Leona Said:

How can you say the letter R better with out speech therapy?

We Answered:

I consulted with my speech pathologist (speech therapist) wife on this question, and here's the key:

Practice saying "errrrr." When you do this make sure that the middle of your tongue touches your upper premolars on each side of your tongue. So the sides of the middle part of your tongue will touch the teeth just in front of your molars. At that time your tongue position should be such that the tip of your tongue can just touch the back of your lower front teeth. In this position, the back of your tongue will be RAISED. Most people who have trouble with R's do not raise the back of their tongue.

Find that position, and keep practicing the errrrr sound. Then say some R-words, such as "rabbit" using that position.

That method is what a speech therapist would have you do. It will take a lot of daily practice. Just remember that old speech habits take time and effort to change, so you will need to persist.

That should work!

Kay Said:

my son is 2 and doesnt talk. we r trying speech therapy but my cousin was the same way til he had his tonsils?

We Answered:

Tonsils don't affect speech. They're at the top of the throat and the vocal cords are near the bottom. If it hurt him to talk it was because there was some sort of massive painful infection. Your son doesn't talk most likely because he doesn't feel the need to or has an impairment. Continue with the speech therapy.

Ivan Said:

What speech therapy offices in MA are good for correcting my pronunciation of the letter R?

We Answered:

See the link below. Good luck!

Tracy Said:

How do you do speech therapy for a pre-vocalic "r" ?

We Answered:

Try and get the client to "growl" like a tiger. Often I have found that my kiddo's can figure out how to growl like a an animal and then I shape it into the /r/.

Also I model their production and contrast it with the correct production. If they say /wat/ and it's actually /rat/ I point out the difference just to make sure they hear the difference. I might make up some more like that and ask them to pick which one is right.

Something that also worked with my older /r/ kids is to actually use my hand demonstrate the shape of the tongue. I would tell them to feel the hump (or mid-posterior) portion of their tongue curl up against the roof of their mouth. I tell them push hard and feel their tongue up against the roof of the mouth. If they dont feel it then they're not pushing hard enough.

Some kids can learn to produce an /r/ by putting their tongue tip backwords towards that back of their palate. It's called a retroflex /r/ I think!

A sample word list for /ar/ initial might be "art," "Argentina," "army," "arcade," "armadillo," "arm," "Arkansas," "artifact," "arch" and "architect." Stick to only /ar/ initial words. Those work well for me. Especially "argentine" it allows them to really get a tactile feel for where their tongue needs to be before attacking more difficult words.

Last but not least, one of my favorite website as an SLP is one called "speakingofspeech.com" It has pages and pages of materials exchange that I have taken full advantage of.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Jacqueline Said:

Can the inability to pronounce R correctly (rhotacism )be cured through speech therapy?

We Answered:

If you apply yourself, it should take less than 2 months. (8 sessions).