Does this sound familiar? This WAS a lot of you a Does this sound familiar?

This WAS a lot of you at the start of the year...

Your kids were not making fast enough progress with Cycles, or you were really focused on following the traditional articulation hierarchy.

If this sounds like you, and you still only have two approaches under your belt, or you kinda know about minimal pairs but have a zillion questions, the Minimal Pairs Handbook will support you from planning, implementing, to generalizing!

Why do a therapy approach incorrectly, when you can do it the right way from the start??

#minimalpairshandbook #slpsontpt #speechpathologist #minimalpairstherapy #speechtherapy #ebpslp #preschoolslp #schoolslp #slp2b
I remember the days when I used to spend 20 minute I remember the days when I used to spend 20 minutes planning one session 😳

Gosh, while it taught me discipline and a good structure, these days my planning time is honestly 0-5 minutes.

I KNOW my goals, and I’m really focused on what I want to get out of the session... but otherwise I’m not too hung up on the actual activity.

I have come up with some of the most engaging and motivating activities when I didn’t have time to sit and plan, but let therapy happen.

#adventuresinspeechpathology #speechtherapist #slpeeps #privatepracticeslp #slp2b #slpbloggers #slpsofinstagram
Telehealth tip for minimal pairs: Within my sessi Telehealth tip for minimal pairs:

Within my sessions, I love choosing ONE PAIR and having the activity be meaningful!

So I’m playing the shark game (the one that always makes me scream!), but we have to STICK the fish in to play the game.

SPIN is another great word that works well, because there are a lot of games that have a spinner!

Hope this brings some fun, meaningful activity ideas into your session!

#minimalpairs #speechtherapy #slpeeps #slp #slpsofinstagram #speechpathologist #speechies #adventuresinspeechpathology
There’s a reason I’ve been MIA 🌞 Today was There’s a reason I’ve been MIA 🌞

Today was our last day of summer, and I can’t remember ever having a summer that was so mild and wet, but that sun was glorious!

Also... how MAGICAL is this new swimming spot I found today? A secret little sliver protected by rocks.

#cavesbeach #aussiesummer #slplife #adventuresinspeechpathology
This crocodile ONLY EATS fish when he hears those This crocodile ONLY EATS fish when he hears those back ‘k’ sounds 🐊 

Feeding games + minimal pairs therapy are always a hit with the preschoolers.

#adventuresinspeechpathology #slplife #preschoolslp #speechtherapy #slpsontpt #slpsofinstagram #speechdelay
PLEASE DON’T IGNORE VOWELS! I’m sharing on my PLEASE DON’T IGNORE VOWELS!

I’m sharing on my stories how I saw two kids this week who could only say their sounds correctly using high, front vowels.

It took my half the session to figure out this pattern, but NO JOKE, I grabbed this poster (it’s a freebie, and also available in General North American English) and figured it out!

The accuracy in our practice trials significantly increased once I stuck to words with those high front vowels 👏

Have you ever come across this?

#adventuresinspeechpathology #slpeeps #slp #speechdelay #speechdevelopment #slpsofinstagram #slpsontpt #slpfreebies #speechpathology #speechpathologist
I wanted to share this video to show you how you c I wanted to share this video to show you how you can break up minimal pairs therapy with a meaningful and fun activity!

We are working on /s/ cluster reduction, and took a break from “the cards” to work on nap vs. snap using an iPad game (we also practiced no vs. snow).

We pretended our hands were the machine and said “snap” and then the reinforcer is to tap the screen and pick up (or “snap”) the snow.

I find that kids really respond to these meaningful tasks as it emphasises how our words have meaning, and you can get a lot of organic practice trials in 💪🏻

BTW... I just ❤️ my kids!!!

#speechtherapy #speechpathology #slp #slpeeps #minimalpairs #speechdevelopment #privatepracticeslp #preschoolslp
I am just LOVING this prosody cues deck! I’ve g I am just LOVING this prosody cues deck!

I’ve got three on my caseload at the moment who respond so well to the emotion visuals, and it’s so lovely to hear some change in their voice vs. a monotone, robot-like voice!!

CARDS: @bjoremspeech @iowaspeechie @bjoremspeechpublications

#apraxiaofspeech #slpeeps #childhoodapraxiaofspeech #speechtherapy
Binding. It’s a simple little joy that makes my Binding.

It’s a simple little joy that makes my SLP life easier.

And no, I don’t have a binding machine... I take it to my local office shop and it costs me around $5 to do!!!

Any other binding fans out there???

#binding #slpsofinstagram #slplife #slpeeps #slpsontpt #speechies #slporganization
Just because you are contrasting /t/ vs. /k/ words Just because you are contrasting /t/ vs. /k/ words using minimal pairs, DOESN’T mean that you are forbidden from using any other cues!

Many times, my kids need some additional types of cues, whether it be gestures (point to the throat), a mirror (to see the tongue go back), metaphors (front vs. back sounds), or placement cues (move your tongue back) to help them be accurate so that they aren’t frustrated.

Many times those cues get dropped pretty quickly... but I still use a pragmatic cue where I question what the child means (did you mean tea or key?).

And yes, I used fronting as my example because GOSH IT’S A STUBBORN PATTERN sometimes. And I need aaaaaalllll the cues 🤣 do you agree??

#adventuresinspeechpathology #speechpathology #slpsofinstagram #slpeeps #slp #speechtherapy #speechdelay #preschoolslp
Does this sound familiar? This WAS a lot of you a Does this sound familiar?

This WAS a lot of you at the start of the year...

Your kids were not making fast enough progress with Cycles, or you were really focused on following the traditional articulation hierarchy.

If this sounds like you, and you still only have two approaches under your belt, or you kinda know about minimal pairs but have a zillion questions, the Minimal Pairs Handbook will support you from planning, implementing, to generalizing!

Why do a therapy approach incorrectly, when you can do it the right way from the start??

#minimalpairshandbook #slpsontpt #speechpathologist #minimalpairstherapy #speechtherapy #ebpslp #preschoolslp #schoolslp #slp2b
I remember the days when I used to spend 20 minute I remember the days when I used to spend 20 minutes planning one session 😳

Gosh, while it taught me discipline and a good structure, these days my planning time is honestly 0-5 minutes.

I KNOW my goals, and I’m really focused on what I want to get out of the session... but otherwise I’m not too hung up on the actual activity.

I have come up with some of the most engaging and motivating activities when I didn’t have time to sit and plan, but let therapy happen.

#adventuresinspeechpathology #speechtherapist #slpeeps #privatepracticeslp #slp2b #slpbloggers #slpsofinstagram
Telehealth tip for minimal pairs: Within my sessi Telehealth tip for minimal pairs:

Within my sessions, I love choosing ONE PAIR and having the activity be meaningful!

So I’m playing the shark game (the one that always makes me scream!), but we have to STICK the fish in to play the game.

SPIN is another great word that works well, because there are a lot of games that have a spinner!

Hope this brings some fun, meaningful activity ideas into your session!

#minimalpairs #speechtherapy #slpeeps #slp #slpsofinstagram #speechpathologist #speechies #adventuresinspeechpathology
There’s a reason I’ve been MIA 🌞 Today was There’s a reason I’ve been MIA 🌞

Today was our last day of summer, and I can’t remember ever having a summer that was so mild and wet, but that sun was glorious!

Also... how MAGICAL is this new swimming spot I found today? A secret little sliver protected by rocks.

#cavesbeach #aussiesummer #slplife #adventuresinspeechpathology
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Adventures in Speech Pathology

Feel confident treating speech sound disorders

For SLPs · January 8, 2020

What happens at your first speech therapy appointment?

When your child comes to meet a speech-language pathologist for the first time, we don’t really know what is going to happen. We might be given a snippet of information such as “having difficulties saying his sounds”, or “her speech isn’t clear” and that’s all that we have to guide us.

There is so much that goes on in that initial appointment. While every speech-language pathologist is different, I’d like to share my approach for a child who is having difficulties being understood due to the clarity of their speech.

The first part of the assessment guides me towards how the rest of the visit will go. I try to meet three goals.

My three goals are:

  1. To find out why you have come to see me. I know you are concerned, worried, or maybe just need reassurance. So, I want you to just tell me about your child. I want to know what is challenging for them, and why you have come to see me today. Tell me about their strengths or a success story so that I get to know them through you. I will most likely ask you questions about your child’s development and read any reports or letters that you have brought from other professionals. This can help me understand why your child is experiencing difficulties saying their sounds clearly.
  2. While I am chatting with you, I am trying to build rapport with your child. I want your child to feel comfortable because coming to see a stranger in a clinic room is something different for them. I will be asking your child to do things that may be hard for them later. So, we start off with play or an activity to get them settled. I’m usually building some LEGO, playing with the trains track, colouring, or making a playdough snake while asking my parents and carers questions.
  3. As your child gets to know me, I take a conversational speech sample. You will see me start to write lots of little things down on a piece of paper. I’m writing down words I hear your child say, sentences that they use, I’m jotting down observations, and noting how much I understand of what they say.

FORMING A SPEECH HYPOTHESIS

These three goals all help me to arrive at what I feel is the most important part of the assessment: developing a hypothesis about your child’s speech. I know that this sounds a little clinical. A little sciencey, so let me explain.

There are different types of speech disorders, difficulties, and delays.

I form a hypothesis to help me choose the right types of tools and assessments to confirm or rule out why I think your child might be having difficulties.

This is why every assessment in my room is different, and what I do with one child, looks different from what I do with another.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOLS

Some of the things that I might do:

  • Show your child pictures and ask them to name what they see, “look at this picture. What’s that?”
  • Ask your child to copy individual sounds, particularly ones that they have difficulties saying, “can you say ‘s’ for me?”
  • Look inside your child’s mouth and observe their roof of mouth, tonsils, and teeth “open up your mouth and say ‘ahhh’ for me .”
  • Ask your child to copy various mouth movements using their tongue and lips, “can you move your tongue from side-to-side?”
  • Show them pictures of longer, more complex words. These usually have 3-5 syllables like “hos-pi-tal”, “vege-te-bles”, and “he-li-cop-ter”
  • Identify if they can hear rhyme, clap out syllables in words and tell me the first sound that they hear
  • Observe if they can hear the difference between words that rhyme, usually involving an error sound of theirs
  • Ask them to point to different pictures, follow directions, and repeat sentences
  • Give parents and caregivers a questionnaire about how much people understand their child
  • Ask your child a series of questions on how they feel about their speech and talking
  • I might go in-depth and focus on vowel sounds, or words that start with two consonants
  • I ask your child to say the same set of words three times over our appointment
  • I may ask your child to repeat made-up words or say some silly syllables rapidly such as ‘papapapapa’.

Sometimes, we don’t cover everything in the first appointment, and I’ll ask you to come back the following week. Please know that when I tell you this, it is because I am trying to understand your child’s speech system.

I might give you a task, such as writing down words that your child says, or to take a video or audio sample or your child talking. I could ask you to look out for something such as if your child sleeps with their mouth open or shut, and report back to me the following week.

When I have a good understanding, I can not only communicate this with you but formulate a plan that will best suit your child and their needs.

Finally, I encourage you to ask questions. The purpose of the first appointment is to have your questions answered. I will be the first to admit that I can focus on your child, so if you have something to ask me, please go ahead. I hope that this helps you understand what an initial appointment (or two) may look like in a speech pathology room.

Rebecca Reinking Speech-Language Pathologist
Rebecca Reinking is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has an interest in speech sound disorders. She primarily works with children who have difficulties saying their speech sounds clearly and correctly. Find her at ATUNE Health Centres in Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

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