Celebrating the Voices of Children By Jennifer W . Knapp , Speech Therapist , Buncombe County Schools
“ Listen to yourself and in that quietude , you might hear the voice of God .” – Maya Angelou
Treasuring the resplendent autumn colors as I drove my dad ’ s truck along Elk Mountain Road the other day , it occurred to me again that the children who come to speech therapy are just as lovely , just as unique , and just as bright as the vibrant leaves falling from the trees along the road to Woodfin Elementary - and so are the melodies of their voices .
Most people understand that speech therapists help children improve intelligibility , social language skills , or stuttering . These issues are important because they can place academics and self-esteem at risk . But over the years , I have come to a deeper understanding of my vocation .
This work is only about voice .
A child ’ s voice is authority in the world , and as such , engenders the respect of others . A child ’ s voice literally discloses the unique essence of that child , which is a gift from the very first cry , “ I AM HERE !”— we learn that we are capable of relating with and receiving love from the important people around us , and that creates stability and safety in our lives . My work in Buncombe County Schools is foremost about nurturing that kind of space for our children .
Sometimes finding your best voice is frustrating . Not so long ago , a 5th grade boy with speech production issues came to our school , and we started working on the beast of all speech sounds--R . His R errors were highly noticeable , and these made his speech sound immature . Initially , he denied that he had a problem at all . He said to me , “ I weely don ’ t need speech . Evweething I say is just white .”
I tried many strategies and fun activities , but he resisted , sometimes refusing to work with me at all . On one particular day , I was striving to help him understand the correct placement of his tongue to make the R sound . His tone grew increasingly impatient , and finally he said emphatically , “ I CAN ’ T DO IT !” and started to cry .
Brandon ( left ) and Elijah ( right ) practice with flash cards .
When a 5th grade boy starts to cry , there ’ s an important reason . Most boys that age are very private about that level of frustration . I felt compassion for Jake , and I spent the rest of the week thinking about how I could help , and I decided that the next time we met , I would really take the pressure off .
When the next session started , I said , “ Jake , I know you ’ ve been very frustrated about working on R , so today , let ’ s just take it easy . I ’ ll read a story , and I ’ d like you to listen for the R sound , ok ?” He agreed , and when we were done I said , “ You know , a friend of mine told me about one way to make the R sound , and I don ’ t know if it will help you or not , but we really don ’ t have anything to lose , right ?” He agreed , so I said , “ Would you be willing to give it a shot ?” And he said “ YES ”.
I asked him to describe how trains stay on tracks , and he told me about the wheels fitting into the rails . I asked him to think of the sides of his tongue as the wheels , and his upper molars as the rails . We drew pictures and when he tried to put his tongue in this position , he looked at me and said , “ ERR .”
My eyes flew open wide . I just stared at him . “ YOU DID IT !” I said , laughing loudly . “ YOU DID IT ! YOU JUST SAID IT ! SAY IT AGAIN ! SAY IT AGAIN !” And he said , “ ERR ,” nonchalantly .
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