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From: Lynne Shields
Date: 10/16/02
Time: 10:30:02 AM
Remote Name: 199.217.208.172
Dear Becky,
Thank you for the kind words about our article. I am always happy to hear that what we have to say might be helpful to someone else. I hope that your son can have some fun "trying on" some comebacks for bullies, and then go out and give them something to think about. Tell him I wish him the best.
You asked two questions, and I think I can handle the first one. Caroline may want to share her ideas regarding your second question.
I use the term 'easy talk' to refer to starting a word without lots of tension. Rather, one can begin a word with a gentle start to the first sound, so that the lips don't press together hard, or the voice doesn't begin with a hard start. For instance, you can say the word "apple" by hitting the "a" sound pretty forcefully, so you get what SLPs call a hard glottal attack, or you can say the first sound easily, with a soft beginning. Stretchy talk at the beginning of words refers to using a slight prolongation of the first part of a word. Sssso I might start a sentence like this, with a slightly longer production of the "s". These techniques are described quite nicely in a therapy manual by Patty Walton and Mary Wallace called "Fun with FLuency", which is published by Imaginart.
Thanks for reading our paper, and best wishes to you and your son.
Regards,
Lynne
Can you please define what you mean by easy talk (easy onsets) and stretchy talk (stretches) at the beginning of words?