Utilizing Coarticulation and Chaining to Target Speech Goals

Chaining, in which a word or phrase is taught by building from smaller units to the whole unit, can be a powerful and effective strategy in the treatment of speech sound disorders. In this course, different forms of chaining will be defined and examples will be provided. An understanding of coarticulation within syllables, words and phrases is important to most effectively use chaining, especially for children with childhood apraxia of speech. Coarticulation will be defined and briefly reviewed but prior knowledge of coarticulation will be assumed. Examples of using chaining to elicit new phonemes, phonemes in various word positions, production of multisyllabic words and phrases, and moving phoneme production from the syllable level to the utterance level will be provided.

Following this course, participants will be able to:

1. Define chaining.
2. List two types of chaining.
3. List two to three specific examples of chaining from syllables to words or phrases.

This course meets the requirement for Professional Development hours towards your ASHA renewal since it is approved by TSHA! You can count these hours towards ASHA renewal when you submit your Compliance Form.