Tag: SPEECH CLARITY

If people often say “Huh?” to your teen, daily life gets harder. As a result, class talks, hangouts, and even ordering food can feel stressful. Speech intelligibility means how much of your teen’s speech others understand. Fortunately, a study with 60 adolescents found two therapies helped—oral placement therapy (OPT) and expressive therapy. Both groups improved […]

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 […]

Clear speech isn’t learned by listening alone—it’s learned by feeling accurate movements. That’s why many clinicians use speech therapy tools for speech clarity to give kids precise, repeatable tactile cues for tongue, lip, and jaw placement. When children can feel the target, they build motor memory that turns accurate practice into confident speech. (ASHA overview […]

Answer: The difference between bite blocks and bite tubes is that bite blocks target isometric jaw stability at set jaw positions (often 2–7), while bite tubes target dynamic jaw grading (smooth open/close control) used for chewing/mastication and speech co-articulation. Many clinicians assess with both and choose based on signs like open-mouth posture, limited grading, sliding, […]

TalkTools was represented in 3 presentations at this year’s National Down Syndrome Congress. Thank you all for attending! EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVED COMMUNICATION AND SPEECH CLARITY FOR CHILDREN WITH THE DIAGNOSIS OF DOWN SYNDROME Presenter: Jennifer Gray, MS, CCC-SLP Age range: Birth to 8 Course description: This presentation will focus on effective communication strategies for children, birth to […]

Heather A. Vukelich, MS, CCC-SLP, TalkTools Level 4 Therapist specialized in Down Syndrome, has recorded her adult client Emma along her progression in speech clarity, from 18 to 24. Heather sees clients in her private practice Happy Kids Therapy in Danville, CA. Here is what she writes about Emma. “Emma is a very intelligent and social young woman with […]

Belle is doing well and has been enjoying some spring-like weather in February! She has managed to stay healthy this season (minus her chronic runny nose). Belle’s good health has allowed her to go roller skating for the first time, participate in her preschool’s Valentine’s Day party, perform with her dance class on stage for 300+ […]

4 Years 2 Months Belle is doing well despite our crazy busy schedule and lack of consistency with her oral motor exercises.  She is not regressing in any way, but I can’t say that I have seen significant gains in her speech clarity this month.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint, right?  Her congestion has returned in full […]

We love working with Monica at TalkTools! She is full of knowledge and experience. When a speech issue comes up with Belle, and I am viewing it as a really big problem that we are going to be stuck on forever, Monica handles it so gracefully and gives me hope. She has years of experience with oral motor therapy […]

3 Years 10 Months Summer continues in our household! This month, Belle has enjoyed swimming lessons (and lots of pool time), a slip’n slide party, BBQs, fairs, a trip to the lake, and a full week at Walt Disney World! While our hearts may be full, our routine is not. 🙂 However… Belle continues to do […]