An articulation disorder is the atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility. That is the standard definition used by textbooks and our national board.
I learned all about the ins and outs of artic in grad school. I knew the norms and I could give a flip book assessment with the best of them. I did what I was classically trained to do. I looked at the position of errors in words, picked glossy workbooks off of my shelves, and drilled the child. It began with auditory bombardment, discrimination, then isolated production. Once success was at hand we would move to word level drills, initial, final, medial, blends and so on. The majority of my kids “got it.” They transferred their auditorially trained skills into conversation and we declared them “ready for exit.”
Looking back, I realize some of those kids learned a compensatory pattern to produce a target sound. Others whom I thought of as “lazy” (yes I said it) never got it. I mean I was giving them appropriate therapy. It wasn’t my problem it was theirs.
EEEYAH! Knowing what I know now, I really dropped the ball for a group of my kids. I blew it, not them. Years after realizing my “boo boo’s” I called several families to inquire about their child’s status in therapy. Several clients were high school age and STILL in weekly speech therapy. A few had quit out of sheer frustration. Another mother commented that “she was thankful he (her son) moved to Boston, because no one questioned his “r” distortions there.”
How did I fail those kids? What was missing? I now know speech sound distortions can be far more involved than just how they sound. I heard the errors, but what was the child lacking or errantly performing to cause the atypical distortion? I was listening, not looking. I wasn’t paying any attention to how they did it, just how I perceived it. I was treating every kid as a speech sound distortion not as a child with a speech issue that is individual in its etiology.
Some of our kids will respond to traditional drills. Others have oral motor challenges, jaw placement challenges, or both. It is our responsibility to learn to look, listen, and if need be feel for errors. Given a solid baseline you can determine whether you can use the workbook drills or if you need to reach deeper in your “treatment trickbag.”
Take action now!
Challenge yourself to look at 3 of your current clients.
Do you notice
-Â excessive jaw movemets
-Â no jaw movement
-poor lip control?
Put on a new set of “speech therapist goggles” and look at your kids. Dare yourself to look and not to listen. Be aware of their whole body movments and posture with single words, phrases, and in connected speech.
Give me your feedback, questions,  and new insights here!
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