Wednesday, May 25, 2011

5 Minute Kids

Continuing Artic week here at SpeechTechie, 5 Minute Kids by Susan Sexton is a very useful manual and resource outlining an approach that worked well for me (and my graduate student interns) in my last year at my previous elementary school. 5 Minute Kids does not relate to technology, really, but is rather an innovative "outside the box" approach to providing articulation therapy in the school setting.  The manual basically outlines a scheduling and intervention approach wherein kids are seen for short, intensive sessions individually for several minutes a few times a week, rather than the traditional group approach that can tend to dilute the impact of therapy.  The book also provides helpful forms for implementing the approach, as well as speech stimulus lists. We need not get into all of the issues around district policies regarding articulation and how these interventions are formalized or not formalized in your setting...most school-based therapists are dealing with different variations on this theme. Suffice it to say that if you would like to think about and perhaps change your service delivery for students with mild articulation issues (or even implement a more formalized "informal" program for those you typically are not really seeing), this book is a good resource for you.

3 comments:

  1. I want to add this is a great program and can free up time in your schedule for your more involved cases.
    Dean

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  2. I love this therapy model and can attest that it is the most effective articulation method I have ever used! I have been using the Speedy Speech program which is very convenient and neatly packaged into an all-in-one program, but you can achieve the same model using your own tools. If you go on the Speedy Speech website (www.speedyspeechtherapy.com) they have a video that shows you how to do it. If you don't want to buy their program you can put together your own materials and just do the short drill based therapy approach. I heard Speedy Speech is working on an app, so when that comes out it will be even better!
    Good Luck
    Lori

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  3. Thank you for the tip! I will have to watch those vids!!

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