I will highlight speech-language websites once in a while for parents and therapists. This website has great therapy materials for homework materials and lots of knowledge materials.
Today's featured website is by Judith Kuster's Net Connections for Communication Disorders and Sciences (www.communicationdisorders.com); This takes you directly to the various topics that may be important to you. http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster2/sptherapy.html?goback=.gde_1554647_member_149727478
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Seven Best Tips for Speech Therapy; Using the SmartPalate System
Here is a culmination of therapy tips from holding 4 years of Summer Intensive Speech Therapy. These tips are sure to help any therapist and child using the "SmartPalate" system. (For Therapist's mostly, but parents are welcome to read on). To get theses tips in full detail, click on the title.
1. To get best results, teach children to "relax" from the beginning.
2. Use "mirrors" to help the child watch his lips, tongue tip and jaws during the session and at home.
3. Don't forget to emphasize good forward AIR flow!
4. Practice the correct approach to the word at different rates.
5. Once the "R" was fairly intact; I had them practice the "r" syllable in contrast, correctly and incorrectly
6. Practice with and without the "smartpalate" mouthpiece across linguistic complexity.
7. Allow child to practice for 3-5 minutes on their own, without your feedback.
You are welcome to email me if you have any questions about these tips using the "SmartPalate" System at adorais159@gmail.com
1. To get best results, teach children to "relax" from the beginning.
2. Use "mirrors" to help the child watch his lips, tongue tip and jaws during the session and at home.
3. Don't forget to emphasize good forward AIR flow!
4. Practice the correct approach to the word at different rates.
5. Once the "R" was fairly intact; I had them practice the "r" syllable in contrast, correctly and incorrectly
6. Practice with and without the "smartpalate" mouthpiece across linguistic complexity.
7. Allow child to practice for 3-5 minutes on their own, without your feedback.
You are welcome to email me if you have any questions about these tips using the "SmartPalate" System at adorais159@gmail.com
Monday, April 9, 2012
Syllables using the SmartPalate
Children often improve their target sound production when words are easy using the smartpalate, but as words get more complex it's harder to accurately produce the words.
Longer syllable words can often cause a child to compromise the clarity of the word as he trys to complete the word. He might leave off unstressed syllables, or reduce the vowels, or blur the parts together.
Here is one fun example of how to use objects to support syllable production while watching the palatometer display to point out to the child that he can still make proper tongue-palate contact and sound. You could also record the child talking and play it back for him to review.
Longer syllable words can often cause a child to compromise the clarity of the word as he trys to complete the word. He might leave off unstressed syllables, or reduce the vowels, or blur the parts together.
Here is one fun example of how to use objects to support syllable production while watching the palatometer display to point out to the child that he can still make proper tongue-palate contact and sound. You could also record the child talking and play it back for him to review.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Therapy in Small Group or Pairs
The "smart therapy" model. Two students with one therapist with the palatometer technology. It's proving to be highly successful to work in pairs. Family and friend therapy pairs. Lots of benefits for the students; more therapy time, peer feedback, and fun drill-game format with two. Generalizing motor-learning faster.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Palatometer Speech Therapy Supports
Even though the Palatometer Technology is a super visual tool, the certified speech therapist is also a vital part of the therapy process.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Er Practice
This boy was such a hard worker. He wanted his "er"s to come in and today he turned the corner with his own method of practice. He said "I like making the green lines." So I thought why not let him practice making more green lines with the 'er's. He demonstrates how he makes the green lines while practicing better 'er's. Last Friday he wasn't making clear 'er's in isolation or in words.
He is on his 9th session using the palatometer and can say most /r/ words in initial r, or r-blends like, fr, gr, kr, br, tr, so on. He also improved on 'or, ar, eer' but the 'er' was the hardest for him like so many other kids with /r/ issues.
He puts 'er' into words in this video."Bird, Bert"
Cousins practicing /r/ words.
He is on his 9th session using the palatometer and can say most /r/ words in initial r, or r-blends like, fr, gr, kr, br, tr, so on. He also improved on 'or, ar, eer' but the 'er' was the hardest for him like so many other kids with /r/ issues.
He puts 'er' into words in this video."Bird, Bert"
Cousins practicing /r/ words.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
IN THE NEWS
Here is one more NEWS SITE.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705387805/Speech-therapy-a-cinch-with-new-tongue-technology.html
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Summer Speech Program; Volunteer's Review
Mrs. Dorais,
I had a fantastic experience volunteering with the intensive summer speech program. It was amazing working with these kids. They showed me that I really do love this field! The palatometer is one of the coolest tools I have ever seen. It really helps these kids, and older clients, understand how to produce sounds correctly, and I can't believe the progress they made!
Sincerely,
Cassie
Hello Mrs. Dorais,
Mrs. Dorais
Thank you for allowing me to work with you during the summer clinic. I felt comfortable in the clinic setting as you were so accommodating and inviting to me and all of the other volunteers . I learned a great deal about Speech Therapy and people in general. It was a special experience for me to see the concepts I have learned about in class be applied to real situations. Disorders of Articulation became real to me as I saw how the palotometer worked and practiced the /r/ phoneme daily with C. (one of Kristine’s patients). The concepts of Speech Anatomy were reaffirmed to me as I witnessed how simple breath adjustments and relaxation of the articulators could produce the perfect /r/ blend. It amazed me how the simple instructions of laying down, breathing in the nose, letting air out the mouth, opening up the vowels and saying words like “are”, “or”, “air”, “ear”, etc. while relaxing could be the perfect adjustment to making the /r/ sound perfect! Language Disorders and the stories I had heard Dr. Fujiki and Dr. Brinton share became very clear to me while I worked with sweet G. I learned how important language is as a communication tool and its everyday implications. I also learned how important family support is through the process of acquiring language. Watching mothers, fathers, and grandparents attend therapy sessions daily and then talking to them about their child’s accomplishments in speech was special for me. G’s mother, particularly, became a saint in my eyes! Hopefully that gives you an idea of what I learned these past several weeks. Thank you again for allowing me to be part of the experience. Have a wonderful summer!
I had a fantastic experience volunteering with the intensive summer speech program. It was amazing working with these kids. They showed me that I really do love this field! The palatometer is one of the coolest tools I have ever seen. It really helps these kids, and older clients, understand how to produce sounds correctly, and I can't believe the progress they made!
Sincerely,
Cassie
Hello Mrs. Dorais,
I must say that I was incredibly impressed with the intensive summer speech program. It was well-organized and I was amazed with the progress that the participants made. They all (and their parents or grandparents) seemed so thrilled with personal articulatory and phonological gains. You and the other speech therapists were very much in tune with the specific needs of each client. You pushed them to work hard and make improvements, but not beyond their breaking points, so to speak. I really hope to develop such adeptness pertaining to a child's limits and behavior management.
Thank you again for the experience. It was extremely worthwhile!
Sincerely,
Liz Perry
Mrs. Dorais
Thank you for allowing me to work with you during the summer clinic. I felt comfortable in the clinic setting as you were so accommodating and inviting to me and all of the other volunteers . I learned a great deal about Speech Therapy and people in general. It was a special experience for me to see the concepts I have learned about in class be applied to real situations. Disorders of Articulation became real to me as I saw how the palotometer worked and practiced the /r/ phoneme daily with C. (one of Kristine’s patients). The concepts of Speech Anatomy were reaffirmed to me as I witnessed how simple breath adjustments and relaxation of the articulators could produce the perfect /r/ blend. It amazed me how the simple instructions of laying down, breathing in the nose, letting air out the mouth, opening up the vowels and saying words like “are”, “or”, “air”, “ear”, etc. while relaxing could be the perfect adjustment to making the /r/ sound perfect! Language Disorders and the stories I had heard Dr. Fujiki and Dr. Brinton share became very clear to me while I worked with sweet G. I learned how important language is as a communication tool and its everyday implications. I also learned how important family support is through the process of acquiring language. Watching mothers, fathers, and grandparents attend therapy sessions daily and then talking to them about their child’s accomplishments in speech was special for me. G’s mother, particularly, became a saint in my eyes! Hopefully that gives you an idea of what I learned these past several weeks. Thank you again for allowing me to be part of the experience. Have a wonderful summer!
Kimberly Clark
Intensive Summer Speech Program; Parent Review
Thank you parents and participants!
Well it was unanimous that the Intensive Summer Speech Program was successful.
All the parents that took the time to submit the the program survey indicated that they felt the Summer Intensive Speech Program was either "very successful" or "extremely successful" for their child. It was also noted that they wanted more time with the therapists. This showed they liked what was going on. With this said, they didn't realize that the program was running on a research principle that indicated that 30 minutes of intense therapy time was optimal for most age ranges. This is done to avoid client burn out, or fade into poor production. Yes, some wrote it took a little time to get warmed up with some kids, but that was mostly due to the child's nature more than the program. Even if they got 20 minutes of optimal time, that is considered better than forcing work over 45 or 50 minutes.
Again thanks to the parents, clients, volunteers, and staff for their hard work and positive support! Each summer the demand has increased so I imagine it will continue to increase as usual. I look forward to next year's group. Please share your positive experience with everyone you know so the program can continue to grow and help others.
Well it was unanimous that the Intensive Summer Speech Program was successful.
All the parents that took the time to submit the the program survey indicated that they felt the Summer Intensive Speech Program was either "very successful" or "extremely successful" for their child. It was also noted that they wanted more time with the therapists. This showed they liked what was going on. With this said, they didn't realize that the program was running on a research principle that indicated that 30 minutes of intense therapy time was optimal for most age ranges. This is done to avoid client burn out, or fade into poor production. Yes, some wrote it took a little time to get warmed up with some kids, but that was mostly due to the child's nature more than the program. Even if they got 20 minutes of optimal time, that is considered better than forcing work over 45 or 50 minutes.
Again thanks to the parents, clients, volunteers, and staff for their hard work and positive support! Each summer the demand has increased so I imagine it will continue to increase as usual. I look forward to next year's group. Please share your positive experience with everyone you know so the program can continue to grow and help others.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Instensive Summer Speech Program; Therapist's Review
It's hard to believe 5 weeks of summer speech therapy could go by so quickly.
Tomorrow is the last day of summer speech program. It's bitter sweet, as it's been challenging for some clients yet so rewarding to see their progress. It's nice to be finished but hard to say goodbye to so many.
I continue to learn how to streamline and make therapy optimal for each client. This summer we tried a new system and it seemed to work quite well.
1. We practiced with a voice warm-up for some clients who needed to increase their "speech power" (loudness and breath support), and for other clients we went through the /R/ warm-up sheet. With some we had them play with the tongue coordination game.
2. We practiced words from the previous day's last target sound worked on for 5-10 minutes
3. We rotated through a new target sound during the 3-5 minute individual practice time. This practice time is one of the most critical components of speech therapy using the palatometer technology. This private time allows the client to really focus on making connection with the whole process, as they light up their tongue target display.
4. We reviewed and worked some more on their target sound, went over their scores, their challenges and so on.
5. If time was left, we practiced one more words with a new sound target during the 30 minute session.
The next day, it starts all over again, we first reviewed the last target sound that was practiced, so on. This practice pattern seemed to allow for more sounds to be corrected in a short period of time. If one target sound was troublesome, it was almost better to review lightly than to over work it. Once they get all their target sounds down well, we moved into recording (with a digital recorder or the Ipad) the client for 2-3 minutes with their spontaneous speech without the mouthpiece. Then we typed or wrote down every word they say with their target sound in it, next we reviewed the same words with the "smartpalate" back in their mouth on "gold standard" to see how they scored.
It's interesting what made articulation therapy using the palatometer technology incidental learning for some and more challenging for others. I'd have to say for the most part, clients with good work ethic, good attention made the fastest progress. However, even those that had more issues still made incredible progress with the palatometer technology and intensive speech practice.
If you add any layer of issues even for neuro-typical clients, like lack of motivation, lack of home practice, etc, it cut into their progress.
Tomorrow is the last day of summer speech program. It's bitter sweet, as it's been challenging for some clients yet so rewarding to see their progress. It's nice to be finished but hard to say goodbye to so many.
I continue to learn how to streamline and make therapy optimal for each client. This summer we tried a new system and it seemed to work quite well.
1. We practiced with a voice warm-up for some clients who needed to increase their "speech power" (loudness and breath support), and for other clients we went through the /R/ warm-up sheet. With some we had them play with the tongue coordination game.
2. We practiced words from the previous day's last target sound worked on for 5-10 minutes
3. We rotated through a new target sound during the 3-5 minute individual practice time. This practice time is one of the most critical components of speech therapy using the palatometer technology. This private time allows the client to really focus on making connection with the whole process, as they light up their tongue target display.
4. We reviewed and worked some more on their target sound, went over their scores, their challenges and so on.
5. If time was left, we practiced one more words with a new sound target during the 30 minute session.
The next day, it starts all over again, we first reviewed the last target sound that was practiced, so on. This practice pattern seemed to allow for more sounds to be corrected in a short period of time. If one target sound was troublesome, it was almost better to review lightly than to over work it. Once they get all their target sounds down well, we moved into recording (with a digital recorder or the Ipad) the client for 2-3 minutes with their spontaneous speech without the mouthpiece. Then we typed or wrote down every word they say with their target sound in it, next we reviewed the same words with the "smartpalate" back in their mouth on "gold standard" to see how they scored.
It's interesting what made articulation therapy using the palatometer technology incidental learning for some and more challenging for others. I'd have to say for the most part, clients with good work ethic, good attention made the fastest progress. However, even those that had more issues still made incredible progress with the palatometer technology and intensive speech practice.
If you add any layer of issues even for neuro-typical clients, like lack of motivation, lack of home practice, etc, it cut into their progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)