do is different!

So don’t keep using the same cue and wondering why it isn’t working. Try DIFFERENT visuals, see how metaphors, orthographic and pragmatic cues work.

Try a mirror, give phonetic placement cues, facilitate using vowels, and trial the sound in different positions including clusters!

Your bag of tricks need to be BIG!

#articulationtherapy #slpa #slpgradstudent #speechsounddisorders #slpeeps #slpsofinstagram #slpbloggers #articulation #speechsounds #adventuresinspeechpathology
Have you ever used the Nuffield program for Childh Have you ever used the Nuffield program for Childhood Apraxia or Speech?

We’re working on quiet plosives in CV and VC positions. I love that the program contains four cards for each word!

I’m also using @bjoremspeech cards to cue for the /p/ sound.

The reinforcer activity was to give felt pieces that then make a tangram picture!

#apraxiaofspeech #speechpathologist #childhoodapraxiaofspeech #slpa #speechtherapy #apraxiakids #adventuresinspeechpathology
This page always gets a lot of laughs!!! Using th This page always gets a lot of laughs!!!

Using the metaphor of “tail sounds” is such a fun way to talk about final consonant deletion with your kids ❤️

#adventuresinspeechpathology #speechpathology #speechtherapy #slp #slpeeps #phonology #minimalpairs
First therapy session for /r/. No, I did not focu First therapy session for /r/.

No, I did not focus on isolation.

I found words that the child COULD SAY correctly, and practiced those 🙌🏻

Can you see any patterns of where they are most accurate?

#articulation #speechtherapy #adventuresinspeechpathology #speechsounddisorders #articulationdelay
Love being able to SEE how much we have practiced, Love being able to SEE how much we have practiced, and what words the child can say correctly!

ALSO... THIS PAGE IS 100 TRIALS 🥳

Which means it’s one of my favourite pages to send for home practice!

#speechtherapyactivities #speechtherapy #slp #slpa #slpeeps #articulation #articulationtherapy
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Adventures in Speech Pathology

Feel confident treating speech sound disorders

Therapy Approaches, Therapy Topics · September 1, 2020

Minimal Pairs Therapy: are you missing this first step?

Are you forgetting the first step of minimal pairs therapy? Because I’m going to admit it… back in my early career days, I may have missed this step!

Familiarizing your students with the target words (usually picture cards) is a critical step of minimal pairs therapy. The whole point of the approach is that we are teaching the child that if they say the word differently, it means something completely different!

HOW DO YOU FAMILIARIZE MINIMAL PAIR WORDS?

I generally start by picking word pairs that I think the child would understand given their age and language skills. Let’s use ‘sn’ being replaced with an ‘n’ as example.

My first word pair is nail and snail.

Minimal Pair cards from Teach Phonology series.

I would pick up the nail card and say something like:

This a nail, it starts with the ‘n’ sound. Builders might bang a nail with a hammer when they’re building things. Have you ever seen anyone use a hammer and nail?

Look at this picture! This is a slow, slimy snail. Snail starts with ‘sn’. I get lots of snails in my garden, and I even find them in my mailbox. Have you ever found a snail in your garden?

I then put the cards on the table and ask the child to pick up the picture that I am saying. I like to alternate the order and see if I can ‘trick’ the child: “snail – snail – nail – snail – nail”.

If I miss these steps in minimal pairs therapy and don’t check to see that the child understands the words and can hear the difference, our progress might stall.

Are you a speech-language pathologist who is delivering therapy via distance learning or telehealth? Look into these digital and interactive sets of minimal pairs. Not only do they have the word targets, but because there is context, your child might find it easier to engage in, and understand the therapy.

Try making minimal pairs meaningful

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  1. Darren Rose says

    December 11, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Hi, I am a new SLP- I have been struggling with how to improve the phonological error of backing. I have tried contrastive approaches such as minimal pairs and maximal pairs! However I not seeing the progress I would like… should I be using more of a multiple opp. Approach

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Hi, I'm Rebecca.
I encourage SLPs to feel more confident treating speech sound disorders, and make faster progress with their students.

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