Working on the /r/ sound
Working on the /r/ sound can feel scary — but it doesn’t have to be! 💪
I’ve found with the right visual and tactile cues, and age appt explanation of the physical movements of the tongue, we can get some good results relatively quickly! 👅
I’m thing else I’ve also learned is that if a child is not able to retract and tighten their tongue, there is typically an Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder at play — or a restrictive tongue tie.
This child did an amazing job at obtaining /r/ once he:
1. Learned to retract and tighten his tongue
2. Obtained lingual-mandibular dissociation, or, the ability to move his tongue independently of his lower jaw
3. Learned to tighten and lift the back lateral margins of the tongue up to tough the inside of the back molars
Thete is good reason it can be so difficult for some to obtain that crisp, “Americanized” /r/.
Good thing, there are speech paths out there that are equipped to teach it!
