Voice and Resonance Therapy Guides

Step-by-Step plans for a variety of voice/resonance skills – Plus, wording for your goals!

What is Task Analysis?

Task analysis is the process of breaking a larger skill down into smaller, sequential steps.  With each step that the child masters, he grows closer to being able to perform the full skill independently.  Tasks analysis is an evidence-based instructional method which has been found especially effective for children who do not respond to regular instruction, which makes it perfect for the children on our case loads.

While the process of task analysis has been studied and backed by research, there aren’t always agreed-upon ways to break down a skill.  Every SLP may have a slightly different method of breaking down skills into step-by-step plans.  What’s important is that the steps are achievable and sequential so that the child sees incremental success on the way to learning a new skill.

The following therapy guides represent our task analysis for each skill.  You’ll also find sample text for your goals.

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Our Step-By-Step Guides:

How to Use:
Click the skill that you’d like to expand.  You’ll find our task analysis of the steps you can follow in therapy to teach that skill.  You’ll also find sample text to include in your goal writing.  To get detailed therapy activities for each step below, please join our membership program to get access to the full SLP Solution Curriculum.

  1. Learning About Volume: Student will label environmental noises and speech as either loud, quiet, or medium.  Student will also practice using a loud, quiet, and medium volume voice.

  2. Identifying What’s Appropriate: Student will identify the volume of speech that is appropriate in a variety of different situations.

  3. Adjusting Volume in Therapy Environment: Student will use an appropriate vocal volume when given a visual cue to do so during conversational speech in the therapy room.

  4. Adjusting Volume in Other Settings: Student will use an appropriate vocal volume when given a visual cue to do so during conversational speech in a variety of environments.

  5. Adjusting Vocal Volume When Someone Else Gives the Cue: Student will use an appropriate vocal volume when given a visual cue by someone other than the speech-language pathologist during conversational speech.

  6. Adjusting Vocal Volume to Repair Communication Breakdowns: Student will recognize signs that a communication breakdown has occurred and adjust vocal volume to suit.

  1. Refer to ENT: All clients who come to us for voice issues should be referred to an ENT first to check the structures and functions and be cleared for therapy.
  2.  Educate Child, Parents, Teachers: Everyone should understand what vocal abuse is and why it is bad.
  3.  Collect Baseline Data: Have a set of data about the client’s voice quality as well as the frequency of the vocally abusive behaviors.
  4.  Self-Awareness of Abusive Behaviors: Student will identify which abusive behaviors he currently uses and notice when he uses them throughout the day.
  5. Use of Replacement Behaviors in Structured Setting: Student will practice use of an appropriate replacement behavior during structured therapy tasks.
  6. Use of Replacement Behavior in Natural Environment: Student will decrease use of abusive behaviors and increase use of replacement behaviors in the natural environment.
  7.  Learn Good Vocal Hygiene Habits as Needed: The SLP will identify any vocal hygiene habits that are missing and teach those to the client.
  1. Refer to ENT: All clients who come to us for voice issues should be referred to an ENT first to check the structures and functions and be cleared for therapy.
  2.  Attempt Direct Therapy to Facilitate Appropriate Oral Air Flow: The SLP will use a variety of tools to attempt to establish correct, oral air flow. 
  3. Generalize Oral Air Flow to Other Environments: Student will use correct oral airflow in a variety of situations and environments.
  4. Discontinue Therapy if Not Making Progress: If no progress is made after 6 weeks, client should be re-evaluated by ENT.
  1. Attending to Variations in Pitch, Rate, and Volume: Expose the child to variations in pitch, rate, and volume and pair these variations with words to describe them. 
  2. Demonstrating Prosody Variations in Non-Speech: Student will demonstrate variations in pitch, rate, and volume with non- speech (sound effects or noises).
  3. Demonstrating Prosody Variations in Speech: Student will demonstrate variations in pitch, rate, and volume with single words or nonsense syllables.
  4. Using Appropriate Prosody in Single Words: Student will speak single words with correct prosody.
  5. Using Appropriate Prosody in Short Phrases and Sentences: Student will use appropriate rate and pausing, intonation, and stress in phrases and sentences.
  6. Using Appropriate Prosody in Conversational Speech: Student will use the prosody strategies from
    previous steps in connected speech. 
 
  1. Ensure Proper Medical Care: Make sure child is being treated and followed by a cleft palate team 
  2. Assessment: Identify limitations of the child’s structures (which sounds is the child physically capable of producing?)
  3. Establish Sounds: Correct placement and production for any sounds that the child is physically able to produce (typical articulation therapy) while making sure to teach and establish appropriate intra-oral air flow for these sounds (no air escaping through the nose)
  4. Find Approximations: If the child is not physically able to produce a sound, find the closest approximation for that sound that the child is able to do.  Teach the child this compensatory error and work on correct air flow with that sound.  Get it as close as possible to the original sound so that others will have a better chance of understanding the child.
  5. Anticipate Future Surgeries: If the child is about to get surgery to correct physical limitations, you can teach correct placement for sounds ahead of time to get a head start on therapy once the surgery is completed.
  6. Consider AAC: Use AAC as necessary to aid the child in functional communication with those around him

What Do I Do in Therapy?

If you’re still not sure what to do in therapy, don’t worry!  We have more resources for you!  The SLP Solution Curriculum contains detailed descriptions of what you can do in therapy for each of the steps listed above.  Join today to get all of the therapy ideas, worksheets, and support!

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We all got into this field because we wanted to help.  But high caseloads, tons of paperwork, and not enough planning time leads to burn-out and stress.

The SLP Solution’s mission is to support you with tools, resources, and expert advice so that you can be there for the children who depend on you!

*** The SLP Solution is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide medical or psychological advice.  We provide general resources but cannot tell you exactly what should be done for a specific client.  Every client is different and your clinical judgement should be used when making decisions about specific individuals.

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