TalkTools

Is Your Child Struggling to Transition to Solids?

Starting solids is exciting; however, gagging can make meals feel tense. Fortunately, occasional gagging is a normal part of learning new textures, and most babies improve as skills mature. According to the CDC, many babies can begin solids around 6 months, and gradual texture changes help them succeed—especially when portions are small and developmentally appropriate (When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods, 2025). The Problem: Big Textures, Brand-New Skills At first, thicker purées, mashables,

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Sensory-Friendly Holiday Tips: Food, Events & Sleep Routines That Stick

Holiday tips help me every year, because the holiday time can hit us out of the blue. One minute it is summertime, and the next we are seeing Christmas trees. I see it every year. I know I feel a wash of anxiety as I think of the holidays, mostly from all the things that need to be done. One thing our family considers, that many others do not, is how the holidays will affect

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Oral Habits: Why They Exist and How to Eliminate Them

From thumb sucking to jaw clenching, oral habits and how to eliminate them is one of the most common challenges faced by parents, therapists, and caregivers. These behaviors may seem harmless or even soothing at first—but when they persist beyond the appropriate developmental stage, they can interfere with speech clarity, feeding efficiency, and jaw stability. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) often observe that these habits serve a deeper purpose: they meet the body’s need for sensory input

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Helping Kids Cope When Missing Loved Ones at the Holiday Table

I used to think the holidays were a time to focus on the now—have fun however that looks, make our memories, and keep going even when we’re missing loved ones. That’s still true, and planning ahead can help. If it’s useful, here’s a short, gentle read on preparing your child for the upcoming holidays. Why the Empty Chair Matters Sometimes the table is different this year—one less chair, one voice we don’t hear. Our kids

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TalkTools Success Stories: Customer Spotlights & Real-World Results

Meet three voices behind real TalkTools success stories—a clinician (and mom) who advanced to Level 4 OPT, a parent whose child found his voice with the Horn Kit, and a public SLP specialist. Spotlight 1: Anne Salah Aziz — Therapist/Specialist (and Mom) TalkTools Journey Using TalkTools since: 2017 (began with Level 1 OPT in Egypt) Training milestone: Level 4 OPT (Florida, with Ms. Renee Hill) Roles: Pediatric therapist/specialist and parent to a child with epilepsy

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Bite Tubes 101: How TalkTools Bite Tube Supports Jaw Stability, Safer Chewing, and Speech Clarity

If you’re working with clients who chew on their tongue or clothing, show open-mouth posture, or fatigue during chewing, TalkTools® Bite Tubes can be a game-changer. These therapist-designed tools provide targeted temporomandibular joint (TMJ) input and graded jaw work to support safer chewing and clearer speech patterns. In “Ask a Therapist,” TalkTools clinicians explain that rhythmic jaw movement can help clients self-organize and that bite tubes deliver the specific stimulus many clients are seeking—while also

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Variability of Tongue-Tip Placement: Acoustically Standard Production of /s/ Cross-Culturally

Rosenfeld-Johnson, S. (2012, November). Poster session presented at the Annual ASHA Convention. Atlanta, GA.

REFERENCES

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Bauman-Waengler, J. (2008) Articulatory and Phonological Impairments. Pearson

Fletcher, S.G. 1992. Articulation: A Physiological Approach. San Diego, CA: Singular.

Hawk, S., and Young, E. H. 1938. Moto-Kinesthetic Speech Training. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Kuster J. (2007) Net Connections for Communication Disorders

Liberman, S. M. 1957. Some results of research on speech perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 29, 117-123.

Perkell, J. S.; Matthies, M.; Lane, H.; Guenther, F. H.; Wilhelms-Tricarico, R.; Wozniak, J.; et al. 1997. Speech motor control: Acoustic goals, saturation effects, auditory feedback and internal models. Speech Communication, 22(2-3), 227-250.

Roth, Froma P., and Colleen K. Worthington. 1997. Treatment Resource Manual for Speech-Language Pathology. Singular Publishing Group, Inc. Dept. Hearing and Speech Sciences. University of Maryland. 114.

Rosenfeld-Johnson, S. 2009. Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity. Charleston, SC: TalkTools.

Rosenfeld-Johnson, S. 2010. Oral Placement Therapy (OPT) for /s/ and /z/. Charleston, SC: TalkTools.

Secord, W., Boyce, Donohur, J.,Fox, R. Shine, (2007) Eliciting Sounds: Techniques and Strategies for Clinicians. Cengage Learning.

Savrson, R. H. 1961. Motor Phonetics. Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland.

Westermann, G., and Miranda, E. R. 2004. A new model of sensorimotor coupling in the development of speech. Brain and Language, 89, 393-400.

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