By Jaclyn Hutchins, MA/CCC-SLP
Establishing stridency can be pretty tricky for kids with a phonological disorder. I love incorporating kinesthetic and visual prompts to support and teach the long sounds. The expandable sphere has been a great tool that offers both of these supports to children who need this level of support. Plus, it is just fun! The child and I start with the sphere compressed and we work on pulling it apart slowing while saying our “sh” sound. When the sphere is fully expanded we add the vowel sound.
1) Therapist cue: We are going to work on saying “she”. As we pull on the ball we will say the long sound “shhhhhh.”
2. "Shhhhhh"
3) Therapist cue: Now open your mouth wide and say “eee”.
This simple tool has been really effective for eliminating the phonological process of stopping for a few of my patients.