Here is a recap of the first-ever “12 Days of R-Mas” event over on my Instagram page. I wanted to bring you tips and EBP in a fun, creative way to celebrate the holidays. I hope you enjoyed it! If you missed it, click the button below and follow on Instagram so you can join the fun next time!
Okay, here we go! You can click on the images to jump the post on Instagram or just read along below.
ON THE FIRST DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
more than 1 way to approach therapy!
“Today is just a simple reminder that EVERY therapist approaches things differently and that’s how it should be! Individualize your treatment to your student EVERY TIME! There is never ever ever only *one* way to treat the R sound, or anything else for that matter!”
ON THE SECOND DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
2 points of contact
“Today I bring to you a little fun fact about the R sound. It can be found in “Children’s Speech: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention” by Sharynne McLeod and Elise Baker.
Which two points, you ask? Well, when looking at an electropalatagraphic diagram of the palate (as you do on a Thursday) you will see the tongue touches…
👅 the last 2-3 rows of the palate (aka “velar contact”)
👅 the sides of the palate (“lateral contact”)”
ON THE THIRD DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
3 types of R learners
“Today’s fun tidbit is brought to you by Juliet Weinhold thanks to her AWESOME ASHA presentation.
In their research, Weinhold and her associates determined there are 3 types of R learners. (Background info: she described 3 allophones of R- prevocalic, vocalic, and postvocalic.)
Here are the three types of learners:
❄ SIMULTANEOUS LEARNERS: who may seem stalled but then learn all three allophones at once
❄ SEQUENTIAL LEARNERS: who learn one allophone at a time, slow and steady (these learners seem to learn vocalic R first, though some learn prevocalic first)
❄ SEQUENTIAL TYPE 2: who seem to learn one subset within an allophonic category over another (ex: acquire R after front vowels first)”
ON THE FOURTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
4 regions of the tongue body
According to our first source (Zemline 1998, as cited in McLeod & Baker, 2017), the regions are: tip, blade, front, back
According to our second source (Preston et al, 2020) we actually need to focus on five regions: tip, blade, body, root, sides
Either way, it is recommended to review specific anatomy with our R students (Preseton et al, 2020)… but what I really want to get at here is how the more research I read the more I see how EBP changes and theories between scientists differ. It’s super interesting to me!”
ON THE FIFTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
The average age most kids can say the R sound
“McLeod & Crowe’s speech norms show us that 5 is the average age at which English-speaking children can say the R sound.”
ON THE SIXTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
Six vocalic Rs
“There are 6 vocalic Rs. AR, ER, EAR, IRE, OR, AIR
For my favorite trick on how to teach this to my students, view my store highlight and search for the Day 6 slides”
(It’s about 3 quarters through the highlight- I’m wearing a grey and white striped shirt- WARNING… I’m goofy. So if we haven’t “met” before, just know that I don’t take myself too seriously and I hope you can have fun with me!)
ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
7 ways to target tension in speech therapy
“Tension in the tongue is a MUST to get rid of those distortions.”
Watch this video for tips on how to target tension in therapy!
ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
8 muscles of the tongue and body
“This fun little anatomy refresher comes with an important tip.
Use this fun fact as a way to remind them that R IS HARD. They aren’t just trying to say a simple little sound. They are working to seamlessly coordinate EIGHT DIFFERENT MUSCLES in a brand new way. Describing it like that may put things into perspective and give them the opportunity to take some pressure off for not being perfect.”
ON THE NINTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
9 ways to incorporate the principles of motor learning
“I bring you NINE ways to incorporate the principles of motor learning into your articulation sessions. This could be a key to success for your students.
Here they are:
👊🏻high dose (trials)
👊🏻increasing complexity of targets (syllable > monosyllabic > multisyllabic > phrases)
👊🏻reduce frequency of feedback
👊🏻transition from knowledge of performance (describing what the articulators did) & knowledge of results (right/wrong) >>> primarily knowledge of results
👊🏻transition from blocked (same word) >> randomized practice
👊🏻transition immediate >> delayed feedback
👊🏻include more perceptual training
👊🏻encourage self-evaluation
👊🏻follow @speechythings
💪🏻Preston et al 2014
💪🏻Murray, McCabe, & Ballard, 2012
💪🏻Edeal & Gildersleeve-Neumann,2011″
ON THE TENTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
10 fun R activities
“10 fun activities for your R sessions that you can easily use right away!” 🙌🏻
This was an Instagram live with Shelby The SLP you can watch here!
Some of my favorites include:
- selecting objects or pictures and coming up with 1-5 R words that are associated with it
- letting the student choose the activity and selecting your target words to fit their goals
- take turns saying a word or sentence and guessing how many Rs were said
- play Simon Says (but perhaps change the name to “Randy Requests”)
- Selecting target words based on their favorite topic (show, toy, sport, etc) to make therapy more functional
ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
11 ways of cueing
“I’m going to share with you ELEVEN totally different ways to cue for the R sound.
1️⃣Phonetic Cue:
for placement of bunched- “make your tongue wide and be sure the sides of your tongue are touching your top molars”
for placement of retroflex- “curl your tongue so the tip is about half way back in your mouth”
2️⃣Gestural Cue:
for bunched- make a “mountain” with your cupped hand (see my stories)
for retroflex- palm up, curl your fingers back
3️⃣Metaphors:
bunched- shape your tongue like a bowl
retroflex- curl your tongue like an elephant’s trunk
4️⃣Metaphonological:
“I want your R to sound strong but not throaty”
5️⃣Pragmatic
🤔”what did you just say? I couldn’t quite understand”
6️⃣Facilitating phonetic context:
bunched- try eliciting “Erie”
retroflex- try eliciting “Karla”
7️⃣Orthographic:
write the Target word
8️⃣Auditory model for imitation:
try simultaneous imitation (say the word together at the exact same time)
9️⃣Prosodic cue:
Try saying the target word with added stress on the R “tigERRRR”
1️⃣0️⃣Successive approximations:
bunched- try shaping the sound from /j/
retroflex- try shaping the sound from /l/
1️⃣1️⃣Sound-referenced rebus:
Use an IMAGE to represent the sound (like a pirate hook)”
ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF R-MAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…
12 reasons you’re an awesome SLP
“I wanted to leave you with a few reminders…
❄️You work hard.
❄️You care.
❄️You are not stuck in your ways.
❄️You are dedicated.
❄️You actively seek out new info.
❄️You aren’t afraid to try new techniques.
❄️You don’t give up on your students.
❄️You don’t give up on yourself.
❄️You’ve come SO FAR in your knowledge.
❄️You have value to contribute to our field.
❄️You are creative.
❄️I am proud of you!
These are just a few of the reasons you are an AMAZING SLP/SLPA/student.”
I hope you enjoyed R-Mas 2021! If you want more details you can watch part 1 and part 2 of my story highlights where I discuss these topics further. Or you can join my email list so we can keep talking about speech!
Cheers!
