Motor Development

Seeing sounds: How visual gestures boost speech sound learning

ByLondon Speech and Feeding June 18, 2025June 18, 2025

Learning to produce new speech sounds can be a complex process for young children, especially those facing challenges with speech sound disorders or motor planning difficulties. It’s not just about knowing what a sound ‘should’ sound like; it’s about figuring out where to put your tongue, how to shape your lips, and how much air to push out. This is where the power of visual gestures comes in – literally helping children see how to make sounds.

As speech and language therapists, we frequently use visual cues and hand gestures to teach articulation. These techniques are incredibly effective, particularly when a child is struggling with the motor planning aspect of speech production.

In the video clip above you see me teaching

the /SH/ sound: the hand makes a C-shape and moves forward showing both how the lips are positioned and the air flowing forward
the /S/ sound: the index finger shows a snake like movement going forward- also showing the air flow again
the /W/ sound: my right hand moves forward and fingers splay out showing that the lips open up at the end of the sound
the /K/ sound: my finger points to the back of my throat where the tongue needs to raise.

An overview of motor planning for speech – what do we mean by that?

Think about learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument. You don’t just know how to do it instantly. You have to plan the movements, practise them, and make adjustments. Speaking is similar! Our brains must:

Plan the sequence of movements needed for each sound and word (e.g., /B/ requires lips together, then release, while /T/ requires the tongue tip behind the top teeth, then release).
Execute those plans rapidly and precisely.

For some children, especially those with conditions like Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) or other severe articulation disorders, this motor planning process is disrupted. They know what they want to say, but their brain struggles to send the correct, consistent messages to their articulators (lips, tongue, jaw, velum). This can make speech sound learning incredibly frustrating.

Why use visual gestures?

Visual gestures provide an additional, powerful sensory input that can help bridge the gap between knowing a sound and producing it. Here’s how and why they are so beneficial:

1. Providing a visual map:

How it helps: Many speech sounds are ‘hidden’ inside the mouth. It’s hard for a child to see where their tongue needs to go for a /K/ sound (back of the tongue to the roof of the mouth) or a /T/ sound (tongue tip behind teeth). A simple hand gesture can visually represent this mouth movement. For example, a hand gesture for /K/ might involve sweeping the hand back towards the throat, while for /T/, it might be a tap on the chin.
Why it works: Children are highly visual learners. Seeing a physical representation of an abstract mouth movement gives them a concrete ‘map’ to follow, making the process less mysterious and more manageable.

2. Enhancing motor planning and memory:

How it helps: When a child simultaneously moves their hand (the visual gesture) and attempts to make the sound, they are engaging multiple sensory systems (visual, tactile, proprioceptive – body awareness). This multi-sensory input strengthens the neural pathways associated with that speech sound.
Why it works: This multi-modal learning helps to solidify the motor plan for the sound in the brain. It’s like having more ‘hooks’ to hang the information on, making the sound easier to recall and produce consistently. The gesture becomes a built-in reminder.

3. Reducing cognitive load:

How it helps: Instead of just hearing the sound and trying to figure out the complex motor sequence, the child has a visual cue to guide them. This reduces the mental effort required to decode the sound production.
Why it works: When cognitive load is lower, the child can focus more effectively on the specific motor execution of the sound, leading to faster progress and less frustration.

4. Increasing engagement and success:

How it helps: Gestures can make therapy more interactive and fun! When a child successfully produces a sound with the help of a gesture, it’s a tangible victory.
Why it works: Success is a powerful motivator. When children experience success, they are more likely to stay engaged, participate actively, and feel more confident in their ability to learn new sounds.

5. Supporting self-correction:

How it helps: Once a child learns the gesture associated with a sound, he or she can use it as a self-monitoring tool. If he or she makes an error, he or she can use the gesture to remind himself or herself of the correct mouth position or movement.
Why it works: This promotes independent learning and reduces reliance on constant adult prompting.

Conclusion

The journey of speech development can be challenging, but visual gestures offer a powerful and effective tool for teaching new sounds, especially when motor planning is a factor. By providing a clear visual map, strengthening motor memory, reducing cognitive load, and fostering engagement, these gestures pave the way for clearer communication and greater confidence. If your child is struggling with speech sounds, consider talking to a Speech and Language Therapist to get guidance on how visual gestures might be incorporated into the therapy plan. Because sometimes, seeing truly is believing (and speaking!).

Sonja McGeachie

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member

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.

Autism Therapy · Speech and Language Therapy

The role of spinning and swinging in speech and language therapy

ByLondon Speech and Feeding August 7, 2024August 5, 2024

Sonja with a child on a swinging with a stuffed monkey

Spinning and swinging are often observed behaviours in autistic children. While these actions might seem repetitive or unusual to some, they serve crucial functions for these children. Understanding the underlying reasons for spinning and swinging can provide valuable insights into how to support autistic children and incorporate these activities into therapeutic settings.

Why do children spin?

Spinning is a common sensory-seeking activity in autistic children. Sensory seeking means that the child actively looks for sensory input to regulate their nervous system. Here’s why spinning can be beneficial:

Vestibular input: Spinning stimulates the vestibular system, which is located in the inner ear and is responsible for balance and spatial orientation. For children with sensory processing difficulties, spinning can provide essential sensory input.
Calming effect: For some children, spinning can be a self-regulating strategy. The rhythmic motion can help to calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety.
Sensory exploration: Spinning allows children to explore their sensory experiences. It can help them understand their bodies and how they move in space.

The allure of swinging

The rhythmic back-and-forth motion of a swing offers several benefits:

Vestibular input: Like spinning, swinging stimulates the vestibular system, helping to improve balance and coordination.
Proprioceptive input: Swinging provides proprioceptive input, which is the sense of where your body is in space. This information is crucial for motor planning and coordination.
Calming and organising: The rhythmic motion of swinging can have a calming effect on the nervous system, helping to regulate emotions and improve focus.
Social interaction: Swinging can be a shared experience, fostering social interaction and communication.
Facilitating communication: While swinging, children are so much more relaxed and open to communication. The rhythmic motion can also help facilitate singing, humming, listening to my singing, non-verbal communication for sure but also more verbal and mouth words can be heard from children on my swing. If nothing else, it is so fun and helps build trust and rapport between my child and me.

Therapeutic Activities Combining Spinning, Swinging, and Speech and Language Therapy

Here are some therapeutic techniques that I use at London Speech and Feeding to combine movement with speech and language development:

Swinging with verbal prompts: While the child is swinging, I provide simple verbal prompts such as ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘fast’, and ‘slow.’ This helps to develop receptive language skills and improve auditory processing.
Sensory-motor play: I like to combine swinging with tactile activities like playing with textured balls or bean bags. This can facilitate language development through descriptive language, words and scripts like: ‘that’s so soft’, ‘oooh tickle tickle tickle!’
Storytelling on the swing: Often I manage to create a story while the child is swinging. This can improve narrative skills, vocabulary, and imagination. Recently I did the ‘Tiger who came to tea’ story and each time the swing stopped the tiger came and ‘ate some more cakes’ and ‘tickled their tummy’ whilst eating. It may make not much sense but my child loved it and we had ‘more tiger eat more’.
Song and rhyme time: Often I sing the ‘rumble in the jungle’ song while swinging my child to enhance phonological awareness, rhythm, and timing.
Visual supports always help: I use LAMP Words for Life AAC support during swinging and show core words such as: ‘go’ / ‘stop’/ ‘more’ / ‘tickle tickle’ etc. #lampwordsforlife #aac
Movement-based activities: We can incorporate activities that require sequencing, such as imitating animal movements or following simple commands while swinging. This can improve motor planning and language comprehension.

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