Speech Therapy for Children (Aged 5 - 7 and 8 - 18)

The course was devised on the basis of using drama exercises (as a template) because I dealt with a lot of students who don’t understand what is expected of them when correcting their voice.

When using drama exercises helps them to understand (in laymen’s terms) all elements which constitute correct speech. The exercises in the course focus on combining an arrangement of concepts, which will help them, achieve great results.

Some Common Speech Disorders:

• Stuttering - interferes with fluent speech,

• Cluttering - makes speech difficult to understand,

• Articulation Disorders - lisping, cleft palate,

• Dysarthria - Paralysis, weakness or generally poor coordination of the muscles of the mouth,

• Speech Sound Disorder - Omissions, Substitutions, Distortions,

• Phonation Disorder - hoarse, raspy, or pitch changes,

• Resonance Disorders - Hypernasality and Hyponasality.

• What should be the main goal of any pronunciation class or course?

• What are the kinds of exercises that will help you improve your pronunciation?

First, the main goal of any Elocution/pronunciation course should be to focus on accent reduction, not accent elimination, which is technically impossible. Students should work on reducing areas of their pronunciation and enunciation that make it difficult for native speakers to understand them.

Second, with this goal in mind, students need to be able to identify which areas of pronunciation and enunciation give them the most inaudibility; such as vowel and consonant sounds, word and sentence stress, word reductions, linking, and intonation.

Finally, you need to practice these structured exercises for extemporaneous speech in different situations, because practice makes perfect. Improving your pronunciation will take a lot of patience and commitment, but the end product - your unique, well-developed voice - is worth it!