One of my jobs as a speech language pathologist is to know when a speech error is developmental or non-developmental. Developmental, meaning it is an appropriate error based on the child’s age, or non-developmental, which would then need to be addressed in speech therapy. One way of figuring out if […]
For those of you that have read some of my previous posts on how to teach specific sounds you may have noticed a pattern. That’s because when teaching kids how to say sounds there IS a general pattern I follow even though each specific sound changes. I wanted to outline […]
I’d like to take a moment to commiserate with those parents struggling to teach their children how to speak clearly, and pronounce sounds correctly. This is Sam, my seven year old Star Wars fighter pilot in his Halloween costume last year. He has been struggling with his /r/ sounds for […]
The /p/ sound is the perfect sound to begin with for children who are highly unintelligible. It may be one of my very favorite sounds to teach because it is so visual and therefore can be taught quickly. As the child masters this sound it will build their confidence and […]
How do I account for only writing two posts in the last two years? The main reason is little Sawyer (our red-headed tornado) in combination with our 4-year old Princess, Sophie and 7-year old Jedi Warrior, Sam and well, it became the perfect storm and I was a bit overwhelmed. […]
“Mmmmmmmm,” the /m/ sound. A fun sound to teach, because even if your child isn’t using it correctly in all positions of words he/she most likely uses or has played around with this sound. “Ma-ma-ma-ma,” is usually one of the first sounds we hear our little kiddos babble because the […]
I recently had a client that was struggling with the /t/ and /d/ sounds and realized I have not yet covered these on Mommy Speech Therapy, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on how to teach these sounds. I have grouped these sounds together because they are produced in […]
One of the most common questions I hear from parents is “How much language should my child be using for their age?” As our children grow up, there are certain “communication milestones” that we can watch for which will help us know how they are developing. I thought it would […]
Many of you have been interested in how to stimulate more speech from your toddlers so I thought I would share a few tricks I use as a speech therapist. Most often children just need a little more incentive to get them talking so I like to use what is […]
As a Speech-Language Pathologist having worked with children with different severities of autism, it caught my attention just how much the news/media has talked about it in recent weeks. From Dateline MSNBC to celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Oprah. I’m sure it came back into the media limelight when recent […]
I have had several requests on how to teach the /l/ sound so I put some thoughts together and wanted to share them with you! Three Steps for Teaching the /l/ Sound 1. To teach the /l/ sound place the tongue tip on the alveolar ridge (the ridge behind the […]
I have had a few requests for how to teach the Y sound. Here is a brief explanation of how I teach the Y sound in speech therapy. Learining the Y sound all by itself To teach the /y/ sound start by asking your child if they can say the […]
Learning the TH Sound All By Itself I love teaching the TH sound because it is one of the most visual sounds to teach. Model putting your tongue between your teeth while blowing air at the same time. Most children will have no difficulty imitating this action. Then practice this […]
When my daughter Sophie was about 6-14 months old she drooled excessively. She went through bib after bib after bib. I knew that it was more than teething as so many people had suggested. As a Speech Pathologist I had learned that constant drooling may be an indicator of low […]
I recently saw that Signing Time! is coming out with their second series of DVDs, so of course I had to write and let all of you know who may have not yet heard! They look like they’re going to be very cute. (Is it obvious I’m excited about these?) […]
