Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech
What is LIPS?
The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® (LiPS®) program helps children and adults develop the
sensory-cognitive function of phonemic awareness. Unlike most reading, spelling, and phonics
programs, LiPS instruction directly applies phonemic awareness to the identification and sequencing of
sounds in words. Students in the LiPS program move through a series of steps to learn how their mouths
produce the sounds of language. This kinesthetic feedback enables them to verify the identity and
sequence of sounds within words, and to become self-correcting in reading, spelling, and speech.
1) Author / Publisher / Distributor information.
Patricia C. Lindamood & Phyllis D. Lindamood
Pro-Ed
http://www.ganderpublishing.com/LiPS-Kit-Fourth-Edition.html
2) Cost of intervention materials.
4th edition: $445.00
3) What materials are needed?
o Large Mouth Pictures
o Colored Felt 3-Inch Squares
o Static Cling Symbols & Mouth Pictures Set
o Colored Blocks
o Felt Squares With Consonant Symbols
o Letter Symbol Tiles
o Felt Squares With Vowel Symbols
o Overview Video
o Nose And Ear Felt Squares
o Phonological Processing, Reading, And The
o Colored Felt 4-Inch Squares
LIPS Program Research Booklet
o Playing Cards
4) What are the target age / disorder of students that should participate in this
intervention?
o All ages: pre-K – Adult
o Disorders:

Functional Speech-Language Delay

CAPD

Second Language Learning

Apraxia

ADHD

Pervasive Developmental Delay

Dyslexia

Traumatic Brain Injury

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Stroke
5) What are the intervention procedures?

There are two paths to the program: Horizontal and Vertical (Pg. 16-17)

Horizontal: presents all consonant
Vertical: presents only 3 consonant pairs and 3
sounds before moving onto vowel
vowels sounds, then uses them in tracking, spelling,
sounds, THEN presents all vowel sounds
and reading simple syllables and words
before moving on to tracking, spelling,
NOTE: Particularly productive with pre-k and primary age
and reading of syllables and words
students or students who are developmentally delayed or have
experienced a heavy load of failure
Setting the Climate for Learning
o Help students learn to see, hear, and feel sounds; make reading and spelling easier by enabling them to
figure out words and check themselves; become familiar with how teacher and student interaction with
work: teacher will ask questions, student will figure out and answer… not guess or memorize!
o Engage students by asking questions, be concise, make language appropriate for students’ level
o Draw as you talk, do not prepare or copy a picture ahead of time
o Do additional sensory-awareness activities if appropriate or go directly into introducing consonants
Identifying and Classifying Speech Sounds

Students categorize sounds on the basis of similarities and differences

Provides a tool students can use to identify, classify, and label individual consonants and vowel sounds

Each speech sound has it’s own characteristics that can heard, seen, and felt - a multisensory experience!
Consonants
Brothers: Ex) /p/ and /b/ are
Cousins (groups): Ex) /m/ /n/
Borrowers: Ex) ‘c’, ‘x’, ‘qu’,
grouped and labeled as “lip-
and /ng/ are grouped and
and ‘y’ do not have sounds of
poppers”, /p/ is the ‘quiet’
labeled as “nose sounds”
their own, they “borrow”
brother and /b/ is the ‘noisy’
sounds regularly associated
brother
with other letters
Vowels: Students associate physical sensation of making the sound, the appearance of the mouth, and the sound
they hear through a vowel circle concept. The following labels are used, focusing on the shape of the mouth
during production:
Smile – Ex) /i/ as in
Open – Ex) /au/ as in
Round – Ex) /u/ as in
Sliders – Ex) /oi/ as in
“eeek”
“Paul”
“boot”
“boy”
Tracking Speech Sounds

Helps develop 1) tracking sounds in sequences and 2) associating sounds and symbols with these sequences
SEPARATELY before asking them to combine the two in spelling and reading

Tracking sounds with concrete objects – i.e., colored blocks to indicate sameness or difference
Isolated Sounds

Preschool or Kindergarten students

Present 2-3 isolated sounds

Client uses colored blocks to represent the sounds they heard and patterns of sameness or difference
Tracking Sounds and Syllables with Mouth Pictures and Colored Blocks

Simple (VC, CV) and Complex Syllables (CCV, CVCC)

Number and Order of Consonants and Vowel Sounds
o Pseudo-words are used to ensure client is responding to the patterns and not relying on learned spelling
patterns of real words
o Tracking syllables with mouth pictures and then colored blocks before encoding them with letter
symbols gives students a vivid and meaningful experience with how changes in sound patterns require
corresponding changes in visual patterns.
Associating Sounds and Symbols: This stage should overlap with “Tracking Speech Sounds”
Spelling and Reading
Spelling
Reading
o Students first use letter symbols printed on tiles
and then move to writing letters
o Student must use sensory feedback to check
what he/she sees against what he/she feels or
hears
o Start with simple and move to complex pseudo
and real words are used
o First use letter tiles or felt squares with letters
printed on them to construct pseudo-syllables
and real words for students to read
o Start small, with VC or CV patterns
o Flashcards can be introduced during this phase
o Two basic processes: 1) Decoding 2) Reading
for Meaning
6) What is the recommended length of time for each intervention session?

Preventative: Serve as a sole means of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction

Intensive: 2-4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 8-12 weeks

NOTE: It is important that each student achieve competency in the Tracking task!
7) What are the data collection procedures?

Daily log of practice patterns used, success or difficulty experienced by student and your professional
impressions
8) What are the unique features of this intervention?

4 day training program available for teachers

Provides a script to follow

Can be given by Special Education teachers or parents

Very intensive intervention – potentially 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 12 weeks
9) What research supports the use of this intervention (can include summary from
manual, journal articles, etc.)?

A Review of Related Research Booklet included with the intervention kit

Researchers from many countries agree on the importance of phonological processing to the development of
the reading process

Lindamood Program is one program that develops phonological processing

Research supporting its effectiveness is strong and continues to grow