Articulation Therapy Techniques for Tricky Words

Articulation therapy is one of the most common interventions that Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are known for. It refers to working on the production of speech sounds such as /r/ as in “red” or /s/ as in “so.” Acquiring a new way to produce sounds can be tricky for some clients because you are breaking old habits and learning new ones. Additionally, there are words that are more difficult than others such as “turtle” and “world.” Below are a few articulation therapy techniques for tricky words.

1. Separate the target sound from the word

Sounds are impacted by other sounds that come before and after them. In the traditional articulation hierarchy, clients move from practicing the sound in isolation or syllables to words but this can be a big jump sometimes. To help bridge that gap, try separating the target sound from the word. For example, with the word “red,” have the client say “r-ed.” Over time, you can fade out the separation and merge the sounds together.

2. Link a word ending with the target sound with a word that starts with a vowel

In connected speech, we link the end of one word with the beginning of the next word. When a word ends in a consonant and is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, we move that consonant sound over to the next word. For example, with the phrase “door is,” the /r/ moves over and it becomes “doo-ris.”

Generally, producing target sounds at the beginning of words is easier than in the middle or end. So, having the client move the target sound over to the next word makes it an initial sound instead of final sound and therefore easier to produce.

3. Link a word ending with the target sound with a word that starts with the target sound

As mentioned above, we link the end of words with the beginning of the next word. When a word ends in a consonant and is followed by a word that begins with the same consonant, that consonant is said only one time. For example, with the phrase “bike key,” the /k/ sound is produced only once and it becomes “bi-key.” Moving the target sound to the beginning of the next word will make it easier to produce.

4. Move sound to initial position of second syllable

Most of the time when teaching a new sound, SLPs start with practice words that contain the sound in the initial position and then move to practice words with the sound in medial or final positions. Medial and final word positions can be tricky for some clients and cause frustration. When working on the medial position, move the target sound to the beginning of the second syllable to help with this transition. For example, with the word “giraffe,” have the client break up the syllables as in “gi-raffe.”

5. Have client discriminate between your productions of the target sound and variations

One of the components to articulation therapy is to build auditory discrimination, which refers to a client’s ability to distinguish between sounds in words as correct or incorrect. You can address this by producing a target word correctly and incorrectly and having the client state which one is the target. For example “red or wed” and the client should identify the first one as the target.

6. Have client hold out target sound

Another component to articulation therapy is building phonological awareness, which refers to the ability to hear the sounds in spoken words. One way to build this awareness is to have the client play around with the production of the target sounds. A strategy for this is to have the client hold out the target sound so they can hear and feel the production. For example, in the word “so,” have the client hold out the /s/ sound as in “sssso.” Then have them describe what they hear and feel in their own words.

7. Alternate target sound with a variation

One more component to articulation therapy is negative practice, which involves having the client practice the incorrect productions in contrast with the correct productions. This helps to build phonological awareness. For example, have the client say “red – wed – red.” Then have them describe what they hear and feel.

For practice words, visit Home-Speech-Home.com word lists and digital Articulation Language-Based Bundle.

What are your articulation therapy techniques for tricky words? Let us know below!