Breaks from speech therapy are good. Obviously I get refreshed and the kids seem to have a new vigor as they start up again. It’s fun to take a closer look at their progress, goals and abilities and do a little adjustment. Often I am pleasantly surprised that they have continued to make progress in my absence (whoa, does that mean they don’t need me or are they REALLY practicing as they say they are??) Anyway, it is all good.
This week I have had some little epiphanies I wanted to share. I use Articulation Station with most of my articulation students to “warm up” at the beginning of the session, and then depending on what level of therapy they are at, I still use the word pictures for drill during a game or activity. At the end of a long day of therapy, I found I was tired of giving the model and started to tap the screen to have the app provide it. Believe it or not, the child perked up and listened more intently to the voice as a little change from our routine. Good all the way around.
Today I continued working with a 5 year-old on nasality issues. He nasalizes /f, s, sh/ and very predictably switches back and forth with nasal and oral emission. He’s been a quick learner but one of the best methods to teach him the difference was a little trick I think I learned in graduate school. I get out my bag of colored feathers, he chooses a color and I place it on a piece of cardboard below his nose. The visual feedback is great as he sees the feather fly across the surface if he is producing the sound with nasal emission and sits still if not. Sounds simple, but it really works. Now he is able to quickly correct himself as he knows the difference physically, auditorily and visually.