I am currently doing therapy for a kid who has an Articulation disorder and also there are some dyspraxic features as well. The exact production of words were very difficult for him. The following were few ways , I am using to approximate his production of words.
He could produce short vowels accurately most of the time, But when it comes to long vowels, each long vowel is produced as eee ( /e:/)
multi syllabic words ( long words ) are more difficult to produce.
Consonant clusters are also difficult to produce.
In this case, I am trying to practice approximated words which can be auditorily perceived similar to the real exact words and can be understood in the context most of the time.
The following shows some of the examples
- More : mo
- bubbles : baba
- More bubbles: mo baba
- Monkey: ma..ki
- cookies: kuki..s
- sleep: seep
- broom: boom
According to my experience, If you have a kid like this approximation is a good approach to incrase their functional communication and also motivation to communicate.
This particular kid is also supported with PECS but his speech is now more intelligible with the use of these practiced words and currently, he can communicate verbally without PECS in some of the situations.