Julia Coache
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This homemade memory game is based off of an activity seen during a therapy session with the clinician, Lyndsey, and the client, E.C, at the URI Clinic in Kingston.
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12-year-old E.C is new to the URI clinic, and just started therapy at URI this fall semester of ’14.
He has been receiving speech therapy since the 1 st grade due to his articulation disorder. He lost speech therapy services when his IEP expired at 9 years old. Since he has no other disorders, he does not qualify for speech services in school, so the weekly URI clinic is the only therapy he currently receives.
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During the therapy session that I observed with E.C, the clinician was working on articulation of the /r/ phoneme. The clinician produced flashcards with pictures of objects that contained the /r/ sound, and drilled the client on /r/ sound production.
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Instead of using flashcards to drill, I turned the idea of using flashcards into a game. I picked 20 different words that contained the /r/ sound in the initial, medial, and final position, including /br/,
/cr/, /dr/, /fr/, /gr/, /pr/, and /tr/ blends, and used made two identical flashcards with both the picture and word on each card. All 40 cards were laid out on the table, and the object of the game was to have the client practice /r/ articulation while playing the traditional game of memory.
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In addition to how I originally designed this game, it could be adapted in the following ways:
- To practice the articulation of other sounds for clients of all ages.
The game could simply include words that contained the target sound.
- To practice emotion vocabulary for children with ASD.
The pictures on the cards could be faces with clear expressions on them, and the children would have to identify what emotion was being expressed in order to keep the match.
- To practice important vocabulary words or names of family members for adult patients with severe brain injuries.
The words on the cards could be vocabulary words that need practice with identification or the cards could display the faces and names of their family members that they are working on including in their memory.
- Can be tweaked according to challenge level.
The words and cards can be manipulated entirely by the clinician for the desired practice.
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To create even more generalization from this material, it could be tailored specifically to the client’s needs. The clinician could change the requirements over time to make the game more functional. For example, in order to keep a match, perhaps the client will have to use the word from the card in a sentence or rhyme it with another word.
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While the game was originally designed for children preschool through elementary school age, it can be adapted for clients of all ages based on the desired focus of the therapy, as mentioned above. The game could be used just between the client and clinician, or it could also be used in a group therapy session with every client taking turns.
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Limitations/Problems:
Can only be used a couple of times with each client before they get bored of the game and pictures.
Only focuses on production of one particular sound or skill, so it would need to be used in addition to other material if more than one sound or skill needs to be practiced.
There is a need for a lot of table space when playing the game since there are 40 cards involved.
Amount of desired productions per card is limited, depending on client’s instructions.
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The material itself is extremely portable. The 40 cards are small and can easily be held together with a rubber band.