Syllable Prompts
provide support for short, early words ("go").
Children with hypotonia often having an open mouth and drooling. In the Parameter Prompt for "m," the middle and index fingers support the child's jaw and chin while the thumb provides pressure to the lips, cueing the child to put them together. The Parameter Prompt helps the child with retracting her lips for "ee" and rounding her lips for "oo." The Parameter Prompt for a vowel like "ah" (as in "hot") helps a child understand how far to lower her mandible (jaw).
Children who are just starting to talk in syllables (e.g. "go") respond well to Syllable Prompts, which provide information simultaneously for a consonant and a vowel regarding the mandibular height (how open or closed the jaw is) as well as either lip rounding, lip retraction or tongue placement. For example, the Syllable Prompt for "do" helps the child feel the he needs to raise his tongue tip for "d" and round his lips for "o."
Parameter Prompts
stabilize posture and provide support.
Surface Prompts provide cues about the place and timing of several sounds as well as the transition between them. Surface Prompts are often used for longer words or even phrases, as they can be used rapidly. For example, a series of Surface Prompts for "home" cues the child that "h" requires exhalation, "oh" requires lip rounding and "m" requires to lips to press together fully.
Complex Prompts provide input about a single sound to the child's jaw, tongue and lips. For example, the Complex Prompt for "sh" helps the child feel that her jaw is relatively high, her lips are rounded and her tongue is elevated. Complex Prompts are also helpful for vowel production. The Complex Prompt for "ah" (as in "hot") provides input that the jaw is low and the back of the tongue body is raised.
Surface Prompts
give input on the place and timing of sounds.
