Teachers can look for different errors in these areas to determine if a student MAY have a speech sound disorder:

Articulation

Grammar/ Sentence Structure

Vocabulary/ Word Meanings

Social Communication

Following Directions/ Processing Information

Expansion of Limited Expressive Language Skills

Stuttering

Basic Concept Understanding

Vocal Quality

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Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a central role in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of persons with speech sound disorders. The professional roles and activities in speech-language pathology include clinical/educational services (diagnosis, assessment, planning, and treatment); prevention and advocacy; and education, administration, and research.

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Practice and maintain easy and effective communication skills by modeling good listening skills and by facilitating participation of all students in classroom discussions and activities.

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Individual instruction may be necessary to remediate these deficits, but should be provided discreetly to avoid embarrassment and possible resistance

 

Teachers should constantly model the correct production of sound. Maintain eye contact with the student, then tell her to watch the movements of your mouth when providing direct instruction. Ask her to copy these movements when she produces the sounds.

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Teaching Approaches

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• Having a student sit near you to easily meet her learning needs.

• Discussing possible areas of difficulty and working with the student to implement accommodations.

• Always asking before providing assistance, and using positive reinforcement when the student completes an activity independently.

• Using peer assistance when appropriate.

• Modifying activities or exercises so assignments can be completed by the student, but providing the same or similar academic objectives.

• Creating tests that are appropriate for the student with speech impairment (for example, written instead of oral or vice versa.)

• Providing scribes for test taking if a student needs assistance.

  • Allowing more time for a student to complete activities, assignments and tests.

• Making sure the student understands test instructions completely and providing additional assistance if needed

 

Other Approaches:

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Articulation approaches target each sound deviation and are often selected by the clinician when the child's errors are assumed to be motor based; the aim is correct production of the target sound(s).

Phonological/language-based approaches target a group of sounds with similar error patterns, although the actual treatment of exemplars of the error pattern may target individual sounds. Phonological approaches are often selected in an effort to help the child internalize phonological rules and generalize these rules to other sounds within the pattern (e.g., final consonant deletion, cluster reduction).

Articulation and phonological/language-based approaches might both be used in therapy with the same individual at different times or for different reasons.

Both approaches for the treatment of speech sound disorders typically involve the following sequence of steps:

• Establishment—eliciting target sounds and stabilizing production on a voluntary level.

• Generalization—facilitating carry-over of sound productions at increasingly challenging levels (e.g., syllables, words, phrases/sentences, conversational speaking).

• Maintenance—stabilizing target sound production and making it more automatic; encouraging self-monitoring of speech and self-correction of errors.

• Transition Planning—the development of a formal transition plan in middle or high school that includes discussion of the need for continued therapy, if appropriate, and supports that might be needed in postsecondary educational and/or vocational settings (IDEA, 2004).

Disability Support Services—individualized support for postsecondary students that may include extended time for tests,  accommodations for oral speaking assignments, the use of assistive technology (e.g., to help with reading and writing tasks), and the use of methods and devices to augment oral communication, if necessary.

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