Tagged "TalkTools straw kit"


Ask A Therapist: Reverse Swallow In Drinking

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi TalkTools,

I have a question about the straw hierarchy. I have a 5 year old with severe phonological processing disorder and recently repaired posterior tongue tie. I have started the straw hierarchy with her. She is on straw #3 and able to take in a single sip and multiple, consecutive sips, but seems to take too big of a water bolus which causes her to pause before swallowing to make a suckling motion to manage it in her mouth before swallowing it. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Jody

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Hi Jody,

I am thinking based on what you are saying that she is demonstrating a reverse swallow. I am gathering that you are saying that this is what you are seeing on multiple swallows and not single sips. If she is not doing it on single sips I would try to stay there for an extended period of time to get her used to swallowing in the correct way and then build up to multiple sips. Your client can demonstrate tongue protrusion with the first 4 straws but cannot move to #5 without tongue retraction. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have other questions.

Thanks,

Liz

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Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 11 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: Straw D

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi, 

 

I have a student who just started straw D with the pudding today and after 25 mins with very little progress we called it a day (I work on a school so missing an hour of class won't work). After he left, I tried it myself with the same results! What is normal for this straw? He has gone through the whole program working on his /r/ and I know this last straw is very important for retraction but it seems impossible to drink pudding through straw D. Is it common for people to feel this way initially?

 

Also, any recommendations for cleaning the straw? Water from the faucet didn't get the pudding out and neither blowing. I see quite a few kids for the program so I would prefer to only have to use one straw per student and not one each day.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Alicia

TalkTools | Straw D new cleaning kit

Hi Alicia,

I hate that you are having a hard time with straw D.  I know this is a very difficult straw but it definitely should not be taking that long.  The things going through my head first of all would be: if you cannot drink it, then it may be too thick.  Every pudding is different, but you may have to thin it to a point where you can do it. It does still need to be pudding consistency.  If you have thinned it to the point that you can drink it and your client cannot then I would question if your client still needs to be on the previous straw.  Just a thought.

As far as cleaning it, we recently developed a Cleaning Kit that includes, among others, a bulb syringe to push the liquid out of straws and a 30" flexible tube brush that fits into most straws.  If you still cannot clean straw D, I would suggest that you order that straw in bulk for all of your clients.  Unfortunately because of the diameter of this straw having to be so small to achieve the tongue retraction required, it makes it almost impossible to clean.  

Please let me know if you have any other questions.  We are always here and happy to help.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: Sensory Friendly Bite Blocks

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi, 

 

I have two questions for you.

 

1. I have lost some pieces of my Sensory Friendly Bite Blocks set and would like to purchase another set. Since the purple sticks are softer than the red ones, many students chewed them thin so that their bite marks are visible in the stick. My question is: should I purchase the red set to avoid that problem or purchase another purple set so that in the event that should any stick get lost, I may have the replacement?

 

2. There are students on my caseload who simply have lingual protrusion for the all alveolar sounds. My question is: if I purchase the Straw Kit for these articulation students, will that help them eliminate their tongue thrust along with standard articulation therapy? Do the straws truly help train the retraction of tongues?

 

Thanks so much,

 

Chayie

 

Hi Chayie,

1. As far as the red and purple bite blocks go I have a set of both. I always try to use the red first because they are more durable and then use the purple if the client does not tolerate them. Many of my clients prefer the texture of the purple so I just know I have to replace those more frequently.

2. Yes, the straws do work on tongue retraction orally. They work on different levels of tongue retraction.  There is a diagram that will come in the straw kit and is also in the book that shows exactly where the retraction takes place with each individual straw. The Horn Kit and the Bubble Kit are two other activities that I often do while working on the straws for tongue retraction. These are all great!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Always happy to help.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: /h/ for /k/

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi TalkTools,

 

I have a 6 year old male student who produces /h/ for /k/. He appears to have placement, and is able to produce /g/. However, we have not been successful in nearly a year of therapy with eliciting /k/. His voice is hoarse during conversational speech. His mother is not interested in visiting an Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor. Do you have any suggestions or theories? Thank you.

 

Angela

 

Hi Angela,

Based on what you have written he just is not associating tongue elevation with his "k" sound and instead is producing the 'h." I would work on "g" repetitively and throw in a whispered "k" in a sequence of sounds (having him repeat). I would try to get him in the right position over and over and over again and then switch quickly to the "k" and see if that works. Work on teaching "k" as the quiet sound. 

Other exercises you can try would be horn blowing, bubble blowing, and straw drinking. This will help to reinforce the back of tongue retraction that is important for that speech sound. Even though it seems he already has the placement with the "g," hopefully the repetition will help get him transitioned to the "k."

I hope these ideas help. Please let me know how it goes and write back with any other questions.

Have a great day.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: Tongue Retraction

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi,

 

I'm beginning to work with a 7 year old boy with Down Syndrome and Apraxia. For the straws, he protrudes his tongue under the straw. He also does this with the Honey Bear. His Mom says she has a verbal cue of "fishy kiss" which will help him to round lips, and tongue will retract.

 

He also does the horns. He mastered #1 today :) ! We're also working with chewy tubes. Red is great, compressions become weaker with yellow. Bubbles are still needing cueing with the blue apraxia tube to get the lips rounded. He has a lot of force, but his lower lip protrudes and elevates and all of his air is directed up instead of out. It's getting better.

 

Is there something else I should be doing to get that tongue to the right position for straw drinking?

 

Thank you,

 

Meredith


Hi Meredith,

Great question regarding tongue retraction. The straw kit will work on tongue retraction at different levels of the tongue. It is important to have your patient work through the whole straw kit to achieve the retraction. It is also important to note that he does not have to demonstrate tongue retraction with straw drinking until he reaches straw #5. I do think using the "fishy kiss" verbal prompt before offering the straw is a great idea to set him up for the right movement pattern on the straw.   As far as the bubbles, try using the toothette with vibration as a sensory warm up right before the bubble activity. This should help him to achieve lip rounding more at mid-line without the upward movement he is demonstrating. Then I would transition immediately to using the green bubble tube that comes in the kit for blowing bubbles. Attempt blowing bubbles with this tube and see if that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope this all helps. Thanks,

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP


 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools office in Charleston, SC.

Read more →