S-Blend Therapy - Is It Right for Your Child?

If your child has difficulty with s-blends, speech therapy may be a beneficial treatment option. Below, we discuss some tips to help you determine if s-blend therapy might be the solution for your child.

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This guide provides an overview of S-blend speech therapy and how it can help your child's language development.

If your child has issues pronouncing certain “s” words, they may have difficulty mastering “consonant clusters.” S-words with consonant clusters combine s with other consonants such as k, l, n, p, t, m, w. Mispronunciation of these words can make it difficult for people to understand the child and impede their communication ability.

As a result, children can fall behind both academically and socially. Unfortunately, many schools are not fully equipped to manage issues with speech adequately. However, many children see significant improvements through S-blend therapy. Here we discuss S-blend therapy or S-word speech therapy to help you decide if it suits your child.

What Is an S-Blend?

S-blends refer to words combining two consonants with an s, such as scope, or three consonants, such as scrape. Some children have difficulty coordinating the sounds to articulate the words correctly. Common examples of consonant clusters mispronounced would be saying “poon” for spoon or “cool” for school. Children are expected to articulate s-blends by the time they begin school. The longer they mispronounce s-words, the more difficult it becomes for them to develop proper articulation skills.

How to Help Children Articulate S-Blends

S-blend therapy works by practicing sounds, syllables, and phrases until your child can complete sentences. To improve their progress, therapy continues at home. You can help your child succeed with these tips:

• Match s-word images to s-word sounds: Show your child s-word images you find online such as snakes, snow, sports, stars, stairs, scarves, swings, etc. Have them focus on first making the “s” sound. Then have them make the second sound, such as “no” for snow or “tar” for star. Then show them how you pronounce both together to form the word. Have them try to say the word with you several times to get a feel for it.
  
• Emphasize s-blends: When you speak, emphasize s-blends so they can hear the proper sounds in everyday conversation.
  
• “Show” them the words: As you pronounce s-blends, point to your mouth to show your child what it looks like as you speak, so they become familiar with proper positioning.
  
• Acknowledge proper pronunciation: Pay attention to your child when they speak and praise them when they say s-blend words correctly. Avoid constant correction, as this can make them feel self-conscious.

While it takes time and patience for your child to become used to new speech patterns, S-blend therapy and ongoing practice at home will help them perfect their articulation skills.

Does your child struggle with pronouncing s-blend words? Learn more about s-blend and other articulation treatment options with Nobles Speech Therapy.