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As mentioned in the previous post, “th” requires whole-tongue tension. Internal tension provides internal stabilization. We’re not talking super-tight tension, but enough contraction to move the tongue anteriorly-posteriorly with control, then posture, and interact spatially with the top incisors as air flows through.
Also, last week’s tasks focused on building the capability to control and discern tight from loose, i.e., big swing, super-tight to super loose. The tension needed for a controlled “th” is somewhere in between.
Before you advance to the following tasks, ensure your client has practiced moving the relaxed tongue “out and in” (using back-tongue muscles) and is able to successfully “tighten-loosen” the tongue.
The next critical step is for the tongue to sustain tension and move simultaneously. This is a big hurdle for some clients. We’ll parse this piece to reduce the size of the hurdle.
Tongue Tighten + Anterior-Posterior Movement: This task combines the two elements, lingual tension and lingual movement on the horizontal plane. Please note that incisor interaction plus continuous airflow (and then phonation, of course) are separate layers.
§ Open the mouth, keep the tongue in, and contract the tongue (medium-tight) and hold.
§ Now, using the back-tongue muscles and keeping it relatively tight, retract the tongue to the back and then forward again. Move it parallel with the floor. Do not let the tongue-tip curl back, or the jaw assists by retracting back. The tongue must learn to tighten and move independently. (This is referred to as differentiation.)
Consider “The Slide”: Use the cutting surfaces of the top back teeth as a lingual guide. As the tongue moves forward and back, lightly slide the bilateral surface of the tongue on the cutting surfaces of the top back teeth. This obviously is different from lateral bracing where the tongue anchors to the insides of the top back teeth to provide support for the moving part (front-tongue or back-tongue). In this case, the surface-to-surface lingual-dental contact is merely a guide as it moves. The bi-lateral contact also blocks and directs centralized airflow.
§ A good start is practicing 3 repetitions within 3 sets. But do as many as they are capable of doing without fatigue or losing accuracy. Practicing incorrectly is the pits. This one requires a lot of focus and practice; do not expect perfection, especially at first. Keep trying, but If they can’t maintain lingual tension while simultaneously moving, consider reverting to last week’s tasks.
Once your client is able to produce the above task accurately and fairly effortlessly, the next logical step is to aim for the incisor’s cutting edges while adding continuous, centralized airflow. Take it incrementally as you add the placement-airflow-phonation layers. Practice (drill and instill) over time (days to weeks) to develop each capability.
A note about tongue protrusion: I would suggest limiting the anterior-posterior amount of excursion; resist protruding the tongue beyond the front teeth. Keep the excursion either to the back of the central incisors or the edges of the central incisors. A smaller lingual forward excursion will more easily “fit” into co-articulated speech.
In addition, adding continuous airflow to the mix to produce an UV “th” can evoke an /f/ in some clients. Meaning, we have to deal with the lower lip and break the lip-elevation habit. Ugh.
Use a tongue depressor to hold the lower lip down while the tongue contracts and moves forward and back (as in the above task). Continue to hold down the lower lip as they add airflow. Repeat a gazillion times. Another suggestion is to alter their mindset: rename the “th.” Don’t call it the “th” sound, but perhaps the “air” sound or the “chocolate” sound (something they like, for example). Call the new sound anything but “th”!
I hope this information is helpful! In our final post, we’ll wrap up “th” with additional therapy methods. Then, we’ll have to come up with another topic. Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking of discussing therapy tools and their uses, but I’m open to suggestions! I always love to hear from you!
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