Hi Sara,

 

I have a student who is turning four years old next month. I have been seeing her for several months for nasal emission on /sh/, /ch/ and /j/. She never had any anatomical problems and has been seen by an ENT. Oddly, she produces /s/ and /z/ just fine in spontaneous speech. I've been trying to work off the /s/ to /sh/, or /h/ to /sh/ by raising the jaw while producing /h/, the butterfly position, etc. I don't think she is able motorically to follow the instructions but then again it could be she doesn't understand due to her age. I can tell she is trying as she will crunch her nose trying to stop the air from coming out. She is bright and discrimination training has been mastered. She understands oral versus nasal sounds. Do you have any suggestions?

Let me begin by saying there may be a few options for her and without seeing this almost 4 year old I can only give some suggestions. You will have to try each of them to see which is the most beneficial.

To begin, the difference between the /s/ and /z/ and the "sh" "ch" and "j" is the increased use of the lateral margins of the tongue resting against the upper palate.

1. If your client can say "ee" then you might want to work from that position rather than from the ones you tried. Show her a picture of the upper jaw with the sides of the tongue resting against the upper jaw. You can find this graphic in the handout for the class, "A Three-Part Treatment Plan for Oral Placement Therapy" if you have taken that class or if not it is also in the book, "Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity and Feeding". Once this child can feel the sides of the tongue elevated and making contact with the upper palate you can have her freeze in that tongue position and try to say the standard "sh." Sometimes it is easier to get the "ch" from this position so I would try both.

2. If that does not work then I would see if she has the ability to elevate the sides of her tongue. The prerequisite movements for this placement would be the ability to a) lateralize her tongue tip to the back molars on alternating sides of her mouth without sliding her jaw, b) elevate and depress her tongue tip from an "ah" jaw position without moving her jaw. If she cannot do these prerequisites then the Straw Hierarchy would help develop these skills. Again you would refer to the book "Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity and Feeding," for complete instructions.

3. You might also want to try the activity entitled, "Oral-Nasal Contrasts" from "Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity and Feeding," as that activity works directly on mobilizing the velum.

I hope this helps,

Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP

Hi Sara,

 

My friend Diane told me that you have been exploring alternate tongue positions for sibilants and recommended that I ask you the following question: Assuming there are no airway issues, how important is it to correct the resting posture of the tongue in order to enable correct production of sibilants?

 

I am working with a seven year-old boy with a perpetually low resting posture of his tongue. He keeps his lips closed at rest, but his tongue is quite lax while he speaks, and it affects his /s/ (frontal lisp), /r/ (vowelized), and /l/ (imprecise). We have done the straw program and he is capable of producing a good /s/, but I just have a concern that with his tongue lying around at the bottom of his mouth, he will not conquer the /s/ in his spontaneous speech. In discussing this with Di, she posited that you might have an opinion on my question.

 

I’d appreciate your thoughts when you get a chance.

 

Thank you,

 

Lana

Hi Lana,

I am so pleased Diane suggested you email me as she is correct, I have been very interested in tongue tip position for the standard production of /s/ and /z/.

It is important to teach the tip to elevate and depress in order to move fluidly within the oral cavity. Using the straw hierarchy will result in retraction but will not improve tip mobility. You may want to look at the tongue tip tools which teach lateralization of the tip and tongue tip elevation/depression.

Once a child has those skills he will be able to show you which position is right for him. Do you have a copy of my book Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity and Feeding? In it I list the sequence of activities to ensure the oral skills are adequate to produce the /s/ and /z/ in addition to the other sounds you say this child is having trouble producing.

I hope this answers your question and have a nice day,

Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP

Hi,

I am an SLP in an elementary school in Virginia. I have been recently viewing your course A Three-Part Treatment Plan for Oral Placement Therapy. I have found your information to be extremely fascinating and, although I have 2 more hours, I have learned so much through your training. I do have a question. I have a 3rd grade student that is considered having a frontal lisp. He fronts many sounds. He is able to accurately produce the /s/ in conversation, when structured and prompted. However, in the course a child was mentioned that was able to accurately produce the /s/ in the structured setting, but once the setting was relaxed, she reverted back to her resting/comfortable position  of frontal sounds. Being that he is a typically developing child (9 years), would the bubble blowing and/or horn hierarchy be appropriate?

My thoughts would be that I need to work on establishing tongue retraction. I am just wondering what your professional judgement would be, considering he sounds a lot like  the girl that played "golf-ball air hockey" against Sara's daughter. I appreciate any thoughts you may be able to share! Thank you so much for your time and expertise!

Hi, Would you be able to recommend some at home products?  My daughter (8 yr. w/ Down Syndrome) is working on moving more air through the center of her mouth.  Air is coming out the sides.  Her therapist believes it will help her overall intelligibility.  In addition to this central goal, she will be focusing on the production of s and z.  Thank you for your help! 

I have written an entire program for the production of /s/ and /z/ called Oral Placement Therapy OPT for /s/ and /z/.  In that book I teach the 20 lessons on how to produce those sounds.  Two of the techniques I use are a hierarchy of therapy horns and bubbles blowing.  Both of these techniques target oral airflow direction (central airflow) and would be ideal for your child.  The other activities in the program will work directly on her production of those sounds.

I hope this has answered your question.

Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson