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One of the more common phonological processes/ sound substitutions, which may often need the help of an SLP, is gliding. This is when sounds that require the tongue to move back in the mouth like /l/ or /r/ are substituted by easier sounds like /w/ or /y/.
There is a complex process for correcting gliding. However, the most important steps are-
Realizing that there is actually a mistake in pronunciation. This is called minimal pair (LINK) practice. So, when you show a child a picture of a Light vs. a picture of White , and say to point to Light they should be able to point to the correct picture. Being aware of the difference between /y/ and /w/ vs. /l/ and /r/ is one of the first ways to be able to fix issues.
Knowing how to make the /l/ and /r/ sounds. A child must know that both sounds are made with the tongue. For /L/ the tongue is a little behind the front teeth - a little behind where sounds like /t/ and /d/ are made. The /r/ sound is made in two ways - either by moving the back sides of the tongue ("bunching /r/") or by bringing the tip of the tongue to the middle of the hard palate, but not touching ("tip /r/").
Then going down the speech sound correction hierarchy - which was discussed in previous posts on this blog - part 1 can be found HERE. (link) 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.
Steps 1 and 2 can be attempted at home - to see if there is a problem, and how severe it is. But after that, it is a good idea to see an SLP and correct the phonological process.
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 Gliding packets - for /l/ and for /r/! 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.