Helping out Mr Tongue,or,Who's the boss?

Abstract

A major objective in working with articulation delayed/disordered children is to find constructive, positive and fun ways of intervening which support the child's self esteem. This paper describes an approach developed from systems theory (family therapy) which invites children to be in charge or 'be boss' of their tongue, by externalizing their difficulty and allowing them to deal with it in a non-blaming way. It is proposed that this approach deals more positively with issues of motivation, progress, generalization, and self esteem. The theoretical origins, current developments, applications, and future visions for this approach are discussed.