Case Study: Speech Sound Disorder – Sound Omission and Simplification
In the interest of safeguarding, the child has been referred to as ‘Luke’ throughout the case study.
Our therapist, Maya, has been working with Luke for 4 weeks since he presented with a speech sound disorder. Luke is currently in KS1, allowing us to help bridge the gap between him and his peers with early intervention. We have been working within Luke’s educational setting since September 2022.
Background
Luke has been attending therapy following a diagnosis of Speech Sound Disorder. His speech sound disorder presented in a combination of errors, including the omission of sounds in the middle of words (E.g. ‘bucket’ would become ‘bu_et’). Similarly, Luke had also been deleting the final consonant sounds of words. (e.g. ‘dog’ to ‘do_’) and simplified ‘ch’ sounds (e.g. ‘chips’ would become ‘ships’).
As a result, Luke has been struggling to communicate with others and has difficulties making himself understood clearly. This has had a direct impact on his academic success, as, without adequate means to communicate, he is unable to fully engage within the classroom.
How did Chatterbug help?
To begin the therapy, Maya used a range of phonological awareness activities. This included syllable clapping, which supported Luke’s understanding of word structures. In addition, they went through 2-syllable words trying each syllable separately before building them together.
To help engage Luke with the intervention, we used games before introducing the therapy to him. This included hiding the words around the room for him to find and then clapping out the sounds of the words!
Maya has also worked with Luke’s teacher, SENCO and parents to ensure that the intervention is consistent and supported within all environments to have the best chance of success.
Moving forward, Maya and Luke will work together on auditory discrimination tasks which will support his understanding of syllables as units of a word. This might be clapping, stomping, tapping or clicking sounds of words! Any way that engages the child in understanding the different sounds to help support speech sound disorders.
Luke’s progress to date
In the sessions that have already taken place, we have seen a significant improvement in Luke’s phonological awareness, meaning he is better able to communicate his message clearly. This has meant he can engage much better in the classroom setting.
What has our client said about their therapy?
Luke’s parents have been delighted with his progress to date, even calling to thank Maya for her time and effort!
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