Author: Heidi Hanks

Personal

My Child Needs Speech Therapy, What?

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 […]

Improving Articulation

How to Teach the P Sound

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 […]

Personal

Mommy Speech Therapy Continues!

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. […]

Improving Articulation

How to Teach the M Sound

“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 […]

Early Language Development

Screening For Autism By Age 2

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 […]

Improving Articulation

How to Teach the TH Sound

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 […]

Improving Articulation

How to Teach the R Sound

I have had a few readers recently write inquiring how to teach the R sound. This sound is among the toughest sounds to teach. It is unlike other sounds, meaning it is produced differently leading or following different vowels and consonants. The truth is when you talk about teaching the […]