Super Star Speech

My child is two and only says 10 words. What can I do?

My child was very slow to talk and seems behind other children of his age. Do you have any ideas for how to help him at home?

First, if your child has noticeable delays, please arrange to have a speech and language evaluation done. This can often be done free by your local school system or Child Find system. Private SLP’s are certainly another (possibly faster) option. If there is a local university that has a speech pathology program, they probably have an inexpensive clinic there. My posts on Reading to Your Child , Stimulating Your Baby’s Language Skills,  and Language Stimulation Ideas for Toddlers may give you  some more ideas. Any child, with or without language delays, can benefit from a stimulating environment. It is also important for a child to have language therapy if necessary because language deficits can last for years, affecting future academic performance and social skills.

My child had many ear infections as a toddler. Is this likely to affect his speech development?

Yes, it certainly may. While many children have frequent ear infections with no noticeable affect on their speech and language skills, other children are not so fortunate. When children (or adults) have fluid in the middle ear, it causes a mild hearing loss. Sounds are likely to sound muffled and words can be difficult to understand. If this continues for weeks or months, the child may not hear the differences between some speech sounds, impeding his ability to learn to produce them correctly. Or he or she may show vocabulary or syntax (grammar) deficits because  he wasn’t hearing high-quality speech at crucial learning times. The first three years of life are very important for language learning, so make sure your child is able to hear well. If your child has struggled with frequent ear infections, be alert to the possibility of delayed speech or language. It is important to both correct the hearing problem if possible and to help the child catch up in his language skills as early as possible!

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.

Whether your child is in formal speech therapy, or whether you are working with him or her on your own, consistent practice is very important. What are some ways you can incorporate speech practice into your day?

1. If you homeschool, add speech practice into your daily schedule. Consider that 10-15 minutes to be as important as math or science. If your child is in traditional school, add a few minutes of speech practice to homework time each night.

2. Have your child repeat 10 of his practice words as you sit down to each meal.

3. Play a board game. Have your child say one of his words 3 times before he takes each turn.

4. Read an alphabet book. Emphasize the sounds your child has trouble with and encourage him to repeat.

5. Keep a practice page in the car to work on while driving around town. Use those otherwise wasted minutes!

6. Hop across the room, saying a word or sound on each hop.

7. Read a list of your child’s target words, mispronouncing some of them. See if he can identify your mistakes.

8. Praise your child’s progress! Be encouraging, and stop before he gets frustrated.

9. If you are using the Super Star Speech materials, follow a drill session with a game.

Keep sessions frequent, but brief. Think of ways to make practice fun. You will be pleased at the progress your child will make!

These are some questions typical of those that I receive in my email:

What ages is Super Star Speech appropriate for? Super Star Speech: Speech Therapy Made Simple is designed for ages 3 and up. It can be used for serious drill work for older children or for very low key teaching for little ones. The sound teaching tips are certainly appropriate for even middle schoolers, but the included activities and games are most appropriate and fun for preschoolers and younger elementary ages. The other three books focus on specific sounds that are often not mastered until age 5 and up. Although some of the practice activities and games are appropriate for preschoolers, the books are generally geared for ages 5-12.

My three year old isn’t talking much. Can your books help him? Super Star Speech focuses only on articulation (speech sounds).  If your child isn’t speaking in sentences or has a very small vocabulary, language is your concern. Super Star Speech won’t be helpful. Please visit a speech-language pathologist to find out your best plan of action.

Which book should I buy? If you know that your child has only a few errors, and these errors are covered in Super Star R and L, Super Star S, Z, and Sh, or Super Star Ch, J, and Th, just buy that specific book. It will contain all you need. If your child has many errors, Super Star Speech: Speech Therapy Made Simple covers all sounds and is all you need. BUT you may want to consider the Complete Edition or one or more of the specialized books, which include many more practice activities, including some that are of more interest to older children.

My child is already in speech therapy. Would your book be useful? Certainly. The more speech practice time a child has, the faster he will progress. Hopefully, your SLP is sending home practice assignments. But if not, or if you want picture cards or more practice activities, or if you want your child to continue progressing during a summer break from therapy, you will find Super Star Speech helpful.

My child has a tongue thrust. Will your book help? Super Star Speech does not address tongue thrust at all. It can certainly be helpful to address some of the speech errors associated with a tongue thrust, but does not address the underlying issue. Find an SLP who is experienced in working with tongue thrust to help you. Some speech sounds can be very difficult to correct without first changing the swallowing pattern.

If you have any more questions, leave a comment or email me at debbie@superstarspeech.com. I’ll be glad to help or to direct you to someone who can!

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.

This review was written by Bekah H. from the The Old Schoolhouse Crew:

A few years ago, when considering placement for my speech impaired son, I did a small Google search for giving your children speech therapy in the home.  I didn’t come up with anything helpful.  In retrospect, it’s a good thing I didn’t go this route with the child in question, because his speech issues turned out to be more than I could have handled myself.  Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would be reviewing Super Star Speech, a set of speech therapy books created so that parents of children with minor speech articulation errors can help their children in the comfort (and low cost) of their homes.

Deborah Lott is the author of Super Star Speech.  She is also a licensed speech language pathologist and holds a Master’s degree in education/speech pathology.  Ms. Lott currently works part-time as a speech therapist and has homeschooled her 4 children for the past 16 years.

I love how Ms. Lott describes a need for speech therapy:

“Errors are a normal part of speech development and many children do not have perfect articulation until around 7 or 8 years of age.  However, there are milestones that children should be making in their progress toward “adult speech.” Children who do not meet these milestones are at high risk for not developing correct speech on their own and may also experience frustration with or embarrassment about their speech.“

- Taken from the Super Star Speech website

Our Family Experience
Before I tell you more about Super Star Speech, I want to share a bit about our own speech experience.  Our daughter began babbling and speaking at the normal estimated age for a baby/toddler, and she’s been speaking non-stop ever since.

Our next child, a boy (I’ll call him “C” here), also began speaking at a normal age.  But as he grew, C’s speech didn’t become any easier to understand.  In fact, his conversation was made more difficult to understand by the fact that his vocabulary was growing and his sentences were becoming longer.  C was analyzed by a speech pathologist at the age of 3 1/2 and therapy was recommended.  Getting him placed in the school district’s speech program took another several months, and he’s been in speech therapy since that time.  He’s nearly 6 now, and still has moderate to severe speech articulation errors.  C has seen 3 different speech pathologists (switches were made due to a move and different therapists being assigned to different aged children).  He’s made the most progress with his current pathologist, who offers private therapy out of her home.  Unfortunately, that therapist will soon be switching to a company employed job, and we’ll be looking for another therapist yet again.

Currently, C sees his speech therapist once a week for an hour-long session.  I also work at home with him for 15 to 20 minutes each day.  He’s made some great strides, but many days progress feels very slow.  C is still occasionally made fun of by other kids because of how he talks.  And I’ve found that teaching him to read holds some challenges.  He’s picked up on reading very rapidly, but because many of his sounds still sound so similar, I can’t always tell if he’s assigning the correct sound to a letter.  We trust that someday C will pronounce all his sounds correctly and continue to push ahead.  Super Star Speech was not designed for children like C, who have moderate or severe speech issues.  Ms. Lott recommends that these children be placed under the guidance of a licensed speech pathologist.

We have a third child, A, who’s 4.  A makes some common speech articulation errors, but these errors are not outside the “normal” range for his age.  Since it wouldn’t hurt to work on key sounds with him (and since he frequently asked why he can’t have a speech class like his big brother), I decided to try out Super Star Speech with A.  He was very excited to begin!

What I Got
Ms. Lott offers an array of books on her website.  These are the ones I chose to review:

• Super Star Speech: Therapy Made Simple – Ring-bound: $22.95; Spiral Bound: $18.95; e-book: $12.95

• Super Star R and L – Spiral Bound: $18.95; e-book: $12.95

• Super Star S, Z, and SH – Spiral Bound: $18.95; e-book: $12.95

• Super Star Ch, J, and Th – e-book only: $12.95

I personally feel that the e-book format is the best choice for these books.  After downloading my e-books, I printed everything and placed the pages in a large 3-ring binder with dividers separating each book.  Having the originals on the computer made it easy to reprint consumable worksheets and games.  I also printed certain word picture cards on colored card stock to use as memory game cards.

How We Used It
One of the most valuable components of this series (found in Super Star Speech: Therapy Made Simple) is the articulation test.  Giving this “test” is fun and easy.  The child is shown a series of pictures.  One at a time, the child is to name the object in the picture.  The correct label is written underneath each picture to ensure that your child says the appropriate word.  For example, when A saw a picture of a dog and said, “puppy” I asked him to say the word that we use for adult puppies.  At other times A wasn’t sure what word he was supposed to say (such as “thimble”).  If he didn’t recognize the picture, I simply told him the word and he repeated it back to me.  The left side of each picture card has a letter or letter grouping telling the teacher which sound to listen for.  The teacher has an articulation test response sheet to mark whether and how the student says each sound (Ms. Lott explains what to listen for and how to fill out the form).  Once the test is completed you’ll have a good idea of problem areas for your child.  The response sheet also states by what age a child has usually mastered each sound, so its easy to see whether your child’s articulation errors are age appropriate.  I learned that A’s trouble spots (“th” and “r” are the main ones) are still considered “normal” errors to have at age 4.  Still, A was excited to begin, and an early start sounded like a good thing for him.

After you know which articulation errors your child has, Ms. Lott suggests formulating a therapy plan.  She walks you through this process and answers common questions, such as how long a typical therapy session should last.  She also gives a sample lesson plan for a hypothetical student and provides blank lesson plan sheets that can be used for your own child.  I found it helpful to write a plan for each day, record how many times A said his sound correctly (and how many incorrectly) during lesson time, and make notes at the bottom.  These sheets have helped me to see A’s progress.  We start each lesson by A saying a list of words while I record his successes and mispronunciations.  Then we move onto a game of some sort (each Super Star book offers a variety) to help practice correct pronunciation while having fun.  Usually these lessons only take 15 or 20 minutes, and A enjoys the special 1-on-1 time with me.

My Thoughts
I think the Super Star Speech books are a great resource.  Obviously, you can’t beat the price for private speech therapy!  And it’s so nice to have an at-home option.  Ms. Lott does a great job of explaining everything and walking parents through the speech therapy process.  One of my favorite things about Super Star Speech is that it’s a family collaboration.  While Ms. Lott has written all the text, a daughter made the cute pen and ink illustrations, and another daughter designed the covers.  Ms. Lott’s younger two children sometimes help with book assembly.  I just love seeing families working together in a business!

I noticed that some of the therapy games in these books require simple reading and writing skills.  At first I found this odd, but as I thought about it, it made perfect sense.  There are plenty of fun games for the younger set, but many of the children using this program will be 7, 8, or above.  Having games that utilize their age level skills will help ensure that they don’t feel lessons are babyish.

I would strongly encourage anyone looking to help their child with a mild speech articulation issue to consider the Super Star Speech books.

Mary Grace at Books and Bairns has had experience with many types of therapy with several of her children.  She posted the following thoughts on her blog:

What you do at home is far more valuable than what goes on in a therapy setting.

No, it’s true. Let me repeat it, because you’re probably not believing it yet:

What you do at home is far more valuable than what goes on in a therapy setting.

In other words, the therapist that you employ–be it for VT, ST, OT, PT, whatever–is simply a trainer. And in reality, the person he or she should be most interested in training is you, the parent. Why? Because you have far more time to invest in making sure that goals are met, that exercises are completed, and that skills are being utilized.

Now please don’t think I’m saying that professional therapists are useless. They are not. They are a vital part of the team; the one with the most experience in the field who can put the information and the skill set into your hands, while having a warm, loving relationship with your child. We’ve had a couple of those therapists–the ones who become part of your family–and wow! When therapy goes well, it is a total blessing! But there’s another, vital component to that team I mentioned. It’s you. You are the one who bears the burden of really making sure that the therapy gets off the ground. That it’s more than a 60 minute play time. That it works.

I agree wholeheartedly. Speech pathologists, physical therapists, and other professionals are valuable resources. But the parent is equally as important. What the parent does at home with the child during the many many hours the child is not in therapy will have a greater impact on his progress than anything else!  To read the rest of Mary Grace’s thoughts on this subject (and a Super Star Speech review), visit her Books and Bairns blog.

I have two four year olds that just happen to be in ‘Speech Therapy’ this year.  The big joke at our house is when they are able to say ‘Speech Therapy’ they will no longer need to take the class. So you can imagine how excited I was to receive these books by Deborah Lott.

I cannot tell you how helpful these books are to me and how much my two little guys have advanced.

Maybe some of you know exactly how to explain to your little people how to pronounce a letter, I didn’t. You would think by the time I was on children number 11 & 12, I might have a clue, NOT, they are my first to have difficulties with speech. These books have shown me how to evaluate them, then exactly how to teach them the correct way. It also has given me an idea of what they should be able to handle at their age and what is yet to come….

To read the rest of this review, please visit the Burkherts Brigade blog.  Thanks, Terri!

Does your child have a speech sound error or two that he doesn’t seem to be outgrowing? By age 7 or 8, children should have mastered all of their speech sounds. Some sounds, of course, should be produced correctly well before that age. To see a chart of when each sound should be mastered, click here.

If you suspect or know that your child has an articulation problem, seeing a speech-language-pathologist for an evaluation is a wise first step. He or she will be able to tell you exactly which sounds are in error—there may be some that you haven’t noticed! Even if you opt to work with your child at home, the speech pathologist should be able to give you some tips and get you started. However, this isn’t the preferred option for many parents. Perhaps you can’t afford speech therapy or fit it into your schedule. Perhaps you don’t want involvement with the public schools.

If you would like to work with your child’s speech at home, here are some guidelines and ideas.

First, pick a sound or group of sounds to work on. You may want to pick an easier sound to start with, or one that is important to the child, such as a sound in his name. Make the sound yourself and consider exactly how it is made. Where in your mouth does your tongue touch? Does the air leak through slowly, such as in an “s”? Or does the air pop out quickly, as in a “t”? If your child cannot produce the sound at all, you will have to describe this to him.

First, teach the child to say the sound by itself. Model it for him. Use your finger, spoon handle, or popsicle stick to touch his mouth or tongue in the target spots. When your child can produce it, practice. Practice, practice, and practice some more until he really knows it well by itself.

Then practice words that begin with the target sound, moving on to words with the sound in the middle or at the end.

When your child can produce the sound in words with 95% accuracy, begin practicing in sentences. By the time sentences are mastered, you will probably hear the sound being used most of the time in conversation. This may take a few weeks or longer. Don’t expect your child to use the sound in conversation right away—it will take time before he can produce the sound correctly without thinking about it.

Make your speech practice time fun. Keep the sessions short, but practice every day. Play board games, making your child say his word 3 times before every turn. Hop across the room, repeating the sound with every bounce. With dedicated practice, you should soon see improvement in your child’s articulation skills!

My Super Star Speech books include tips for teaching all of the common error sounds and provide practice activities and games for practicing speech skills.