Articulation Strategies: Sibilants
Strategies for /S/, /Z/, "CH", "SH", "DGE", and "ZH"
What is a sibilant?
Tricky Sounds: Correcting For Lateral Airflow By: Lisa M. Geary, M.S., CCC-SLP
According to Lisa, student must be educated on the correct placement of their tongue and correct airflow. Each therapy session should consist of education, discrimination, direct training, and practice. Education consists of the SLP instructing the student on correct tongue placement and frontal airflow stream. Discrimination consists of the student discriminating between correct/ incorrect targets produced by the SLP and the student as they advance in their skill set.
This technique can be used with the following sounds: /s/, /z/, "sh", "ch", "dge", and "zh".
http://livespeaklove.com/2012/03/19/tricky-sounds-correcting-for-lateralized-airflow/
Streaming Sounds
Encouraging Correct Tongue Position
Encouraging Correct Tongue Placement Across Words
The Butterfly Position By: Caroline Bowen, PhD
This technique should not be used:
- if the student can not produce /t/ and /d/ correctly
- is over the age of four years old
Steps to teaching the Butterfly Technique:
- Discuss the shape of a butterfly with its wings up
- Have the student produce "i" or "ee"
- Point out that the sides of their tongue are touching the inside of their back teeth
- Discuss how the edges of their tongue or the butterfly's wings should be pressed tightly against the inside of the teeth. NO floppy wings. Strong wings only.
- Using visuals a butterfly or your hands, assist the student in visualizing the central groove, the butterfly's body, in the middle of their tongue.
- Discuss with the student that the groove is used to shoot the air out of their mouth, using the central groove they will shoot the air straight out of their mouth.
- You may need to revisit the discussion and visual regarding having strong wings to reinforce the central groove to assist in shooting the air straight out the front of their mouth.
The Butterfly technique can be used to address the articulation of: /s/, /z/, "sh", and "zh".
Articulation Chain for Sound Placement and Production
After you have a correct placement and articulation of /s/, you can begin to teach the placement of "sh". One technique as described by John E. Riski, Ph.D. is retracting the tongue placement from an /s/ to achieve the correct placement and articulation of "sh". You will instruct the student to make their correct /s/ and then describe that they will slide or pull their tongue backwards in their mouth to correct'y produce "sh".
This same strategy could be used to transition from a /z/ to "zh".
The Association Method with E by Pam Marshalla
This technique was developed by Pam Marshalla, MA, CCC-SLP for the correct placement and articulation of "sh".
1) Have the student produce an exaggerated E and smile big!
2) Have the student whisper this E. (It will not sound like an "sh".)
3) Have the student round their lips while producing their whispered E. (If the student is unsuccessful at this point, move on to step 4. )
4) Have the student say E, whisper E, and then round their lips with a whispered E and elevate their jaw slightly.