Step 1 of Acquiring a Speech Sound

In previous posts on this blog dealing with articulation/ phonology / speech sounds, we discussed simple but effective activities that can be done at home to help with acquisition of a sound. They were auditory bombardment, and minimal pairs.

Now, onto the therapeutic approach used to master a sound.

Most speech therapists use an approach known as the Van Riper Approach when teaching sounds. This means that, to ensure quick progress and decrease frusration, a sound must be mastered at 80% accuracy at one "level" before moving to the next "level."

The levels of speech sound acquisition are -

1. Isolated sound level

2. Syllable level

3. word level

4. phrase level

5. sentence level

6. conversation level

These 6 steps will be explained in further detail in next posts. This post will focus on Step 1.

Mastering a sound at 80% accuracy at the sound level means that a child should be able to say the sound BY ITSELF (without any other sounds, syllables, or words) 80% of the time.

So, for example, if a child is working on the /t/ sound... they should be able to say "tuh" - just "tuh" - correctly (not saying /kuh/ or /buh/ or eliminating the /t/ altogether) 80% of the time. Until this is mastered, it will be very difficult to work on words, or to correct the child in conversation.

It can sometimes be hard to teach a child how to "make" a sound. This is where an SLP comes in, with visual and verbal cues and hints that help induce the sound. Once the child can say the sound, it is a matter of practicing - around 5-10 minutes a day, and then during a weekly therapy session with an SLP, to get to 80% accuracy and only then move onto step 2.

It may take some months to go from Step 1 to Step 6 of the acquisition steps. But the investment is worth it, because it is an easy and natural progress, which puts minimal stress on the child and the family.

Don't be afraid to approach a sound slowly. Slow and Steady wins the race :)

PS - if you are interested in resources to work through a sound in the hierarchy mentioned above at home, check out Smarter Speech's Speech Sound Packets on TPT! They go from bombardment to minimal pairs to Step 1 and all the way through Step 6!

PPS - Stay tuned for Step 2 of Acquiring a Speech Sound, in the next post.

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.