In preparation for the upcoming "Virtual 6-Week Speech Development Class - Supporting Children with Down Syndrome" I wanted to offer some tool options for purchase. These tools are not mandatory. If you have something similar at home, please feel free to use that instead.
See the Practicum on Amazon
Therapy Mirror
I always recommend a therapy mirror that can be set in front of your child on a high chair tray (8.5” x 11”). This way the child can watch themselves eat and speak. This is big enough for the child to see their upper body when seated. Sitting on the bathroom counter works too!
Red and Yellow Chewy Tubes
These are a standard tool to help improve jaw strength and grading for chewing and speech. These can help: open mouth posture, forward tongue placement, as well increasing jaw movement for speech production in new talkers.
Purchase 2 of each color
Tongue Depressors or Popsicle sticks
These are great for stimulating the /m, p, b, k, g/ sounds. These are also great for established closed mouth resting posture.
Water Bottles
Tongue retraction will be a large topic during our course. Therefore we need to move away from silicone soft straws and wide hard spouts / baby bottles. This Contigo cup is great, as well as the Take and Toss cups too! If your child can’t drink from a straw yet, order the Honeybear Straw Cup.
Contigo Cup
Take and Toss Cup
Honeybear Straw Cup
Talktools Items
Jaw Grading Bite Blocks
This tool is used to establish symmetrical jaw strength and grading for children over 3. These are also used for teaching a variety of vowel placements for children at any age.
Apraxia Tubes
These teach the /oo, oh, ah/ sounds. Great for children whose jaw slides when they speak causing flat-lip productions.
Apraxia Shapes
These teach and help generalize the /p, b, m/ sounds. Great for new talkers and seasoned talkers who are solidifying these sounds.
Jaw Closure Tubes
These are a set of tubes that can be placed in the mouth to help children produce a variety of vowel sounds.
Tongue Tip Lateralization and Elevation Tool
This is for children whose tongue tips do not lift for /t, d, n, l/.
