|
Thanks to Judith Kuster for sharing some Internet information about the /r/ sound in the Sept. 26 issue. In the article she said that "...(the tongue doesn't really contact anything else during /r/ so there is no tactile feedback)." Actually for the back /r/, which is the preferred method of production, the back-lateral margins of the tongue are anchored on the back molars. Thus the /r/ is like most of the other sounds that we produce. There is tactile feedback. In my therapy I also use a mirror and flashlight for visual feedback, having my student say "EER" and watching where they place their tongue.
It is my belief that the materials and activities listed are typically part of the problem with remediating the /r/ sound. Research with Response-to-Intervention (RtI) shows that Academic Engaged Time (i.e., the number of responses per amount of time) is an important component in learning, with more responses leading to more learning. In articulation/phonology therapy, most of these entertaining games and cute cards (typically nonsystematic in their presentation) take time away from production and may be used inappropriately (therapists use them in transfer activities when the student needs to establish the sound in one specific context).
Using systematic programs (e.g., in Pam Marshalla's Successful R Therapy or the SATPAC program), a large number of productions (100-400) is common in a 25-minute therapy session leading to greater efficiency remediating the /r/ sound.
Stephen Sacks
Fresno, CA
steve@satpac.com
|