Unit V : Teaching speech to the children with hearing impairment
5.1 Different methods used for teaching speech Auditory Global, Multisensory syllable unit, Association phoneme unit method, Cued speech, Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT)
5.2 Introduction to Ling's approach
5.3 Individual and group speech teaching - advantages and limitations
5.4 Aids and equipments for development of speech: Auditory aids (speech trainer), Visual aids (mirror etc.), tactile aids (Vibrotactile aids), etc.
5.5 Role of family in stimulation of speech and language and home training
5.1 Different methods used for teaching speech Auditory Global, Multisensory syllable unit, Association phoneme unit method, Cued speech, Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT)
Various speech intervention strategies are described in the literature. These can be carried out in various settings such as therapy center, school and also at home. Many strategies are designed for individual child, depending on specific needs of the child. Also there are strategies which can be carried out in group settings. Each strategy have its own advantages and disadvantages. Speech training can be imparted by a single trainer/specialist or a group of trainers can be involved. The group can either consist professionals from same specialty or can be from varied specialties such as speech therapist, special educator, psychologist etc. The team teaching concept needs well skilled professionals and a very good planning. Moreover it yields a very satisfactory outcome.
Auditory global method
Auditory global method: A general term describing an approach to teaching deaf people communication where the main channel for speech and language development is auditory (although not always exclusive) and fluent, connected speech is the means of input.
The term "auditory global" was given by Calvert and Silverman (1975). It mainly stresses the use of auditory method with minimum or no use of visual and tactile cues. The authors also emphasised early and continuous use of amplification device, comprehensive intervention at school as well as home, natural methods to model and teach speech and use of connected speech.
The Auditory Global Method for teaching speech is an approach that focuses on using the auditory sense to help learners, particularly those with hearing impairments or speech difficulties, develop their speech and language skills. This method emphasizes the natural listening process, encouraging students to listen to the sounds, rhythms, and patterns of speech as a whole, rather than focusing on individual phonemes or words in isolation. Here are some key principles of the Auditory Global Method:
1. Whole-word Listening: The method encourages students to listen to entire words or sentences, rather than breaking them down into smaller components (like individual sounds or syllables). This helps students perceive the language as a fluid and continuous stream.
2. Imitation: Learners are encouraged to listen to and imitate the speech of others, helping them learn the correct pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm naturally. Repetition plays a key role in this process.
3. Auditory Discrimination: The method helps students distinguish between different sounds, pitches, and tones in speech. This is important for understanding subtle differences in pronunciation, tone, and meaning.
4. Contextual Learning: Rather than focusing on abstract rules, the method promotes learning language in context. Learners are exposed to speech in real-life situations, where the meaning of words is supported by gestures, expressions, and the environment.
5. Holistic Approach: The overall emphasis is on understanding and producing speech in its natural context, rather than breaking it down into its components like individual sounds or phonemes. The goal is for the learner to develop a "global" understanding of speech.
6. Enhanced Listening: It encourages students to develop enhanced listening skills to better perceive language through auditory input. This is often paired with visual cues (lip-reading, gestures) to reinforce the learning.
The method is particularly effective for young children, those with hearing impairments, or individuals who have difficulty processing language in a detailed, phonemic way. It can help develop both receptive (understanding) and expressive (speaking) language skills through auditory experience.
Multi-sensory syllable unit approach
As the name suggests the auditory channel is accompanied by other sensory channels. It is useful for children with limited residual hearing. Visual and tactile stimulation is used with auditory stimulation. Written forms /orthographic representation of sounds, words are used along with oral speech.
The Multi-Sensory Syllable Unit Approach is a speech-teaching method designed to help learners, especially those with speech and language difficulties, improve their articulation, phonological awareness, and speech fluency by engaging multiple senses. It combines auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile techniques to help students learn speech patterns and syllables in a more holistic and integrated manner.
Key Principles of the Multi-Sensory Syllable Unit Approach:
1. Engaging Multiple Senses:
o Auditory: Students listen to sounds and syllables, which helps them develop phonemic awareness and discrimination. They also repeat the syllables they hear to practice articulation and rhythm.
o Visual: Visual aids such as pictures, lip-reading, written syllables, or gestures are used to help students connect the spoken syllables to their visual representations.
o Kinesthetic: Students may physically engage by using gestures, hand movements, or body motions that correspond to the syllables or words. For instance, tapping on their legs or clapping for each syllable they say helps reinforce the sound patterns.
o Tactile: Touch-based activities such as tracing the shape of letters or syllables in sand, or feeling the vibration of sounds in their throat, can further reinforce learning.
2. Syllable-Based Approach:
o The method focuses on breaking down speech into manageable syllable units. Students are taught to recognize and produce syllables as the building blocks of words.
o By emphasizing syllables, students can more easily understand the structure of words and begin to speak more clearly and fluidly, rather than focusing on individual sounds or letters.
3. Structured Progression:
o The approach is usually organized in a step-by-step manner. Students may first learn simple, single-syllable words and gradually progress to more complex, multi-syllable words and sentences.
o The pace of instruction is based on the student s individual needs and abilities, ensuring they grasp each concept before moving on.
4. Repetition and Reinforcement:
o Repeated exposure to syllables, sounds, and words through multi-sensory activities helps reinforce the learning process.
o Activities are often fun and interactive to keep the learner engaged, such as singing songs, rhymes, or playing games involving the syllables they are learning.
5. Syllable Segmentation:
o Students are taught how to segment and blend syllables to help improve both their receptive and expressive language skills.
o Syllable segmentation promotes clarity in speech and allows students to better decode and encode language, aiding their reading and writing as well.
Benefits of the Multi-Sensory Syllable Unit Approach:
Example Activities:
Overall, the Multi-Sensory Syllable Unit Approach allows for a more comprehensive and inclusive method of teaching speech by integrating various sensory inputs, which makes it particularly beneficial for students who may struggle with traditional, single-sensory speech methods.
Association phoneme unit method
The Association Method is a multisensory, phonics-based method which is highly intensive, incremental and systematic in its design, enabling seriously communication impaired children to acquire reading, writing, and oral language skills simultaneously. It was developed by Mildred McGinnis at the Central Institute for the Deaf and described in her book, Aphasic Children published in 1963. She named it the Association Method because she believed that the essential processes of learning attention, retention and recall had to be integrated to acquire automaticity of language. Development of memory for learned language is critical.
The following are the underlying principles of the Association Method:
receptive work follows expressive;
teach one small element at a time;
encourage success;
build on previously mastered material;
written form accompanies all that is taught;
modification of temporal rate;
all spoken items are associated with a visual symbol;
complete recall is expected without teacher prompting;
structure, repetition and sameness are considered in the childs environment;
with all new material, children are expected to say, read, lip-read, listen and write.
The Association Phoneme Unit Method is a speech-teaching approach that focuses on helping learners connect specific phonemes (the smallest units of sound in speech) with corresponding visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic cues. The goal is to enhance a learner's ability to recognize, produce, and differentiate sounds, ultimately improving their speech production and phonological awareness. This method is particularly helpful for individuals who have difficulties with sound discrimination, pronunciation, or language development.
Key Components of the Association Phoneme Unit Method:
1. Phoneme-Symbol Association:
o The primary principle is to associate each phoneme with a distinct symbol, image, or action. These associations are meant to help learners recognize and remember the sounds more easily.
o For example, the phoneme /s/ might be associated with an image of a snake (a visual cue) and the sound of hissing (auditory cue).
o This connection creates a mental link between the sound and its symbol, which aids in both recognition and production.
2. Auditory Discrimination:
o The method emphasizes the importance of auditory discrimination, helping learners differentiate between similar sounds. For example, students may work on distinguishing between the sounds /b/ and /p/ or /d/ and /t/.
o Repeated listening and practice with minimal pairs (words that only differ by one sound, like "bat" and "pat") help learners better identify the subtle differences between phonemes.
3. Visual and Kinesthetic Associations:
o In addition to the auditory component, students are encouraged to use visual and kinesthetic cues to reinforce the connection to each phoneme.
o Visual Cues: Flashcards, images, or written symbols associated with the phoneme can be used to help the learner visualize the sound.
o Kinesthetic Cues: Physical movements, gestures, or actions that correspond to the phoneme (such as touching the throat to feel vibration for voiced sounds or making a gesture like a "swish" for the /s/ sound) can reinforce the learning process.
4. Sound and Word Practice:
o Students practice the target phoneme in isolation first (e.g., saying "s" or "p"), then progress to syllables and words containing that sound.
o For example, if teaching the /s/ sound, the student might practice saying "ssss" (isolated), then progress to "so", "sun", and "sad" in word contexts.
o As students gain proficiency with individual phonemes, they combine them into more complex units like phrases and sentences, solidifying their understanding and usage.
5. Repetition and Reinforcement:
o The method relies on consistent repetition of the target phonemes and their associated cues. This repetition helps strengthen neural connections and makes it easier for learners to produce the sounds correctly over time.
o Reinforcement activities may include matching games, phoneme identification exercises, or oral reading tasks where students can hear and produce the target sounds in various contexts.
6. Progressive Complexity:
o Initially, the method starts with basic, easily distinguishable phonemes (like /b/, /m/, or /d/) and gradually progresses to more complex sounds and phoneme combinations.
o As students become more proficient, the phonemes are introduced in more difficult contexts (e.g., in blends, digraphs, or multisyllabic words).
Benefits of the Association Phoneme Unit Method:
Example of How the Method Works:
Example Activities:
The Association Phoneme Unit Method is a highly effective strategy for helping students improve their speech and phonological awareness. By linking sounds to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues, this approach supports both clear speech production and a deeper understanding of language structure.
Cued speech
Cued Speech is a visual mode of communication designed to help individuals with hearing impairments, particularly those who are deaf or hard of hearing, improve their ability to perceive and produce spoken language. It uses hand shapes and positions in combination with lip movements to provide additional visual information about speech sounds, which can be particularly helpful in differentiating between sounds that look similar on the lips.
It was created in America in 1968 and has been used successfully in the UK since 1970.
Cued Speech is a visual mode of communication in which mouth movements of spoken language combine with cues to make the sounds (phonemes) of traditional spoken languages look different. Cueing allows users who are deaf, hard of hearing or who have language / communication challenges to access the basic, fundamental properties of spoken languages through the use of vision. (National Cued Speech Association)
Cuers (people who cue) make the cues as they speak.
They use 8 handshapes:
In 4 places around the face:
Using 3 simple rules.
Cue-readers listen with their eyes, they face the cuer and watch:
Most hearing people learn how to cue in 6 to 10 hours, after that they must practice at becoming fluent.
Key Features of Cued Speech:
1. Hand Shapes and Positions:
o Cued Speech uses eight distinct hand shapes (representing consonant sounds) and four different positions around the face (representing vowel sounds).
o Each consonant sound is associated with a specific handshape, and the position of the hand relative to the face (such as near the chin, cheek, or near the mouth) helps distinguish between vowel sounds.
o The hand shapes are used alongside lip movements to create clear, distinct visual representations of all the phonemes in a language.
2. Visual Cueing for Speech Sounds:
o The goal of Cued Speech is to provide additional visual cues that clarify spoken words, especially for sounds that may be difficult to differentiate based on lip reading alone (for example, the sounds of "p" and "b," which look similar on the lips).
o By combining hand shapes and positions with lip movements, Cued Speech makes it easier for the learner to see the differences between sounds that would otherwise be ambiguous in lip reading.
3. Four Basic Parameters:
o Hand Shape: Each of the eight hand shapes corresponds to a specific group of consonant sounds.
o Hand Location: The position of the hand in relation to the mouth (there are four general positions) helps distinguish between different vowels.
o Hand Movement: The hand is typically held steady but can be moved slightly in certain contexts, like when indicating the beginning or end of a sound.
o Lip Movements: The speaker's lips still form the sounds (as in regular speech), but the hand movements help provide context.
4. Phonemic Clarity:
o Cued Speech helps overcome one of the biggest challenges in lip reading: words with similar visual representations on the lips. For example, the words "pat," "bat," and "mat" all look similar on the lips, but the hand shapes and positions in Cued Speech clarify the differences between these sounds.
o It allows the listener to distinguish between all the sounds of spoken language, making it easier to understand words and sentences, even in noisy environments.
5. Comprehensive Coverage of Language:
o Unlike some sign languages, Cued Speech is designed to visually represent spoken language in its entirety, including all consonants and vowels, so that the structure of the spoken language (like word order and grammatical features) remains intact.
o It can be used to teach any spoken language and is often used alongside spoken language to help children develop both listening and speech production skills.
How Cued Speech is Used to Teach Speech:
1. Teaching Phonemes:
o Cued Speech is especially effective in teaching the phonetic components of language, which helps learners distinguish between different sounds and understand how words are built.
o The hand shapes and positions correspond directly to the phonemes of the language, making it easier to map speech sounds to written symbols.
2. Speech Reading:
o When teaching individuals with hearing impairments, Cued Speech helps improve speech reading (or lip reading) by making subtle differences in speech sounds clearer.
o With the added visual cues from the hand shapes and positions, students can more accurately perceive spoken language, facilitating better communication and comprehension.
3. Language Development:
o Cued Speech encourages the development of both receptive language (understanding spoken language) and expressive language (speaking clearly).
o Because Cued Speech maintains the natural order of language sounds and words, it supports the development of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary in a way that closely mirrors typical speech development.
4. Pronunciation and Articulation:
o Cued Speech can also be used to help individuals practice the articulation of sounds, providing additional clarity for speech production.
o Learners are encouraged to use both the visual cues of Cued Speech and their own auditory feedback to fine-tune their pronunciation.
5. Integration with Spoken Language:
o Cued Speech is often used in conjunction with spoken language, so learners can receive both auditory and visual feedback. This helps them connect the sounds of language with their corresponding hand shapes and positions.
o In a classroom or therapy setting, students may practice speaking while cueing themselves or others, reinforcing their understanding of sounds and speech patterns.
Benefits of Cued Speech:
1. Enhanced Speech Clarity:
o By providing visual cues that complement lip movements, Cued Speech can greatly improve the clarity of speech for individuals with hearing impairments.
2. Improved Communication:
o It enables individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate more effectively in a wider variety of contexts, from everyday conversation to academic settings.
3. Better Language Acquisition:
o Cued Speech helps individuals with hearing impairments acquire language more naturally and efficiently. It aids in the acquisition of both spoken language skills and literacy, as it reinforces phonemic awareness and the connection between sounds and letters.
4. Helps with Differentiating Similar Sounds:
o One of the biggest advantages of Cued Speech is that it clarifies subtle differences between sounds that are visually similar when lip reading. This allows learners to distinguish sounds that might otherwise be challenging.
5. Increased Literacy Skills:
o By promoting phonemic awareness and understanding the structure of language, Cued Speech supports reading and writing development.
Cued Speech is a powerful tool for teaching speech and language, especially for individuals with hearing impairments. By using hand shapes and positions alongside lip movements, it clarifies the sounds of speech that may otherwise be difficult to distinguish through lip reading alone. It enhances phonemic awareness, supports better articulation, and facilitates both receptive and expressive language skills, making it a highly effective approach for improving speech development.
Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT)
Auditory Verbal therapy is a family-centred, early intervention approach which equips parents and caregivers with the tools needed to support the optimum development of their deaf child s listening and spoken language.
Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) is an evidence-based approach designed to teach children who are deaf or hard of hearing how to use their hearing to develop spoken language. The method focuses on maximizing the use of residual hearing, often with the aid of hearing devices like hearing aids or cochlear implants, to help the child develop listening and speaking skills. AVT is child-centered, promoting the idea that children can learn to listen and speak in much the same way as hearing children, with the right support and training.
Key Principles of Auditory Verbal Therapy:
1. Maximizing Auditory Input:
o The core goal of AVT is to use hearing to its fullest potential. This is achieved through the consistent use of hearing aids or cochlear implants (if appropriate), and by creating an auditory environment where the child is encouraged to listen and process spoken language.
o The therapist works with the child and family to ensure that the child is always in a sound-rich environment, reinforcing listening and language skills.
2. Emphasis on Listening:
o AVT emphasizes listening as the primary mode of learning spoken language. Children are taught to listen carefully to sounds, words, and speech patterns, rather than relying on visual cues (such as lip reading or sign language).
o The goal is for the child to learn to hear, understand, and then produce speech. This requires auditory discrimination skills to differentiate sounds, understand their meanings, and connect those sounds to the words they represent.
3. Active Parent Involvement:
o Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in AVT. They are trained to support their child's listening and spoken language development at home and in everyday activities.
o Parents are encouraged to be active participants in therapy sessions, as well as in creating language-rich environments where the child is continually exposed to spoken language.
4. Natural Language Development:
o AVT aims to encourage language development in a natural way. Rather than focusing solely on specific speech sounds or isolated vocabulary, the method focuses on developing functional language that the child can use for communication.
o This includes both receptive language (understanding spoken words) and expressive language (using spoken words to communicate).
5. Speech and Language Goals:
o The therapy involves setting individualized goals that target speech and language milestones, taking into account the child s unique hearing abilities and developmental needs.
o Goals include developing sound awareness, increasing vocabulary, improving articulation, and learning to use language in meaningful ways. These goals evolve as the child progresses, gradually expanding to more complex language skills.
6. Auditory Skills Development:
o Auditory skills are developed in stages, beginning with the child learning to detect sounds and progress to identifying words, sentences, and speech patterns.
o Therapy helps children learn to discriminate between different sounds, understand speech in different contexts, and use hearing to identify the meaning of spoken words.
7. No Visual Cues:
o One key aspect of AVT is the minimal use of visual cues. While some lip reading or gestures may be used in the early stages, the ultimate aim is for the child to rely primarily on hearing to understand and produce speech.
o Over time, AVT seeks to minimize reliance on visual inputs, encouraging the child to focus on listening alone.
Steps in Auditory Verbal Therapy:
1. Assessment and Goal Setting:
o AVT begins with a thorough assessment of the child s hearing, listening, and speech abilities. This helps in setting realistic and individualized therapy goals that are specific to the child s level of hearing and language development.
2. Sound Awareness:
o In the early stages of therapy, children are taught to become aware of sound. This includes recognizing environmental sounds (like doorbells or sirens) and understanding that sounds have meaning.
o This can be achieved by playing sound-making toys, clapping hands, or using musical instruments, and helping the child associate sounds with their source.
3. Auditory Discrimination:
o The child learns to differentiate between different sounds. For example, distinguishing between high-pitched and low-pitched sounds or between voiced and unvoiced consonants.
o The therapist works on teaching the child to detect subtle differences between similar sounds (like "b" vs. "p" or "s" vs. "sh").
4. Vocabulary Development:
o As auditory discrimination improves, children begin to build their vocabulary. They start identifying words and connecting them to their meanings. This step also involves understanding the concept of "cause and effect" with sounds (e.g., hearing "milk" and then receiving milk).
o Therapy sessions incorporate interactive play, storytelling, and daily conversations to help the child associate words with objects, actions, and concepts.
5. Speech Sound Production:
o As the child learns to understand spoken language, they begin to produce speech sounds themselves. Initially, this may include imitating simple sounds and words, gradually progressing to more complex speech.
o Therapists provide feedback on articulation to ensure the child is producing clear, intelligible speech.
6. Use of Spoken Language in Context:
o The child is encouraged to use spoken language in real-life situations and communication exchanges. Therapy includes teaching social communication skills like turn-taking, asking questions, and making requests.
o By creating opportunities for communication in daily routines, children begin to learn how to use language purposefully in everyday life.
7. Parent Training:
o A significant component of AVT is parent training. Parents are taught how to integrate listening and language-building activities into their daily routines, ensuring that language learning continues outside of therapy sessions.
o Techniques like following the child s lead, providing descriptive language, and fostering conversation are key strategies parents use to promote listening and speech development.
Benefits of Auditory Verbal Therapy:
1. Enhanced Language Skills:
o By focusing on listening, children with hearing impairments can develop spoken language skills in a natural, age-appropriate way.
o AVT has been shown to help children develop vocabulary, grammar, and speech clarity on par with their hearing peers.
2. Communication Independence:
o The goal of AVT is to help children become independent communicators, using spoken language to express themselves in all areas of life.
o This approach promotes verbal communication as the primary means of expression, facilitating interaction with both hearing and non-hearing individuals.
3. Early Intervention:
o The earlier the intervention, the more effective the therapy. AVT is most successful when started early, preferably as soon as a child begins using hearing aids or cochlear implants, often before 6 months of age.
4. Social Integration:
o Children who develop spoken language through AVT are often better integrated into mainstream educational settings and society at large. This can increase their access to social opportunities and educational resources.
5. Family Involvement:
o AVT encourages families to be active participants in the therapy process, creating a supportive and enriching environment that fosters language development at home.
Example Activities in Auditory Verbal Therapy:
Auditory Verbal Therapy is a highly effective approach for teaching spoken language to children with hearing impairments. By focusing on maximizing auditory input, enhancing listening skills, and encouraging natural language development, AVT helps children develop clear speech and language skills, enabling them to communicate successfully in the hearing world. With early intervention, parent involvement, and consistent therapy, children who receive AVT can achieve strong language development and integrate into mainstream society.
5.2 Introduction to Ling's approach
Developed in 1976 by Ling. In this approach maximum use of residual hearing is advocated. In this approach the child is taught to understand speech of others as well as correct own speech production by using residual hearing. Two principals of Ling's approach are:
1: The hearing impaired child should be taught to develop speech in the same order as a normal hearing child will follow.
2) The speech organs move rapidly and precisely during speech production, which should be taught to hearing impaired children so that they can produce correct speech.
Training programme is based on:
Acoustic characteristic of speech
Emphasis on listening aided by amplification
Involves segments as well as supra segmental
Recognizes need to attain vocal system, respiration, motor control and coordination. Prior to use of speech in meaningful contexts.
Ling emphasized that speech should be taught at phonetic level rather than phonological level. Child s ability to detect all six sounds demonstrates that ability to detect all aspects of speech.
Ling Six Sound Check
A behavioral listening check to determine a cochlear implant s effectiveness. The sounds ah, ee, oo, sh, s, and mm indicate a child s ability to detect all aspects of speech as these six sounds encompass the frequency range of all phonemes.
This check can be used to determine what sounds the student is able to detect, discriminate, and identify.
If the child has the ability to hear to:
1,000 Hz should hear the three vowel sounds ah, ee, and oo, spoken in a quiet voice at a distance of at least five yards.
2,000 Hz should also hear the sound sh.
4,000 Hz should detect s, from a distance of at least one to two yards
The Ling model represents seven stages of development at both the phonetic (syllable) level and the phonologic (spoken language) level. Ling's order of teaching vowels and consonants is not designed to be developmental stages, though many are, but are designed specifically with the hearing impaired child in mind.
Ling has written a structured set of subskills for the development of each voice pattern and speech sound (Ling, 1976). While Ling stresses the use of auditory input, he also provides many visual and tactile strategies which are appropriate for children with little or no hearing (Ling & North, 1990). These visual and tactile prompts are removed as the child learns to rely more on auditory and kinesthetic feedback.
Ling's seven stages of development can be divided into four major areas: (1) Voice patterns; (2) Vowels and Diphthongs; (3) Consonants; (4) Blends.
Voice Patterns
Variations in vocal duration, intensity (loudness) and pitch are the "personality" of spoken language. Prosodic and voice features are stressed initially and must continue to be practiced at every stage of development; Cued Speech can be used to communicate the importance of voice patterns.
Vowels and Diphthongs
Vowel development precedes consonant development and is ongoing as more difficult consonants emerge. The voice patterns "ride on" vowels and diphthongs. It is impossible to produce adequate differences in duration, loudness and pitch without vocal manipulation of vowels (except with some unique consonants such as /m/ and /n).
Three main vowels are taught first: /ee/ - front; /ah/ - mid; and /oo/ back. They are then combined to produce the first two diphthongs: /ah-oo/ for /ow/ (as in cow); and, /ah-ee/ for /ai/ (as in pie). The same three vowels serve as the cornerstones from which all other vowels and diphthongs may be taught. In addition, vowels serve as the basis for development of semivowels /w/ and /y/. Alternation of /oo-ah/ - /oo-ah/ produce /wah/ and /oo-ee/ - /oo-ee/ will produce /wee/. Alternation of /ee-ah/-/ee-ah/ will produce /yah/ and /ee-oo/-/ee-oo/ will produce /yoo/. Cued Speech provides accurate input of the individual vowels, plus visually illustrates the blending of the two vowels to form the diphthong or the semivowel.
Consonants
The Ling method is ideal for Cued Speech users who are first learning to distinguish consonant sounds on the lips. For the school-age child who may be learning Cued Speech late and has unintelligible speech, the use of Cued Speech in speech training will be helpful. If the teaching of cues can be coordinated with the order of teaching speech sounds, it will be very beneficial. As Ling introduces consonants that are progressively more difficult to produce and less visible on the lips, Cued Speech will help hearing-impaired children to distinguish and identify these sounds accurately. It is important that the Cued Speech instructor teach the Cued Speech system accurately and quickly to these late comers to speech therapy, for optimal benefit of the two approaches.
Blends
Once basic consonants are established in words, initial and final blends can be introduced as the student progresses to two or more syllable words and phrases. A coarticulation approach can be used at this point in the speech program to encourage naturally produced speech (Hudson, 1980). Cued Speech provides clear input for blends and for abutting consonants (when consonants are next to each other within a word or between words). Cued Speech helps to avoid confusion and omissions of consonants in clusters and blends.
5.3 Individual and group speech teaching - advantages and limitations
Individual speech therapy and group speech therapy are two common approaches used to help individuals improve their communication skills. While both methods have their merits, there are distinct differences that make individual therapy a more effective option for many individuals. In this section, we will explore the differences between these two approaches and why individual speech therapy is often the preferred choice.
Individual speech therapy involves one-on-one sessions between a therapist and a client. This approach is usually offered at a speech pathology private practice. This personalized approach allows the therapist to fully focus on the specific needs and goals of the individual. The therapist can tailor the sessions to address the unique challenges faced by the client, whether it's articulation, language development, or voice projection.
Main Highlights of Individual Speech Therapy
On the other hand, group speech therapy involves multiple individuals with similar communication challenges participating in therapy sessions together. While group therapy can provide a supportive and collaborative environment, it may not offer the same level of individual attention as individual therapy. In a group setting, the therapist's attention is divided among multiple participants, and each person's goals and needs may not receive the same level of focus.
Main Highlights of Group Speech Therapy
Benefits of Individual Speech Therapy
Individual speech therapy offers several benefits that make it a more effective option for many individuals. Firstly, the personalized approach allows for targeted interventions that address the specific challenges faced by the client. The therapist can design therapy activities and exercises that directly target the areas that need improvement, ensuring that the client receives the most relevant and effective treatment.
Secondly, individual therapy allows for more intensive and frequent practice. Building new skills and habits requires consistent practice, and individual therapy provides the opportunity for focused practice during each session. In a group setting, individuals may not have the same level of practice time or the opportunity to practice as consistently as they would in individual therapy.
Additionally, individual therapy provides a safe and comfortable environment for individuals to express themselves. Some individuals may feel self-conscious or anxious about their communication difficulties, and having a dedicated therapist who understands their challenges can help create a supportive space for growth and progress.
Disadvantages of Individual Speech Therapy
Advantages of Group Speech Therapy
Group therapy also offers a range of advantages that cater to different speech-related needs and social communication development. Let s explore the benefits of group therapy:
Limitations of Group Speech Therapy
Group speech therapy is typically administered in the school setting. While group speech therapy can be beneficial in certain situations, it also presents several challenges that can hinder progress. One of the main challenges is the limited individual attention that each participant receives. In a group setting, the therapist's time and attention are divided among multiple individuals, which means that each person may not receive the same level of support and guidance as they would in individual therapy.
Another challenge is the variability in skill levels within the group. Participants in group therapy may have different communication challenges and abilities, making it difficult for the therapist to cater to each person's specific needs. This variability can lead to a less focused and targeted approach, as the therapist may need to address a wider range of goals and challenges.
Additionally, in a group setting, individuals may feel more self-conscious or hesitant to practice their skills. They may be less willing to take risks or make mistakes in front of others, which can impede progress. Individual therapy provides a more comfortable and private space for individuals to practice and make mistakes without feeling judged or self-conscious.
In the next section, we will delve deeper into how individual speech therapy can be more effective than group therapy and the reasons behind its success.
Now that we have explored the basic concepts of individual and group therapy, let s compare their differences to better understand which approach might be more suitable for specific individuals.
|
Aspect |
Individual Therapy |
Group Therapy |
|
Personalization |
Tailored to individual needs and goals. |
Addresses shared challenges in a group setting. |
|
Attention |
One-on-one focused attention from the therapist. |
Shared attention among group members. |
|
Social Interaction |
Limited social interaction during sessions. |
Enhanced social interaction and communication practice. |
|
Motivation |
Personalized goals can boost motivation. |
Group dynamics can motivate participants. |
|
Communication Practice |
Targeted practice of individual speech skills. |
Real-life communication practice with peers. |
In a
nutshell, Speech therapy, encompassing individual and
group therapy approaches, plays a vital role in helping individuals
overcome speech and language challenges, enhance communication skills, and
boost self-confidence. Each therapy type has its unique benefits, and the
choice between them depends on the individual s specific needs and objectives.
Whether you opt for personalized attention in individual therapy or the support
and camaraderie of group therapy, speech therapists are dedicated to helping
you achieve your communication goals.
5.4 Aids and equipments for development of speech: Auditory aids (speech trainer), Visual aids (mirror etc.), tactile aids (Vibrotactile aids), etc.
The Technology Related Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 described an assistive technology device as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities."
Assistive technologies can be "high tech" and "low tech:" from canes and lever doorknobs to voice recognition software and augmentative communication devices (speech generating devices).
Auditory aids (speech trainer)
Speech Trainer is a device which is used by a teacher to learn a hearing impaired children how to speak. It increase voice pitch which could be heard by a H.I. person. This is one of the most helpful AT Device for a person with special needs.
The software Speech Trainer provides a
visualization of speech movements (midsagittal views of articulatory movements)
for speech sounds, syllables, words, and short sentences.
Speech Trainer can be used by speech therapists, speech and
language therapists, teachers of foreign languages, etc. as a tool in for
therapy as well as a tool for teaching.
Benefits to Patients:
Visual aids (mirror etc.)
Using a mirror can help children see how their mouth and tongue move when making sounds. Sit together in front of a mirror and demonstrate the correct movements for specific sounds, like the TH in thumb or the L in lion. Encourage the child to mimic your movements while watching themselves, promoting better articulation and self-awareness.
Building Vocabulary
Mirrors can also be used to build vocabulary by prompting children to describe what they see. As an SLP, I love using the carrier phrase I see ____ to encourage the use of a complete sentence. You can even start the sentence for them, such as I see___ (my eyes!) or have them imitate you. You can ask questions such as What color is your shirt? or How does your hair look today? This encourages children to use descriptive words and reinforces their understanding of basic concepts such as colors and shapes.
As your child grows, asking open-ended questions like What do you notice about yourself in the mirror? can also promote critical thinking skills and encourage children to express themselves creatively.
Speech-Sound Development
Mirrors are also a great tool for practicing speech sounds, too! Children can watch themselves speak in the mirror while practicing sounds or words that they have been targeting in therapy. You can use this tool to provide correction, and encourage correct placement of oral structures. For example, if your child is working on including /m/ at the end of words, you can encourage them to look for their lips closing together. This is a great way to encourage the start of self-monitoring as well.
Emotional Awareness
We all know the importance of expressing ourselves, and how this leads to more emotionally mature and emotionally intelligent children. The first step in expression is being able to understand and identify various emotions. Use the mirror to encourage Simon Says and imitate different facial expressions, such as happy, sad, scared, and surprised. Take it to to the next level by asking your child a time where they felt happy/sad/scared, etc. You ll be surprised how quick they catch on and how they incorporate emotional vocabulary within their daily language.
Tactile aids (Vibrotactile aids), etc.
Tactile aids can offer a particularly cost-effective answer to the increasing demand for technical aids for the profoundly and totally deaf.
Vibrotactile aids rely on the sense of feeling. They have a processor unit which picks up sounds through a microphone. A wire connects the processor to a vibrating transducer that responds to incoming sounds. The transducer is worn against the skin, on the wrist or across the chest, where the vibrations are felt.
Vibrotactile aids may be suitable for children who have little or no hearing and who would not benefit from using a more conventional hearing aid or cochlear implant.
A vibrotactile aid can give a child a sense of loudness, which helps them monitor and control their own voice level. It can also give a sense of the rhythm of speech and sometimes of the frequency of sounds.
Monitor is a portable vibrotactile aid to improve the ability of people with severe hearing impairment or deafblindness to detect, identify, and recognize the direction of sound-producing events. It transforms and adapts sounds to the frequency sensitivity range of the skin.
Monitor is a device developed to give people with severe hearing impairment (HI) or deafblindness (DB) access to more information about events in their surroundings. The aid, Monitor, uses the vibratory sense and is programmed to handle environmental sounds in contrast to other vibratory aids designed for speech signals. It detects sounds from events picked up by a microphone, adapts the sound to the frequency sensitivity range of the skin using algorithms developed based on modulating, transposition, or filtering principles, and translates the signal as vibrations. The person sensing the vibrations can detect and identify the character and direction of a sound source.
The vibrotactile aid used in this project, Monitor, consists of a cell phone (HTC based on Android) containing an application, an external microphone, an amplifier (Wowpotas), and a vibrator. The microphone and the vibrator are connected to the cell phone via the headset (input channel).
5.5 Role of family in stimulation of speech and language and home training
The formative years of a child s life, from birth to age five, are pivotal for language development. During this crucial period, children rapidly acquire sounds, words, and communication skills essential for school readiness and future success. Central to this process are parent-child interactions, serving as the primary channel through which children grasp the nuances of language.
Parent-child interactions that matter for early language development range from simple exchanges at the dinner table to conversations during play and book reading at bedtime. Each moment is a valuable opportunity for learning. Research highlights three key aspects of these interactions: how much parents talk to their child (quantity of parental speech), how diverse and complex their talk is (quality of parental speech), and how sensitive and responsive they are to their child (quality of parent-child interaction).
Speech therapy is a crucial aspect of a child's development, and the involvement of family members can significantly impact the child's progress. As a parent or guardian, your role in the speech therapy journey of your child cannot be overstated. In this blog, we'll discuss the role of family in the speech therapy journey of children.
1. Creating a Supportive Environment:
Family support is critical for children who are undergoing speech therapy. It is important for family members to be involved and provide emotional support to the child. Encouragement and positivity from family members can help the child build confidence and a positive attitude towards their therapy.
2. Practice at Home:
The speech therapist will provide activities and exercises for the child to practice at home. As a family member, it's important to make time to practice these activities and exercises with your child. This will help reinforce what the child is learning in therapy and accelerate progress.
3. Promoting Good Speech Habits:
Family members should also help promote good speech habits for the child. Encouraging the child to speak clearly, listen attentively, and use proper grammar and pronunciation can help reinforce the skills they learn in therapy. It's also important to avoid correcting the child in a negative way, but rather offering positive reinforcement and gentle reminders.
4. Communicating with the SLP:
Communication between family members and the SLP is vital to the success of the therapy. Regular communication can help the SLP understand the child's progress and adjust their therapy plan as necessary. Family members can also provide valuable insights into the child's strengths and weaknesses in various settings such as school or home.
5. Involvement in the Therapy Process:
Family members can also be involved in the therapy process by attending therapy sessions or observing the therapy sessions remotely. This can help family members understand the therapy process and what is expected of the child. It also provides an opportunity for family members to ask questions and offer feedback.
6. Be Patient:
Speech therapy is a process, and progress may not be immediate. It's important to be patient with your child and understand that progress may take time. Encourage and celebrate small milestones along the way, as they can be a significant motivator for the child.
7. Consistency:
Consistency is key in the speech therapy journey of a child. Attend all scheduled therapy sessions, and make sure the child practices the activities and exercises provided by the therapist regularly. Consistent practice and attendance will help accelerate the child's progress.
Language development in early childhood is profoundly influenced by daily interactions with parents. Recognizing and valuing the diversity in these interactions is vital for supporting all children in reaching their full potential. For parents and caregivers, here are the key takeaways:
The role of family in the speech therapy journey of children is significant. Providing a supportive environment, practicing speech exercises at home, promoting good speech habits, , patience, communicating with the SLP, and involvement in the therapy process can all make a positive impact on the child's progress. The family's active participation in the therapy process can help the child build confidence and make significant progress towards their speech and language goals.