Speech Sound Challenges: A focus on /L/ and /Y/

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
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Have you ever thought about how difficult it can be to produce certain speech sounds? Some sounds are definitely trickier than others. This is especially true for children with speech sound disorders like Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).

My student with CAS has been working hard on producing the /L/ sound especially when it was followed by an /O/ or /OO/ like, ‘log’ or ‘look’. We’ve practised lots and now that he’s got a good handle on /L/, he’s started replacing another difficult sound, /Y/, with it. So, ‘yes’ becomes ‘less’ and ‘yuck’ becomes ‘luck.’

This is a common pattern in speech development. Once a child masters a new sound, they may start using it in place of other sounds they find even more challenging.

Minimal Pair therapy

I use different evidence-based methods to help my students. And I often like to start out with phonemic awareness and then I move to contrasting the error sound with another sound to make completely different words. This approach is called ‘minimal pair’ therapy: both words are the same except for the initial/final sound which has the error sound, and this is contrasted with the correct sound.

Below is an example of this:

After we have worked on sound awareness, listening and becoming aware of small units of sound matter, then we can move to working on tongue placement and movement.

Tongue placement and movement to produce correct /L/ and /Y/ sounds

To produce these sounds correctly, the tongue needs to be in specific positions and make specific movements.

  • /L/ sound:
    • Tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge (the bony ridge behind your upper teeth)
    • Sides of the tongue are raised to the sides of the upper teeth
    • Airflow escapes through the sides of the tongue
  • /Y/ sound:
    • Tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge
    • Sides of the tongue are raised to the sides of the upper teeth
    • Airflow escapes through the centre of the mouth

I also use:

  • Auditory bombardment: Auditory bombardment is a technique that involves repeatedly listening to a target sound. This can help children to develop a better understanding of the sound and how to produce it.
  • Visual cues: Visual cues can be helpful for children who are having difficulty producing a particular sound. Here I use the image of a ‘standing tongue’ versus a ‘sitting tongue’.
  • Physical cues: I use my hands to show a ‘standing tongue’ for the /L/ versus a ‘sitting tongue’ for the /Y/. But what worked even better and sadly I don’t have the video clip for it:
  • Semantic cues: For example a picture of an ‘EAR’ to make the sound /Y/ so we shape the sound /EA/ to /Y/.
  • Parent involvement: Parents play an important role in their child’s speech sound development by providing opportunities for them to practise their speech sounds at home. This can be done through activities such as reading books, singing songs, and playing games.
  • Reinforcement: It is important to praise children for their efforts, even if they are not perfect. This will help them to feel motivated to keep practising. Important here for speech correction is concrete reinforcement: I feed back to my student what exactly they were doing correctly with their tongue or lips. Rather than saying ‘well done’, I mention what my student has just done with the tongue to change the sound: ‘I saw you lowered your tongue! That made a good /Y/’.

Another great way of reinforcing positively is to ask the student how they feel they have done? For the older ones I often ask them to self-rate their sound production out of 10. Then we can work towards the next incremental number upwards. This is very effective and gives the student control over their own work.

Please contact me if your child has speech sound difficulties.

Sonja McGeachie

Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

The London Speech and Feeding Practice

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • · ·

    Why ‘Prosody’ Matters in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    Prosody refers to the ‘music’ of speech — the rhythm, pitch, stress, and volume that convey meaning and emotion beyond the literal words themselves. Think about a monotone statement like ‘Really?’ compared to one with a rising inflection, expressing genuine curiosity.

    When I work with children on producing speech sound sequences, we focus on mastering individual sounds and then putting them together into target words. A crucial element that can significantly impact a child’s speech production is ‘prosody’.

    In CAS, where the difficulty lies in planning and executing the motor movements for speech, prosody can be a powerful tool for producing clearer words and phrases.

    Here’s why working on prosody is an essential tool in CAS speech therapy:

    1.  It aids Motor Learning:

    Apraxia of Speech means that the planning and execution of speech movements are impaired. When we use exaggerated intonation or stress patterns while modelling words, we are providing additional prosodic variation and, therefore, additional auditory cues. These cues often help my student to carry out the correct motor movements for a word or syllable sequence.

    For instance, I might say ‘ball’ with a high-pitched emphasis on the ‘b’ sound. This auditory cue might be more effective in guiding the child’s tongue placement than simply repeating the word without variation.

    In this little video clip I get my student to say the word ‘snuggle’ (since we were working on that particular sound sequence: snuggle, snout, snore and sneeze) with a high voice and then a lower voice ‘like a bear’ — again it provides that extra auditory cue, but, in addition, the fun aspect also helps to take away the intense focus on a tricky movement pattern.

    By now the new pathways have been laid through repeated practice and now automaticity takes over and without too much effort my student can suddenly produce a motor pattern. It’s magical when it happens and gives me such a thrill.

    2. It makes speech more engaging and natural sounding:

    Children with CAS often sound robotic or flat due to challenges with prosodic elements. By incorporating variations in pitch, volume, and rhythm during therapy, we can help achieve a more natural flow of speech

    3. It makes it easier to express our emotions:

    Children with CAS often struggle to express themselves emotionally; partly through the difficulty of producing clear words — period, but also in addition due to the difficulties or absence of musicality and rhythm in their speech.

    Therefore, it is so important to incorporate activities focused on practising different emotions with varied intonation patterns. This can really empower our students to put emotions into their words.

    Good words to practise are fun words like ‘Wow!’ or ‘Yeiih’ or power words and phrases like ‘No!’ or ‘Gimme that’ etc.

    Making Therapy Fun and Engaging:

    Speech therapy for CAS doesn’t have to be all drills and exercises (though to be fair sometimes we can’t quite get round to making each and every word huge fun though we try…).

    I aim to make all my sessions fun and have intrinsic rewards built into the speech practice where possible.

    Home practice tips:

    Therapy shouldn’t exist in a bubble. Working on prosody during sessions is crucial, but it’s equally important to integrate these skills into everyday interactions. Parents and caregivers can model appropriate prosody during playtime, story time, or even simple conversations. This consistent reinforcement helps our children to generalise their newfound skills and use them naturally in their daily lives.

    • Sing songs and rhymes: Songs naturally incorporate variations in pitch and rhythm. Singing familiar songs and creating silly rhymes can be a delightful way to practise prosody.
    • Use puppets and toys: Assign different voices and personalities to puppets or toys. This encourages children to experiment with pitch and volume to differentiate characters.
    • Read aloud with enthusiasm: Model expressive reading, varying your voice for different characters and emphasising key words. This makes reading time engaging and helps children understand the power of prosody.

    Please feel free to contact me if your child has speech sound difficulties. It is my passion. I love supporting children with apraxia.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    1
  • ·

    Explore activities for Gestalt Language Processors to aid communication

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Speech Therpaist in London

    When you have a child who uses Gestalts it is often difficult to think and adapt clinic activities into those to use at home. More importantly, you find that individualising your activities for your child who uses Gestalt are time-consuming. But you value its importance for their communication development.

    You feel so busy, you are taking them to other appointments, or trying to get through your daily activities, all whilst still ensuring your child’s emotional needs are met. You know life should not get in the way of your child’s therapy activities at home, but it does. We know your spare time is precious and limited, so let us achieve your child’s or young person’s goals in the allotted time you have which meets their way of learning (using Gestalts).

    We wanted to support you by exploring items which you may have at home, and we will give you some key phrases which you can start to model with your child. Whereas our last blog introduced the idea of gestalt language processors, we are now developing ideas to give you the tools to implement activities at home. We recognise how overwhelming it may feel, and this is one of the reasons to make activities as straight forward as possible. Therapy does not need to be complicated; it just needs to be carried out on a regular basis.

    Explore the samples I’ve created to give you an idea of how this might look but please consult with a Speech and Language Therapist who knows about Gestalt Language Processing so that you can work together to develop great home activities for your child.

    Want to learn more about gestalt language processing?

    Please contact me for help.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    1
  • · ·

    The hidden impact of mouth breathing and open mouth posture on speech and feeding

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    When most people think about speech or feeding difficulties, they picture the tongue, lips, or chewing skills, but how a child breathes at rest plays a surprisingly big role too.

    Mouth breathing and open mouth resting posture can quietly influence everything from how a child’s face grows to how clearly they speak, to how confidently they chew and swallow. It’s something many parents never think about, until they start noticing the subtle signs.

    Let’s explore why this happens, what to look for, and how to gently support better breathing and oral posture.

    Recent research supports this link between mouth breathing and speech difficulties. For example, a 2022 study by Alhazmi et al., published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, found that 81.7% of children aged 9–17 who breathed primarily through their mouths presented with speech sound disorders. The study highlights how mouth breathing can significantly influence orofacial development and articulation patterns.

    💨 Why we’re designed to breathe through our nose

    Our bodies are made for nasal breathing. When we breathe through the nose, the air is filtered, warmed, and humidified before reaching the lungs. The tongue naturally rests against the roof of the mouth, the lips close gently, and the jaw stays relaxed, all of which encourage healthy oral development.

    In contrast, mouth breathing often means the tongue rests low in the mouth and the lips stay apart. Over time, this posture can subtly reshape how the muscles and bones of the face grow.

    Children who breathe through their mouths most of the time may develop:

    • A longer face and narrower palate
    • Forward head posture
    • Slightly open lips and low tongue position at rest
    • A tendency toward drooling or noisy breathing
    • A dry mouth and consequently bad breath
    • At times the tongue pushes constantly against the front teeth causing them to grow forward (buck teeth)

    These changes are not anyone’s fault, as they often start because of blocked noses, allergies, enlarged adenoids, low facial muscle tone or habits formed when a child was younger. But understanding the pattern helps us know how to support change.

    🗣 How mouth breathing affects speech

    Speech depends on precise coordination between the lips, tongue, and jaw. The resting position of these structures affects how ready they are to move.

    1. Reduced tongue strength and placement, i.e. the tongue rests low in the mouth (as it does in mouth breathing), it’s harder for children to lift it efficiently for sounds like /T/, /D/, /N/, /L/, and /S/. This can lead to speech that sounds slightly slushy or unclear, or a frontal lisp.
    2. Open mouth posture and resonance: An open mouth at rest may affect how air vibrates in the oral and nasal cavities. Children might have speech that sounds a bit ‘muffled’ or lacks crispness because the lips and jaw aren’t fully supporting articulation.
    3. Fatigue and breath control: Mouth breathing can lead to drier mouths and less efficient breath support. That can make longer sentences or conversations feel tiring, especially in noisy environments.

    🥄 How mouth breathing affects feeding and chewing

    Feeding involves the same structures that control speech, so posture and breathing patterns matter here, too.

    1. Chewing efficiency: Children who habitually keep their mouths open often have low tongue tone and reduced jaw stability. They may prefer softer foods, chew slowly, or struggle with mixed textures.
    2. Swallowing pattern: A tongue that rests low may push forward when swallowing. This ‘tongue-thrust swallow’ can interfere with efficient chewing and even affect dental alignment over time.
    3. Breathing while eating: Since it’s hard to chew, swallow, and breathe through the mouth simultaneously, children who can’t comfortably nasal breathe may rush bites or pause to catch their breath. This can contribute to coughing, choking, or food refusal.

    Common signs to watch for

    Parents often notice subtle clues before realising mouth breathing is a pattern. Some red flags include:

    • Lips habitually open at rest
    • Drooling after the toddler years
    • Snoring or noisy breathing during sleep
    • Preference for soft foods or grazing eating habits
    • Dark circles under the eyes due to allergies
    • Frequent colds, congestion, or mouth odour
    • Speech that sounds slushy or unclear despite good effort

    If several of these sound familiar, it’s worth mentioning them to your child’s GP, dentist, or speech and language therapist.

    👩‍⚕️ What can help

    1. Address the underlying cause: If nasal blockage, allergies, or enlarged adenoids are making nasal breathing difficult, a medical assessment is the first step. ENT specialists can rule out or treat physical causes.
    2. Encourage closed mouth rest: Gentle reminders like ‘Lips together, tongue up, breathe through your nose’ can help older children become aware of their resting posture. For younger ones, visual cues (stickers or mirrors) can make it a game.
    3. Build oral-motor strength and awareness: Speech therapists can design activities to strengthen the tongue and lips, improve jaw stability, and encourage balanced breathing. This might include blowing games, tongue-tip lifts, use of dental-palatal devices or oral-motor exercises disguised as play.
    4. Support good posture: Sometimes mouth breathing goes hand-in-hand with forward-head posture. Encouraging upright sitting during meals and screen time helps keep the airway open and supports better breathing habits.
    5. Make nasal breathing part of daily routines: Gentle nose-breathing practice during calm times (reading, bedtime, car rides) helps normalise it. Avoid making it a battle: calm, consistent reminders work best.

    🌱 A gentle note on change

    Patterns of mouth breathing develop over time, and change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s important to approach this with curiosity, not criticism. The aim isn’t ‘perfect breathing,’ but to give your child the tools and awareness to breathe comfortably and efficiently.

    Small improvements in nasal breathing and resting posture can lead to big gains in speech clarity, eating confidence, and even sleep quality.

    💡 The takeaway

    Breathing seems automatic, and it is! but how we breathe matters. Mouth breathing and open-mouth posture can quietly shape how a child speaks, eats, and grows.

    By noticing early signs, addressing underlying causes, and building supportive habits, you can help your child move toward stronger, clearer speech and more comfortable mealtimes.

    Just like every area of development, progress starts with connection, patience, and gentle consistency, one calm breath at a time.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    References

    Alhazmi, A., Alshamrani, A., Alhussain, A., et al. (2022). Mouth Breathing and Speech Disorders: A Multidisciplinary Study. Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences 14(5):911. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361978128_Mouth_breathing_and_speech_disorders_A_multidisciplinary_evaluation_based_on_the_etiology

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    2
  • ·

    How to model AAC with our minimally speaking students?

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    modelling AAC

    How should we start? Should we use prompts? What kind of prompts? hand-over-hand or just pointing? Should we wait, and, if so, how long? Introducing an alternative communication system (AAC) to our child is for many of us a confusing and sometimes scary prospect, but it needn’t be! Let me reassure you and share some tricks of my practice in this area.

    Once we have decided to try for a picture based communication system, I usually start with a paper-based single page with between 48–88 core-words. I choose the number of words depending on where the child is developmentally and also verbally.

    If a child does have a small handful of words already, I might start with the 88-cell board below. If, on the other hand, my student is completely non-speaking and still quite little then I might go for the 48-cell below here or I might have even less cells to start with. Again, sometimes I start with an electronic device in my clinic just to trial and introduce the idea and to see if, or how, a student responds. 

    Below are some samples: a 49-cell board which I made for a child in a nursery setting

    Below a Saltillo WordPower board that can be downloaded from the Saltillo website:

    Example of a slightly more advanced board, again from the Saltillo Website

    And here below one example of a board I made for a specific activity for a child who loves water and sand play:

    It is perfectly possible to be very flexible and create a suitable board for any student, starting with as few as 2–5 cells and working up to over a 100 (very small ones) on a sheet of A4 or A3 paper.

    So once we have a good board for our child, what now? How do we start introducing this into our daily life?

    We can start by showing/pointing to the word GO within a play activity. For example:

    • a car run,
    • or a marble run,
    • or a spinner activity,
    • a wind-up toy,
    • anything that can be stopped and started easily.

    How to start?

    I will talk us through each of the steps using the example for the word ‘GO’.

    First phase

    The first phase is a TEACHING/ LEARNING PHASE. In this phase we do not expect our student to do anything, to copy us or to point to the board. If they do that it is of course a huge bonus and we will celebrate it.

    Our job is to simply MODEL/SHOW/GIVE EXAMPLES of how we can use the board, by steadily and regularly pointing to the chosen word or words. We do so across the day and across settings:

    • play
    • meal time
    • getting dressed/undressed
    • bath time
    • going to the car/shops
    • etc

    Once we can be sure that our student has been submerged and SOAKED in seeing the coreboard being used, say after some 3–4 weeks of using it consistently…

    Second phase

    We can begin to move into the second phase which is the PRACTICE PHASE. By now the student has seen the boards and he or she has seen the word GO (as a example) modelled many times.

    Now we can start to see if we can tempt our student into trying this out for themselves.

    What sort of TEMPTING are we talking about? Take a look at the Prompt Hierarchy below, which shows us what to do to get our student to be independently communicating as soon as possible. 

    The PROMPT HIERARCHY: what sort of prompting should we do, should we expect something from our student or how should we view this stage?

    1.  TEMPT AND PAUSE

    I have the AAC near to the toy and each time the child starts another round of the activity I say clearly ‘GO’ and I point to the picture as do so. I then pause and wait to see what happens. NOTHING? Then…

    1. USE SIGNS AND BODY LANGUAGE

    Next time the child starts another round I might be very animated and do a Makaton sign for GO as I say ‘GO’ and I make a very over point to the picture again. Then I wait. STILL NOTHING? OK then…

    1. OPEN-ENDED QUESTION

    Now I might say ‘GO’ and follow with: ‘OOH I WONDER IF THERE IS A PICTURE TO POINT TO…’

    ‘OH LOOK HERE IS GO!’ I then point to GO.

     STILL NO RESPONSE?

    1. ASK FOR A RESPONSE

    I might say ‘GO’ followed by ‘LOOK! LET’S POINT TO GO HERE ON THE PICTURE.’

    STILL NO RESPONSE? 

    1.  PHYSICAL TOUCH

    Next time I say ‘GO’ I will try and take the student’s hand, help isolate their finger and help him or her to point to the actual picture.

    REMEMBER: Prompting serves a very important function in scaffolding learning for students BUT if we are constantly prompting kids, then we are teaching them to only communicate when someone tells them to. We want our student to become as independent in speaking and using words as possible.

    So once I have done Physical Prompting I will try and phase back down to number 1 where all I need to do is point to the picture or look at the board with the aim that the student will then point to the picture.

    Take away points:

    • Keep the learning phase pressure-free and model without expecting our student to jump in. In other words, let’s model first without expectation. Later we can have a little bit of expectation.
    • After they’ve been exposed to and have been ‘soaked’ in plenty of AAC input, then, YES, we can create an opportunity to help them say or point to the word on their own.
    • We can model BOTH with and without expectation.
    • Only after LOTS of exposure, use the least to most prompting hierarchy and start creating opportunities for a student to become an independent communicator.

    Do get in touch if you have any questions or comments or if you would like some practical help.

    I am always pleased to hear from you.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • ·

    Why Imitation is so Important

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Target Activities and Games For Kids

    Why imitation is so important and how can speech and language therapy help children who struggle to imitate?

    Imitation or copying starts in early infancy. When we observe a young baby and his parent or familiar adult we can see clearly and frequently that the baby will be intently looking at adult’s face and try to copy their facial expressions, smiles and all those funny baby sounds we often make with young babies.

    These sounds are called “motherese” and are the beginnings of a little conversation between the parent and the baby. The “conversation can go back and forth for a long time and include sounds, as well as facial expressions.

    A little later on, once the baby can crawl and sit up unaided the copying then goes on to include toys and objects. Mum or Dad will show their toddler how to use a drum or how to put a little train on the wooden tracks and the toddler will try and copy this. They may not succeed and be a little clumsy perhaps but the act of copying anything and everything their favourite adult does is typically seen throughout the day.

    We all know and have laughed at mums or dads saying; ssshhh don’t say that in front of the baby he/she will copy you, watch your mouth! (as dad is swearing at the broken radiator….)

    This imitation goes on for years and includes eventually of course little words, more words, putting words together and then creating sentences, all the while our toddler is listening to how their adults speak, not only what they say but how they say it. This is how dialects and accents can be transmitted easily from parent /family to child.

    Copying in Children with Autism

    We know that children with autism often struggle to imitate. We see children on the spectrum typically having great difficulty to copy adults or children; this can be seen in very reduced play with their peers in nursery for example.

    Children with autism tend to have reduced joint attention and engagement with others and need to develop the ability and awareness to copy others in order to then engage more jointly with others.

    Speech and Language Therapy can help with Parent Child Interaction work and Coaching, here is how:

    During my coaching work with parents I teach step by step how to help a child who struggles to imitate:

    We look at all the researched skills and actions that adults can take to help their little one to copy, starting with close observation of their child’s interests, then following and including their child’s play and copying/imitating their child in how they play. I teach steps in a graduated way so that it is easy to see the progress and joyful to have the results at the end.

    The results are clear to see over time: our children on the spectrum learn to imitate actions, with objects and gestures, then sounds and words. Alongside this increased imitation skill the child can then develop more joint attention and engagement.

    I would always recommend Parent Child Interaction Training as a first port of call as we learn so many great techniques which are well researched by the Hanen Programme, www.hanen.org. Do drop me a line if you would like to find out more.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

  • Empty Set and Phonology approaches

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    I have been avoiding the use of the Empty Set approach for the longest time as I was not sure if it would work seeing that I am challenging two sounds my student struggles with at the same time. But I decided to give it a go and it works a treat!

    With this approach, we use two sounds that our student is struggling with. For example, in my video this student cannot produce /sh/ and /r/. Both sounds have different rules, so I decided to contrast them with each other.

    • The rules of /sh/ are: no voice, air is pushed out through teeth, produced at the front.
    • The rules for /r/ are: use your voice, produce the sound in the middle of the mouth by shaping your tongue in a particular way.

    So I chose the words ‘shoes’ and ‘ruse’ as their rules are quite different. Contrasting two sounds the student does not know has been shown to lead to greater change in the child’s articulation. And I can certainly vouch for this as my student is making the best progress with this approach.

    Phonology Therapy – what is it, why and how?

    Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. It’s distinct from articulation therapy which focuses on the physical production of sounds.

    Phonology therapy focuses on rules. For example, sounds that are produced at the front of the mouth, in contrast to sounds that are produced at the back of the mouth, or sounds that are produced with a long air stream: /s/ or /f/ versus short sounds like /p/ or /t/; sounds are produced with voice or without voice.

    Many children, and sometimes adults, are unaware of some of the speech rules and confuse and replace individual sounds. They might say TAT instead of CAT or SIP instead of SHIP.

    A quick overview of phonology approaches I use:

    Minimal Pairs:

    This approach is good for single sound substitutions. We offer word pairs that differ by only one sound, like ‘ship’ and ‘sip.’ One of our first goal in therapy is to highlight the difference between the target sound (e.g., /sh/) and the sound the child uses (e.g., /s/). This helps discriminate and eventually produce the correct sound.

    Multiple Oppositions:

    A child might replace lots of sounds with a single sound like a /d/. So instead of ‘four’, ‘chore’ and ‘store’ our child says ‘door’, making speech very unintelligible.

    The approach is typically geared towards shaking up the phonological system. Our goal is to choose two to four targets that are different from each other, and different from the substituted sound. If our child’s favourite sound is /d/ they can use their voice and make a short sound by stopping their airflow. So I will choose a different target sound to change up the speech system. For example I might choose an /f/, a /m/ and a /k/ sound. So I would contrast: ‘door’ with ‘four’, ‘more’ and ‘core’.

    Maximal Oppositions:

    In the Maximal Oppositions approach the treatment sets consists of words that are minimally contrasted and that have maximal or near maximal feature differences between each word pair. One word in a pair represents a sound the child ‘knows’ (can say at word level) and the other represents a sound the child does not know (cannot say).

    For example, a child may ‘know’ /m/ and be able to say words like ‘man’, ‘mat’ and ‘mine’. However, the same child may be unable to say /f/ as in ‘fan’, ‘fat’ and ‘fine’. The consonants /f/ and /m/ are maximally opposed as follows.

    I am always delighted to work on speech sound disorders, I love the challenge and the successes we can celebrate together. Get in touch with me!

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    1