Speech sound disorders
Speech sound disorders vary in nature and severity. Speech sound disorders include
articulation problems (eg difficulty producing speech sounds) and phonological problems
(eg not being able to distinguish between sounds and therefore produce them). Some speech
problems will respond to explicit teaching in the classroom, while others require specific
intervention from a speech pathologist/therapist.
Indicators that a student will benefit from explicit teaching in how to produce target sounds
(sounds with which they experience difficulties) in the classroom include:
• being able to correctly imitate the sound after the teacher says the sound
• being able to hear the difference between the error sound and the correct pronunciation
of the sound (auditory discrimination).
To support students with the articulation of target sounds, the teacher:
• clearly articulates spoken speech and separates syllables within words
• slows down their rate of speech
• stretches out vowel sounds slightly when saying words
• uses stress and intonation within words to highlight difficult to pronounce consonant
blends (pr, str, shr)
• models the correct pronunciation of the target speech sound in isolation
• demonstrates and describes how to produce the target sound by using appropriate
auditory, visual, and/or touch cues
• provides opportunities for the student to practise saying the target sound in syllables
and CVC words, using adapted games with the target sound(s), for example:
– bingo
– memory
– snakes and ladders
– snap
– fish
• provides opportunities for the student to practise saying the target sound at the beginning
(eg foot), in the middle (eg elephant) and/or at end of words (eg knife)
• provides opportunities for the student to practise saying the target sounds in simple
phrases (eg the fat man, a funny bus), gradually increasing the difficulty of phrases
and later progressing to sentences.
Students who speak with limited clarity may require adjustments to assist them to participate
effectively in speaking and listening experiences, have their communication understood by
others and as a backup if a misunderstanding occurs, for example:
• the teacher cues the rest of the class about the topic a student is talking about,
eg during ‘News’ the teacher says ‘John is going to tell us about his visit to the
museum on the weekend’
• the student uses a topic or alphabet board/cards, conversation books (Beukelman &
Mirenda 2005) or other forms of communication (eg speech generating device/
communication board).
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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Speaking and listening
IMPLEMENTATION
