Talking is complicated. First, you have to have something you want to say. Then your brain has to send signals to your lungs to inhale, your voice box to begin buzzing (and alternate buzzing depending on which sounds you want to make), your soft palate to either relax or close of air to your nose, and your tongue, cheeks, lips, and jaw to coordinate their movements to shape speech sounds. If there is any sort of interference in this process, your message doesn't come out right!
The tongue is especially important, because just a few millimeters of space can change an /s/ sound into a /th/ sound. Make the /r/ sound right now, and think about what shape your tongue is in. Where are the sides of your tongue? The back? The tip? The middle? Now try to describe that shape to a 3 year old who uses /w/ instead of /r/. It's no simple task.
Luckily, we aren't going to be working on the /r/ sound (one of the most difficult sounds to produce) just yet. In fact, for now, lets get even more simple. Voicing.
Voicing divides sounds into two groups: "Voice On" sounds, and "Voice Off" sounds. A sound is a voice on sound if you activate your voice box to make it. Put your hand on your voice box and say these sounds: /v, z, m, l, g, b/. These are all voice on sounds! Now put your hand on your voice box and say theses sounds: /p, h, s, sh, ch/. These are all voice off sounds. If you are feeling a buzz on the voice off sounds, it's because you are adding the "uuuh" sound at the end. /P/ doesn't say "puhhh." You have to make sure you are turning leaving your voice off and just making the sound by itself.
This week, I want you to help your child be more aware about voicing. I will be using "voice on/off" to describe their speech sounds during therapy, and it will really reinforce what we work on this week! Think about the sounds your child struggles with and focus on those. Are they voice on or off?
There are lots of ways to do this that don't take much time. I'll give you some ideas and you can pick what you think will work best for you and your child.
1. Let them feel your voice box when it's on and off. Then let them feel their own. Make it silly and fun by tapping on your voice box while saying "aaah."
2. Have them evaluate if a sound is "voice on" or "voice off." I like to use the thumbs up/thumbs down so they don't feel pressure to talk or get it right. You make the sound, and if it's voice on, have them give the thumbs up. If it's voice off, have them give the thumbs down. Take a turn being the judge, and get a few wrong on purpose. Let your child correct you, it will build their sound-knowledge confidence! If they don't correct you, you can say something like "Waaaait...that do that one again and let me feel your voice. I was wrong! That's a voice off sound!"
3. Incorporate a voice on/voice off discussion when talking about animal sounds. Is the snake sound voice on or off? Is the cow sound voice on or off? It can be hard to think of "voice off" animals. Most animal sounds are voice on, but it will still bring awareness.
4. Try making voice on sounds as loud as you can. Do the same with voice off sounds. Talk about how it's hard for a sound to be loud unless you turn your voice on!
5. When practicing alphabet letters, say the sounds and figure out if they are voice on or voice off. It's a great way to practice both academics and speech at the same time!
It's simple, but starting with a good knowledge base about how sounds are made will make teaching and practicing so much easier in the future!
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