Phonics Cards in Speech Therapy

Phonics Cards in Speech Therapy

Children produce frequently heard sounds as and when they start babbling. This is one of their ways of exploring the building blocks of language. We can comfortably come to a preposition that; language acquisition occurs from infancy. By the age of 2, the child is bursting with vocabulary. They try to bundle up their newly acquired words into something that sounds like sentences. This phase is the most crucial for learning and experimenting with language. Unfortunately, some children are born with a minimal capacity to comprehend and use language. This is where a speech language pathologist comes into play.

Specific characteristics of speech sounds

Children with Down syndrome, Autism, learning disorder, or hearing impairment have a tough time with language reception and expression. Moreover, since speech is the verbal manifestation of language, a speech difficulty could  be discernable. This is also a fun game to play with kids. Firstly, choose two sound flash cards. For example, ‘ch’ and ‘sh’. Secondly, give the child word cards with these sounds. Finally, ask the child to put the word card under their respective sound card. To make it more fun, play this in a group. You can also customize the game depending on the level of the child. For example, you can choose single sounds like ‘a’ and ‘r’. You can also increase the sound cards.

One of the most efficient methods of teaching a child to produce a sound is by amalgamating the concept of phonics. It is a method of teaching that demonstrates the relationship between sounds of a language (phonemes) and the group of letters (grapheme) of the written language.

It can be taught in three ways

1. By teaching the child sounds in isolation. For example – (p, b, m, t, d, k, g, f, v, n, r, l)

2. By grouping together consonants with vowels (CVC- hat), by blending consonants with consonants (CCVC- Flat), and by grouping the above two into syllables (Bro-ken: CCV-CVC)

3. By reading books, using toys, playing games that incorporate sounds

Flashcards with visually stimulating colors and objects play a great role in learning phonemes and graphemes that make up the building blocks of language. Speech sound cards or phonics cards include every phoneme in a language.

It Includes the phonetic transcription of the sound, the visual representation of the sound being spoken, visual icons of specific features of a sound (E.g. Place, manner, and voicing), and an example of a word that the sound belongs to. These cards are very useful for teaching specific sounds and teaching the difference between sound substitutions. They are ideal for children with hearing impairment or Apraxia of speech (Difficulty planning and programming muscle movements for speech). The visual support provided by the cards, helps the child understand every sound that belongs to a word and reduces speech errors such as:

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Omissions – Omitting a sound in a word (saying ‘pay’ for

1. ‘play’)

2. Substitutions- replacing a sound with the other ( saying ‘wed’ for ‘red)

3. distortions – Unclear sound production (‘sun’ sounds slushy)

4. additions – addition another sound to a word ( saying ‘dog-uh’ for ‘dog’)

Through this method, the child will not only learn to produce the word clearly but will also be able to point out the unique individual contribution of the target sound in a word and how the target sound interacts with other sounds that make up the word. Moreover, these cards are ideal for children with Apraxia of speech. They find it difficult to plan and coordinate oral movements that are required for continuous speech. A word or a syllable being broken down into its components can help them plan their movements for speech with ease.

Children with speech disorders may have adequate language, but they find It difficult to use the language for verbal communication. Non-verbal communication in the form of Alternate Augmentative Communication (AAC) or Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) must be implemented as the primary mode of communication while simultaneously working on improving speaking skills.

A child should be given the opportunity to express language that they have acquired in alternate ways so that they can communicate their desires and needs in a healthy manner.