All SLPs have “necessities” they feel can make a work day seem great, prior to therapy even beginning!
Caffeine-filled mug of warm goodness – ✅
Planner with daily therapy schedule attached – ✅
An array of beautifully colored pens to add a little flare to my data sheets – ✅
Messy bun and witty, speech-related graphic T-shirt – ✅
But what about a few fail-proof items that can help articulation therapy to go seamlessly? Here is a list of my top 5 must-haves for articulation therapy when working with speech-sound kiddos:
1. Standing Mirrors
Children often need to increase their oral awareness of articulators when working on speech sounds. The standing mirror is helpful in eliminating the need for someone to hold on to it while trying to instruct or focus. This set of 24 compact mirrors would allow each student to have a mirror. Children can work on their targeted speech sounds while you may be working with another student directly. This will not only promote self-monitoring but also increase the number of repetitions during a session!
2. Whisper Phones
Whisper Phones: While whisper phones can be used for a wide variety of purposes. They are especially useful for providing children auditory feedback when saying their sounds. Children will be excited and motivated to use the whisper phones when able to pick their preferred color from the fun-colored pack of 4!
3. Visual Cue Cards
These FREE visual cue cards help teach and remind students of how a specific sound is made. This set would be the perfect addition to any speech room decor or can be placed on a binder ring for easy transporting to any location! The visuals can be printed with or without a description of the placement for each sound.
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4. Word Lists
There is something so wonderful about having a ready-made list of words at your fingertips to take the thinking out of a therapy session! The speech sound alphabet set offers two different options-both including word lists for initial, medial, and final sounds. Each sound is complete with a name and description of how the sound is made!
I love to display the lists on my white board with a binder ring and magnetic hooks!
5. Clickers
These are a game changer for me this year! This set of 6 mechanical palm click counters will be a go-to resource for both you and students alike! Children will be able to take charge and keep up with the number of correct productions during a session. You can guide them in determining correct versus incorrect production and then slowly increase their goals for accuracy as sessions continue!
BONUS TIP: Even the most well-seasoned SLP can experience cases where it may seem a lot of trial and error takes place while instructing a child on how to produce sounds. It is always important to bring along patience, words of encouragement, and a smile too!
There are plenty of items we could pack in our “Mary Poppins” bag of therapy materials. I hope this list of must-haves for articulation therapy will take some of the stress out of planning and allow you to spend more time focusing on students!
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