“One of the techniques we used at the start of every session was a tongue twister. We used sentences like; “Bobby bought a box of budgies.” These had a two-fold purpose. The first use was to build in success. As most people – even non-readers – will recognize their own name, I would develop a tongue twister for each reader. The second use was to help individuals pronounce certain letters. Sometimes if a person has a speech impediment, trying to learn phonics is very difficult. Tongue twisters enable the learner to practice making specific letter sounds. If I knew a specific person was having difficulties with a certain letter, I would develop a tongue twister using that letter. As you can imagine, I am now fairly good at writing tongue twisters! A participant reads the tongue twister and then the director asks, “What letter are we working on?” The participant identifies the letter and then the director asks, “What sound does that letter make?” The participant then makes the sound of that specific letter. For example, “B” makes the sound “buh.”

Cindy Crichton
Addressing Literacy Potholes. Session presented at Directions 2000 – Paving our Road to Inclusion, Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres (SARC) Annual General Meeting and Conference, Saskatoon, SK, June 2-3, 2000.