NEWSLETTER #6: THERAPY RESPONSE RATE

The SATPAC Speech newsletter continues with helpful tips for remediation of articulation/phonology disorders.  If you missed previous newsletters, they are on my website:  https://satpac.com/newsletter.

This issue of the newsletter will focus on an important element of my approach which involves therapy response rate.  That is, the student makes lots and lots of correct productions.  When I first started experimenting with SATPAC over 20 years ago and using a prototype computer program, I was struck by two things.  First, my students were producing a lot more target sounds per session than I was used to and (I’m sure not coincidently), they progressed at a much faster rate.

I started doing some calculations about making correct productions and figured out that in a typical speech session (once or twice a week in a group of 2-4), it would not be unusual to produce the target sound correctly less than 50 times.   I’ve actually observed sessions where 5 productions of the target sound were produced while doing a fishing game.

Anyway, in a typical week using their target sound incorrectly outside of therapy means that the students are in the upper 90% making incorrect target sounds.  Anything we can do to make transfer to conversation happen more quickly and more efficiently will have a profound effect upon how fast remediation occurs.  Using a very efficient systematic type of therapy like SATPAC leads to the student more quickly moving into generalization/transfer and thus quicker remediation.

When I was an undergraduate, I had a professor who said that in a good articulation session, we should get 500 correct productions!  I told her that was impossible.  (I later found out that she did one-on-one private therapy for an hour).  However the point stuck with me and I’ve found that I’m able to get 400 correct responses in a 25 minute session using a contrastive stress technique using sentences from the SATPAC Generalization/Transfer Phase.  For the /s/ sound, I modelGrace has a soft whisperand the student repeats Grace has a soft whisper. I then ask, Bill has a soft whisper?and the student responds, No, Grace has a soft whisper. So in less than 10 seconds, the student has made 8 correct /s/ productions.

Lots of correct productions lead to quicker remediation!

Stephen Sacks

SATPAC Speech

To see details about /r/ and /s/ remediation and more information about my approach, I offer free ASHA CEUs on my website www.satpac.com or you are welcome to just watch the presentation.

Workshops-I have 4 workshops scheduled in California in September and October.  For more details see  https://satpac.com/workshops.  If you would like me to come and speak to your organization or school district, contact me at  steve@satpac.comsteve@satpac.com .

Back to School Special! Mention this special in a purchase order when ordering SATPAC for a 33% discount or $100 (normally $150).  To get this price when ordering (not using a purchase order), write to me  steve@satpac.comsteve@satpac.com.