September 23, 2008
Try This Tuesday #10: Using Physical Cues
This week, Jenny from Special Considerations shares an idea that came out of speech therapy but has turned out to be helpful in other situations as well.
USING PHYSICAL CUES
by Jenny
Over the past six months, Jackson has made significant progress with speech. He can correctly pronounce several words and attempts many more. One element of speech that is still very challenging for him, though, is ending consonants. Words like “cat”, “boat”, and “pop” are all pronounced with just the first part of the word.
This summer, Jackson’s speech therapist started giving him a physical cue to remind him to say the ending consonant. She would run her finger down his forearm as she was saying the beginning sound, then stop at his wrist and tap his hand when she would say the ending consonant. For example, she would say “Ca” as she ran her finger down his arm, then tap his hand with a big gesture as she said “t”.
Recently when going through his speech drills, I said “Boat”. He replied “Bo”. I repeated “Boat”, emphasizing the “t”. He tried again, and this time I saw him move his own finger down his arm and tap his hand as he attempted to put the “t” on the end of “Boat”. It didn’t come out perfectly, more like “Boag”, but I was elated that he was attempting to pronounce an ending consonant! He remembered that physical cue, and that motion reminded him to try to complete the word with the ending consonant.
We’ve also seen physical cues work with physical therapy. When Jackson was learning to climb onto a chair or other piece of furniture, his physical therapist would tap the leg he needed to move to cue him to lift it up. The cue didn’t provide him support, it just reminded him what he needed to move. The same cue has worked for teaching him to climb stairs.
I’m sure there are countless other uses for physical cues. Anytime you’re seeing your child struggling with a motor planning issue, a physical cue may be just the gentle reminder he or she needs to complete the task.
Please join in and share the creative solutions YOU have found to your own challenges. For more details on how to participate, click here.
Trish can be found writing here at 5MFSN every Friday in addition to hosting Try This Tuesday. You can also find Trish at her blog, Another Piece of the Puzzle.
Filed under Guest Bloggers, Therapy, Tips and Tricks, Try This Tuesday by Trish
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11 Comments on Try This Tuesday #10: Using Physical Cues »
#1 - Kirsten @ 12:16 am
I think I'll try that with Meghan's sight words. Great idea.
Kirst
#2 - Rickismom @ 2:00 am
Nice point!
(Can't believe its Tuesday again already!)
For children about three and up, starting global reading can help with first-and end-consonents. After the child has about 50 global words, one starts to separate sylables and then the child can SEE the "t"… doesn't run away like the spoken word does.
#3 - Amazing_Grace @ 7:19 am
Social Autopsies- This is a presentation I gave in a graduate course at Johns Hopkins in 2006.
#4 - Danette @ 8:14 am
Great post! I love the idea of helping to remind him about the last letter sound, my son has a hard time with that too. My older boys did too, although sometimes they did the opposite and attached extra sounds to words (like "train" was pronounced "traink").
We have used physical cues too and find them helpful. Sometimes it is just as simple as tapping him on the arm to get him to look as we show him something (that didn't used to work because he'd ignore us, but it works now), other times it is more specific to whatever it is we are trying to remind him about.
#5 - Barbara @ 8:28 am
Nice post! Physical cues seem to be more effective than verbal cues for forming a habit (learning) a new skill. Practice is another effective, er, practice.
#6 - Maddy @ 8:42 am
Oh dearie me. I have no creative solutions for that but it's fabulous to pop in somewhere that uses the term 'speech drills' in a sentence. Oh so casual and everyone knows what you mean. Nothing to do with the dentist or bird seed!
BEst wishes
#7 - Another Piece of the Puzzle » A Friend Like Henry @ 8:49 am
[...] while you're hopping around the blogosphere today, check out this week's Try This Tuesday post, contributed by Jenny at Special Considerations. Share and [...]
#8 - jen @ 9:52 am
when working with students on articulation…i will sometimes take them outside to the playground.
slides are great for final consonants…start at the top…"caaaaaa"—"t" when you reach the bottom!
swings are great for isolation sound practice…"mmmmm" or "sssss" as they go back and forth.
anything where we can keep them moving…will often help with motor speech concerns!
#9 - Julie @ A Celebration Of Our Journey @ 8:38 pm
Thanks for sharing!
#10 - Trish @ 10:37 pm
I really like this idea and am already thinking of how I can use it. Verbal prompts can become so tiresome for my son, and for me!
#11 - CC @ 8:04 pm
I use physical cues for my speech students all the time. It works so well for so many of them!