I’m a practicing speech-language pathologist, currently working for Chatham County Schools in Savannah, Georgia. Several years back, I got really frustrated with my caseload, because it was mostly /r/ related and the kids weren’t making any progress. Long story short, I figured out the solution: Evaluate and treat vocalic /r/ using phonetically consistent probes. From that solution, I developed The Entire World of R. Over the years, I’ve done a lot with /r/, including meeting many SLPs, teachers and parents that have many questions. My goal is to use this weblog as a means of facilitating better communication with any questions and comments people have about treating /r/. Please share your frustrations and solutions. –Christine Ristuccia. MS, CCC-SLP, ASHA
I couldn’t find a way to email you privately so I’ll just post a brief message here. I have a dd who will be six in April. She was a late talker (about 3 when she really started putting phrases together) and she struggled with many of her sounds. She has now mastered most of the sounds except for “r”. She sticks her tongue out and makes more of an “L” sound. I’ve tried modeling the correct pronunciation, we practice throughout the day saying words with “r” in them but nothing seems to help. Should I be overly concerned at this point? I’m really at a loss on how to help her. Thank you very much for your time.
Hi Rachael-
I recommend administering The Entire World of R Advanced Screening to obtain a baseline of correct and incorrect productions.
Thanks, Christine