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 Dean’s Message Feature Stories Meet a Professor From the Departments HHS News and Events |
Newsletter for Friends of HHS Vol. 6, 2008  Lip Poppers, Tongue Scrapers, and All that JazzOn a beautiful July morning, Jen McCullum and Garrett, who enters fourth grade in the fall, work on reading and spelling skills. Their conversation has a light-hearted, call and response pattern that’s accompanied by Garrett moving puzzle-like pieces to make combination after combination of sounds using letters or pictures of faces enunciating sounds.“If this says ‘crisp’ make it say ‘cromp,’” says McCullum. “We changed it from a ‘lip popper’ to a ...” “Nose sound,” says Garrett. “Exactly,” says McCullum. They continue the lesson from “sludge” to “sledge,” from “loture” to “future,” playing with vowel and consonant sounds. Each sound is identified by the physical characteristics it produces when enunciated e.g., the letters “p” and “b” are “lip poppers” and the letters “m,” “n,” and “ng” are “nose sounds.” After they’ve worked for awhile, McCullum observes to Garrett, “You’re doing a good job of reading and spelling multisyllabic words.” The pace of the lesson is even and relaxed. These and other techniques teach skills that add up to increased reading comprehension. Being able to verbalize, by having an awareness of the learning process, and to self-correct, by checking on the physical enunciation of letters, are fundamental to the LiPS program. When McCullum and Garrett take breaks, they might, for a reward, play soccer outside for a bit, have a snack, or check out some stickers. After working together two hours a day, five days a week, for five weeks, they have become a successful team. Professor Penny Webster, who teaches graduate courses on language and learning, is pleased that the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders can offer training in LiPS to master’s degree students and to the public. “This training will give our students an edge in the job market, and help to make our graduate program distinctive,” says Webster. “We also wanted to provide a service to the community that may not be available in the local schools. Research has suggested that intensive programs are more successful than traditional, once- or twice-per-week programs for the acquisition of certain language/communication skills.” For Kim, a parent whose child was in the program in 2003, the success of the program is clear. “Enrolling Ryan in the program was one of the best decisions I’ve made as a mom,” she says. “At the end of second grade, he knew he was falling behind. When his special ed team suggested the program, I proposed it to Ryan. He was thrilled. By the following fall, he was reading at the third-grade level. The biggest gain was that he left second grade shy, afraid to take a risk. Now he’s much more confident. Reading may continue to be challenging for Ryan, but he’s learned that he can overcome big setbacks; that he can study, learn, and be successful.” As for McCullum and Garrett? McCullum would like to work with older children and have a private practice. Meanwhile, Garrett has discovered that he likes to read and is immersed in Harry Potter and the Secrets of Droon. Next summer the program will be offered for the third time, and Webster hopes to add a program for students with written language disorders. Carrie Sherman, Editorial and Creative Services Article link : Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders
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