Correcting the /Sh, Ch, Juh/ Sounds : Making the Fish Face!

When a child produces /sh, ch, juh/ sound incorrectly, it is usually because of the following reasons-

1. The child makes an /s/ sound instead of /sh/ (known as depalatization)

2. The child makes a /sh/ or /t/ sound, instead of a /ch/ (known as deaffrication)

3. The child makes a /sh/ or /d/ sound, instead of a /juh/ (also known as deaffrication)

The first, most important solution for each of these sound errors is teaching a child how to actually produce each sound.

To make an “sh” sound, we make a “fish face” or a “kissing face” – bringing the lips to the front, and then releasing air. Air should not go to the sides of the mouth – always to the front!

Similarly, to make a “ch” sound, we make a “fish face” or a “kissing face” – bringing the lips to the front, and then some sound and air. Air should not go to the sides of the mouth – always to the front!

And finally, to make a “juh” sound, make a “fish face” or a “kissing face” – bringing the lips to the front, and then lots of sound. The sound should not go to the sides of the mouth – always to the front!

Once the correct production of /sh, ch, or juh/ is established, then we can go down the speech sound correction hierarchy - which was discussed in previous posts on this blog - part 1 can be found HERE. The next steps would be mastering the sound level, the syllable level, the word level, the phrase level, the sentence level, and then the conversation level.

Correcting these "palatal" and "affricate" sounds can take some time and practice- so it is a good idea to see an SLP, figure out exactly what is wrong, and go through the steps one by one, accurately and thoroughly.

While you are setting up an appointment, or if you are getting support but also want to do additional practice at home - check out Smarter Speech's Speech Sound Packet for /sh, ch, juh/. This has great exercises -and guides you through several weeks of activities starting from the very beginning of correcting the sound, all the way to mastery.

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.