There was a moment Monday, before I started my first day of my full-time school internship, where I panicked. Heart fluttering, mind-numbing, terrifying panic. I couldn’t verbalize how to teach the “SH” sound. I couldn’t think of its place or manner of articulation. It was like the knowledge was lost in an ambiguous depth of space and time. *POOF* 4 years of undergrad and a 1.5 years of a Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology, gone. Just. Like. That.
Now that my melodrama is over, it was truly only a momentary freak-out. Followed by a frenzy of technology, clicking, typing, and a slight hand-cramp from the manic episode. It happens to the best of us (that’s what I’m telling myself). So, what did I find you might ask? Allow me to share:
According to Secord in Eliciting Sounds: Techniques and Strategies for Clinicians (2010), the SH sound is a palato-alveolar, voiceless fricative. One must raise the tongue to touch the sides of the upper back teeth while the blade of the tongue is retracted. The creation of a shallow groove at the midline helps create the sound. The most common phonetic features are
- Blade of the tongue nearly touches the front of the palate and back of the alveolar ridge
- The lips are protruded, but not puckered
- Air comes out like a bat out of hell, not really, but it comes out of the groove created by tongue placement
- Close the velum
- No voice…turn your ‘voice box’ off and throw away the key
My next stopping points were SLP blogs which I religiously follow (some might say ‘stalk’). There is a gold mine of information; the nuggets of knowledge remind me to be professionally thankful for the internet. Shall we…
- 2 Gals Talk …about speech therapy Eliciting SH and CH :
- This post is similar to finding a $100 bill in your pocket when you just spent your last dime on rent and Starbucks. Read it.
- FYI, there is an equally helpful post called “Quick Reference to our Eliciting Sounds Posts”
- Erik X. Raj (the X is for eXcellent, btw) – The Best Strategies for Articulation Speech Therapy:
- His post includes 7 videos on the nitty-gritty of speech therapy for the following sounds: S, Z, R, L, SH, CH, and TH.
- NOTE: You must subscribe to his blog in order to view. Trust me, it is worth the follow.
- The Speech Mama – How to teach the SH sound
- She gets straight to the point on the how-to stuff. Plus, there is a link to SH worksheets.
There were other stops along the way back to my SH sanity, however these were the ones I have bookmarked for those kiddos who need my skills. Do you have any to share? I still don’t know every trick for every sound, nor will I until I have more experience. Until then, I have the #slpeeps, #SLPbloggers, and #slp2b who will continue to be around. Thanks ladies and gents.
SLP_Echo 
Wonderful post! I was in my first job trying to help a kid who couldn’t say “r” and realized that nobody had ever taught me how to teach sound production. I could transcribe, tell you which phonological process was in play, and what age a kid should develop any sound, and how to put together a cueing hierarchy, but I didn’t know how to help them fix it! (Didn’t help that I did my training in Boston!) It’s at those times when you realize you have the knowledge, even if it’s not explicit, and you have the resources you need – you just have to piece it together, usually while trying not to let on that you’re racking your brain for an answer and feel like a fraud. Hang in there! It’s just speech therapy 😉
I can’t hurt them really, but it’s that part of me that wants to know the answer. Right then and there 🙂 thanks for the comment!
You comment about me in this post brought tears to my eyes. Thank You. When I share these things I wonder if anyone reads them and if it actually helps anyone. So I appreciates your comments more than you know.
Your MommaSLP
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Hi,
Thank you for this post. Last week I had an episode very similar to the one you described, in which I forgot how to teach the “sh” sound right before my session. I had a panic/anxiety attack while I was sitting there with the student in front of me, and I just had to sit there and wait for it to pass and then we just played board games for the rest of the session. I had another session with that student today and I used all the resources you shared, and it went great. I felt proud of myself, and of the student. So thank you 🙂 Next time, I’ll remember that it’s just speech therapy.