In this episode of the Speech and Language Kids Podcast, speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark discusses how to do speech therapy with a child who has hypernasality (or too much resonance in the nasal cavity) when they speak.
Notes:
***First, determine if there is a functional cause:
- Refer to an ENT or cleft palate team
- Your school/state may require an assessment before you begin therapy
- Speech therapy when there is velopharyngeal insufficiency not only doesn’t work but can damage self-concept and self-worth
Techniques for therapy:
- Stimulability probe: Try to get the child to imitate oral resonance
- Altering Tongue Position: Try for a lower, posterior tongue placement
- Open Mouth: Have the child speak with his mouth more open
- Change Volume: Try different volumes to see which has less nasality
- Change Pitch: Try different pitches to see which has less nasality
- Auditory Feedback: Teach the child to hear the difference between nasal and oral resonance in himself and others
- Feedback: Tell the child if productions are oral or nasal so he can learn to feel the difference
- Focus on the Facial Mask Area: Have the child draw his focus and attention to the eyes/nose area of his face
- Bio-feedback: Give the child immediate feedback on if air is coming out of the nose like placing a mirror right below nose or using a See Scape
****Voice therapy for resonance should not be continued for very long without success
- Bad for motivation and self-confidence
- Could still be a structural problem
- May need to try again when the child is older
Source:
The Voice and Voice Therapy, Seventh Edition: By Boone, McFarlane, and Von Berg
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Great podcast on hypernasality! It helps a lot knowing you did the research and made a podcast based off of it. It saved me hours of work! I really appreciate your podcast. Thanks!
Thanks, Elaine! We are super happy our podcast was of help to you!
Thank you for this podcast! My cleft team thinks my 4 1/2 year old son has hypernasality. I tried to access this URL for your materials as you suggested and it is not working…www.speechandlanguagekids.com/rtickit
Thank you!
Hi, Vega-Here is a link to a See-Scape device to order: https://www.proedinc.com/Products/2166/seescape-kit.aspx.
Thanks! Listened to the podcast today and I found it very useful! Going to implement some of these and see how we go.
That’s great, Nina! Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you! This was a great resource! It was so nice to have all the strategies listed in one place. I took lots of notes! I also enjoyed listening. Great job!
You are more than welcome, Karley! Please be in touch if you have any questions.