Jj is for Jottings 156.  Speech Sound Problems: /th/

The speech sound problem /th/ is more complicated than many other sounds.  This is because in some parts of the English-speaking world, substituting /f/ for /th/ is normal, part of a dialect.  In this case it is not a speech sound problem. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 153.  Speech Sound Problems: /k,g/

We have previously learned about /s/ as a speech sound problem.  Let us now focus on speech sound problems: /k,g/.  As always, if your child makes speech errors, you need to know whether the error is actually appropriate for age.  (In which case, is it actually an error?  Perhaps an “age-appropriate substitution”!)  You can find out the rough developmental ages for speech sounds here. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 145.  Manner of Articulation.

As a reminder from the previous article, we classify the spoken aspects of consonants across 3 dimensions:

  • Place of articulation.
  • Manner of articulation.
  • Voicing

We have previously covered voicing, and then place of articulation in the previous article.  So now we turn our attention to manner of articulation. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 144.  Place of Articulation.

We classify the spoken aspects of consonants across 3 dimensions:

  • Place of articulation.
  • Manner of articulation.
  • Voicing.

The voicing dimension specifies whether or not the vocal folds (or cords) are vibrating.  It has already been discussed in Voiced vs voiceless minimal pairs.  And I have outlined the rules for when we voice the normally voiceless /s/ (resulting in /z/).  Most people are completely unaware of doing this, and would be surprised to learn that they are correctly following the rules.  The voicing dimension is rounded off by the article on partial devoicing of consonants. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 141.  Tongue Tie Side Effects.

Following on from the previous article on tongue tie, we now turn to discussion of side effects of tongue.  Even professionals dealing with tongue tie often overlook or are unaware of many of these side effects. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 140.  Tongue Tie.

After discussing /s/ speech sound problems in the previous post, in a way the topic of this post is the opposite: tongue tie.  Why is it the opposite?  Some /s/ problems involve tongue protrusion or sideways movement. But tongue tie anchors the tongue which limits movement to varying degrees. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 139.  Speech Sound Problems:/s/.

Probably one of the first sounds that springs to mind when one thinks of speech sound problems would be /s/ and, more specifically, a lisp.  (Remember that the slashes / / mean that we pronounce the sound; ‘s‘ or s means to say the letter name.  I think I may have done both at some point.  Certainly it is underlined in Aa is for Alpacas.)

The word “lisp” generally refers to the tongue tip protruding between the teeth for /s,z/.  (Note that /s,z/ are minimal pairs, and therefore have the same error. For the sake of ease I shall refer to just /s/ from now on, but remember that what refers to /s/ also refers to /z/.)   Some definitions of a lisp are much broader, and refer to any speech sound problem involving any or all sibilant sounds.  Since this is cause for confusion, I am not going to use the term “lisp” at all.  This particular /s/ problem is called an interdental /s/.  “Inter” means “between”, and of course “dental” means “teeth”, so there can be no confusion about what it is. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 137.  Auditory Processing Disorders.

Following on from auditory skills and developing auditory processing skills, we now turn our attention to auditory processing disorders.  There are so many conflicting ideas in the literature as to exactly what constitutes auditory skills. One could really become bogged down by this and therefore any resulting disorders.  There is even disagreement as to whether it should be “auditory processing disorders” or “central auditory processing disorders.”  I’ve decided to go with the thinking that “central” implies problems only at the brain level and consequently limits the definition.

Auditory processing disorders – attempting to prevent them is a good policy.

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Jj is for Jottings 125.  Nonsense Words.

Nonsense words are letter sequences which follow regular phonetic rules and are pronounceable, but which have no meaning.  Examples are ‘bof’, ‘zim’, ‘chog’.  They can also be called nonwords or pseudowords.  There are stages in children’s development where nonsense words may play a part.  These are: babbling, early reading, rhyming, and if they require assistance for speech sound development (speech therapy).   All children babble, but children may not encounter nonsense words when learning to read or to rhyme.  And many will not need speech therapy, or have access to it if they do.

Atticus is a FAN of nonsense words.

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Jj is for Jottings 101.  Vowel Shapes.

When I say “vowel shapes”, I am referring to the shape made by the mouth when saying a particular vowel.  We have talked earlier about discriminating between vowels and vowel discrimination activities, but I didn’t mention vowel shapes because we were talking about auditory discrimination.  The visual aspects were not necessary in that context.

VOWEL SHAPES ARE NOT SET IN CONCRETE.

In point of fact, there are no hard and fast vowel shapes, but there are general trends which are useful to know about. Continue reading