Question:
Is there a way to correct a lateral distortion of/s/ if the child has a lot of scarring on the alveolar ridge.
Answer:
The scarring shouldn’t affect the production of /s/. What you want to do is have the child start with a /t/. Close the teeth because closing the teeth actually gets the tongue in the right position for an /s/. You drop the t then use that straw. Tell the child to push the air through the straw. Now, if there are teeth in the way the problem may be an obligatory distortion and in that case you really can't correct the speech. You have to move the teeth and of course we cannot do that in speech therapy.
Dr. Ann Kummer is Senior Director of the Division of Speech Pathology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. She is the author of numerous professional articles, 15 book chapters, an inventor of the Oral-Nasal Listener, and author of the SNAP nasometry test (KayPentax).
Cleft Palate and Oropharyngeal Anomalies: Effects on Speech and Specific Treatment Protocols
