Super Star Speech

Here are some more questions that I have been asked:

(See my first FAQ post here.)

My child has trouble with vowel sounds. Do your materials cover vowels?

No, but they do cover most of the consonant sounds. It is unusual for children to have trouble with vowel sounds and if they do, it is likely that the articulation disorder may be severe enough to beyond the scope of Super Star Speech. However, the principles in the book, and the practice activities are easily generalized and may be used with vowel sounds as well as consonants. Just be aware that no specific instructions or speech tips are offered for vowels in the books.

Should I buy physical books or e-books?

This is primarily a matter of personal preference. The e-books are more economical, although they may be less convenient. Either way, you will want to print  or copy many of the pages. The e-books are very convenient for printing out picture cards and practice games. You will probably want to copy the picture cards in the spiral-bound books onto card stock, but they could be removed and used as is.

Does my child need to be able to read to use Super Star Speech?

No, your children will not need to read to use the materials. I use the same activities with non-readers all the time when I do therapy. Super Star Speech has only a few reading activities. Since you will be helping your children practice and playing the games with them, you will just read the word or sentence for them and have them repeat, or fill in the blank.  The sound specific books (Super Star R and L, etc) are geared for somewhat older children and have more reading activities, but again, nearly anything can be read aloud by the parent. Many of the activities are picture-based.

And, the most frequent question..”My child has only a few error sounds. Which books do I need?”

If your child only has a few problem sounds and these sounds are covered by specific books (r,l,s,z,sh,ch,j,th), then you ONLY need the specific book(s) that cover those sounds. For example, if your child can’t say /r/, then don’t buy Super Star Speech. Just buy Super Star R and L. It has everything you need. If your child has trouble with /r/, /s/, and /z/, I would suggest buying both Super Star R and L and Super Star S, Z, and Sh. You would be fine with only Super Star Speech, since it covers all sounds, but I really think you would be happy with the many additional games and practice activities provided in the sound-specific books.

Have you been thinking about making a purchase from Super Star Speech?

I am offering free shipping on any Super Star Speech sale from now until Dec. 16. In addition, if you use Google Checkout, you will receive an additional $5.00 off any order of $30 or more.

All of the Super Star Speech books are also available from Currclick in e-book form for about 30% off.

Most people are somewhat familiar with speech therapy in the areas of articulation, stuttering, and language, and have at least a vague idea of what happens in speech therapy in these areas. Voice therapy, however, is an area of which many people are unaware.

A voice disorder is an “abnormal pitch, loudness, and/or vocal quality resulting from disordered laryngeal, respiratory and/or vocal tract functioning.” (Ramig & Verdolini, 1998)  This definition can cover a variety of abnormal qualities of the voice, but the most common voice disorder seen in children is hoarseness caused by vocal abuse, or misuse of the voice. Misuse of the voice, such as excessive yelling or hard vocal onset can cause swelling of the vocal cords or vocal nodules, resulting in a chronically  breathy, harsh,  or hoarse voice. In adults, vocal cord swelling and nodules are often seen in singers who overuse or abuse their voices. Many of us probably know someone with a continually hoarse or breathy voice, but may not have considered this as a voice disorder.

Any child with a suspected vocal disorder should be seen by an ENT because often medical/surgical treatment may be needed. However, speech (voice) therapy is often prescribed either instead of or in addition to medical treatment. In voice therapy, the child will learn how to use his voice in a healthy manner. This will help to reduce the occurrence of medically managed disorders  and can even allow damaged vocal cords to heal without surgery.

Voice therapy is likely to include:

1. Education about the speech mechanism and how it works–lungs, breath control, the role of the larynx and vocal cords in sound production.

2. Education about the correct ways to use the speech mechanism, including practice and experimentation with both positive and negative behaviors. The child’s specific habits will be discussed.

3. Practice in using the voice and breath in a relaxed manner. The child will often be taught to use a quieter and more breathy voice and an easy onset of speech utterances. These practices reduce trauma to the vocal cords and allow them to heal.

4. Environmental influences will be addressed, such as changes that might be made in the home or school to minimize the need for shouting or other vocal abuse.

More information about voice disorders and treatment, as well as referrals to certified speech-language-pathologists can be found at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website.

A child with an articulation disorder may have six or eight or even more different sound errors. When a speech pathologist is making a treatment plan, where does he or she begin?

First, an articulation test is given to the child. This test will assess every sound in every word position. Then the speech pathologist will determine whether the sound is stimulable–whether the child can imitate the sound. Then the sound errors will be compared to normative data to determine whether each sound should even be mastered by the child’s age. For example, if a 3 year old cannot pronounce /r/, that is not a concern, because 3 year olds are not expected to produce this difficult sound. This articulation sounds chart will give you some guidelines on the ages at which various sounds should be mastered.

Traditionally, treatment begins with 1-4 sounds that are stimulable and early developing. When the initial sounds are mastered, treatment moves on to sounds that are later developing and/or not stimulable. There are many variables, however. For example, if a child produced a sound correctly 50% of the time, I would assume that it might be mastered eventually without assistance, so I would choose a sound with which the child had more difficulty. I might choose a sound that was in the child’s name or another sound important in the child’s life, even though it might not fit the usual criteria.

Current research in speech pathology is leading in another direction. Some speech pathologist are advocating teaching sounds that are the most difficult, that are not stimulable, and that are not similar to each other. Although this can be more frustrating for the child and initial progress may seem slow, evidence is showing that this method results in learning transfer to sounds that are never worked with in therapy, shortening the overall time needed in therapy.

Overall, I really think that the most important point is for a child who needs speech therapy to get it. Any child who is learning and practicing new sounds will make progress, while a child whose speech disorder is neglected may not improve on his own.

What can you expect if you take your child for  speech and language testing? Speech and language evaluations will vary depending on the speech-language pathologist and the child’s age and abilities. Typically, this is what will happen:

1. Hearing screening–Because hearing is so critical to speech and language abilities, a hearing screening will probably occur first. This is not likely to be a thorough hearing test (which is generally performed by an audiologist), but a quick check that the child can hear a 20 or 25dB tone at about 4 different frequencies. If the child fails the test, a more complete hearing test may be warranted.

2. Oral-peripheral exam– The speech-language pathologist (SLP) will look inside the child’s mouth for any physical differences that might contribute to speech difficulties, such as a tongue-tie, abnormally high palate, signs of a partial or sub-mucous cleft palate and an abnormal bite. Additionally, he or she may do some tests of tongue coordination or strength.

3. An articulation test–The child will name pictures that assess all speech sounds in all word positions. The SLP will also listen to the child in conversational speech to listen for additional errors and overall intelligibility.

4. Language tests–These can be quite lengthy and will assess vocabulary, syntax (sentence structure and grammar), comprehension, and appropriate use of language. Both receptive language (understanding) and expressive language (production) will be assessed.

5. Conversation samples will be taken and evaluated for articulation language abilities and possibly for voice disorders or stuttering, if these are a concern.

It can take quite a bit of time to score the tests and evaluate the language samples, so you will probably wait until another day to find out the results. If the only concern is articulation, voice, or stuttering, however, the SLP may be ready to discuss results and make recommendations right away.

Has your child had a speech or language evaluation? I’d love t0 hear about your experiences.