Talk Tools - please explain?

January 23, 2010

Hi, I've had a quick look at the talk tools website.

The PROMPT therapist that I will be starting with tomorrow (I'm in Australia),

hadn't heard of this term when I mentioned it to her.

I was looking at some of the products available from the website, and saw things

such as horns and bubbles. I was wondering if it would be of benefit to my son

if I purchased some of these types of things for him to 'play' with, or would

the benefit only come from working with them in conjunction with someone

'trained' in this type of therapy.

I think, but could be wrong, that I recall the PROMPT therapist we are starting

with saying she didn't think bubble blowing etc was very beneficial to treating

kids with verbal dyspraxia.

January 24, 2010

Anything that encourages your son to move his mouth is helpful. If you can do

that in fun playful ways it is all the better. It is amazing to me because

about 8 months ago I purchased a ton of whistles from a speech website. Each

whistle was inviting to a kid, (i.e. a plane that when you blew the whistle the

engine fans came on, a duck whistle that made a duck noise, a train whistle,

etc). Because of the shape of the end of each whistle it made the child use

different muscles and form his mouth in different shapes. If you look on a

speech website for them they will spell out for you what whistle pairs to what

letters of the alphabet. Way back then my son could barely make any of the

whistles work and I was disheartened. Recently I pulled out the whole set

and he was able to do all but a few. Such progress! If I could go back in

time I would probably just introduce one whistle at a time starting with the

easiest letters (like B, M, D). This way you have something new all the time

and it doesn't seem so hard to the child if he can't do most of them. I'd

also look for whistles like I got which are in fun shapes. This really

seemed to be an incentive for my son.

In addition, if you look on the pages that sell items for speech there are other

fun things you can do that help with speech. One thing I bought were these

little candy stamps. The child hold the handle of the stamp and sticks out

his tongue to lick it (candy on the stamp part). When the child gets it wet

he stamps it on a piece of paper to make whatever design is on the stamp.

This is good because it encourages tongue movement in and out of the mouth and

also can help a child with sensory issues. I also found whistle lollipops

that whistle when you eat them.

Anything you can do to encourage mouth movement especially in a fun environment

that the child doesn't even know is " therapy " I am all for. My SLP's also

strongly encourage it.

[ ] Talk Tools - please explain?

Hi, I've had a quick look at the talk tools website.

The PROMPT therapist that I will be starting with tomorrow (I'm in Australia),

hadn't heard of this term when I mentioned it to her.

I was looking at some of the products available from the website, and saw things

such as horns and bubbles. I was wondering if it would be of benefit to my son

if I purchased some of these types of things for him to 'play' with, or would

the benefit only come from working with them in conjunction with someone

'trained' in this type of therapy.

I think, but could be wrong, that I recall the PROMPT therapist we are starting

with saying she didn't think bubble blowing etc was very beneficial to treating

kids with verbal dyspraxia.

January 24, 2010

The oral motor tools on the Talk Tools site are meant for use in a specific

way by SLPs who are trained in how they relate to improving the stability,

control, coordination, and dissociation of the jaw/lips/tongue. Ask the new

SLP if she is willing to rent and view the DVDs available on the TT site.

She may not be familiar with the techniques but they DO work. I use them

and see it in my clients. BUT they have to be followed with speech

activities.

Also, it's important that the adult/SLP/parent maintains control of the

tools. That means putting them out of site/reach when not in use. They are

not for " play " because the child can learn incorrect motor patterns by using

them incorrectly. For ex, by biting on the horns or blowing w/o appropriate

breath support. By the way---it's not just " blowing " but blowing in a

specific way to use abdominal breathing, round the lips, retracting the

tongue, controlling the jaw, etc. These are also movements we need for

speech production. Think of the ex as going to the gym for the mouth.

Warmest wishes,

Barbara

Barbara A. , M.S., CCC-SLP

Executive Director/ Help Me Speak, LLC

<http://www.helpmespeak.com/> http://www.helpmespeak.com

(o) 410-442-9791 (f) 410-442-9783

2500 Wallington Way; Suite 103

Marriottsville, MD 21104

follow us on FaceBook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marriottsville-MD/Help-Me-Speak-LLC/1046288520

32

Call me with any questions about NutriiVeda!

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of rubykatee

Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:32 PM

Subject: [ ] Talk Tools - please explain?

Hi, I've had a quick look at the talk tools website.

The PROMPT therapist that I will be starting with tomorrow (I'm in

Australia), hadn't heard of this term when I mentioned it to her.

I was looking at some of the products available from the website, and saw

things such as horns and bubbles. I was wondering if it would be of benefit

to my son if I purchased some of these types of things for him to 'play'

with, or would the benefit only come from working with them in conjunction

with someone 'trained' in this type of therapy.

I think, but could be wrong, that I recall the PROMPT therapist we are

starting with saying she didn't think bubble blowing etc was very beneficial

to treating kids with verbal dyspraxia.

January 25, 2010

So, does that mean that you would advise me not to purchase any of the products

and use them myself with my son?

Being that I'm in Australia, I'm not sure that the dvd's would be easily

accessed here.

Am I right in thinking that these 'talk tools' are used in oral motor therapy? I

asked my speech path about oral motor therapy, and she didn't know what I was

talking about - I found this really odd for a therapist with advanced training

in PROMPT?

From: Barbara <helpmespeak@...>

Subject: RE: [ ] Talk Tools - please explain?

Received: Monday, 25 January, 2010, 5:12 PM

Â