Minimal pairs therapy can be an effective tool in therapy, especially for children who continue to have persistent errors and have difficulty monitoring their own speech.
I use this approach when my client is able to say the target phoneme or phonological process with minimal (1-2 cues) to produce the sound correctly.
Here is how I use them:
- Word pair identification-I use place two minimal pair cards out and read one of the words. Can they identify which one I said? Almost all of my clients can identify the correct word in a field of two-but I have had a few that have not. For them we start by making sure they hear and understand the difference in a pair of words (ex. spot/pot).
- Word pair discrimination in their speech-Once I am sure the client is able to understand the differences between the word pairs, I have them be the teacher. Now they saying the word pairs-and then I point to the one I think they said. It’s fun to do this in a barrier activity, where they place a token over the picture that they are going to say-and I place a token over the one they said. Did we match up? Some children get upset with this activity. For them we take turns and sometimes I say a different word than I meant. I model how to react when someone doesn’t understand your speech and have them help me try to say the word correctly.
- Activities-I love using real objects and play in therapy. I try to pick a few activities that we can do where I prompt for my target sound or phonological process. S blends are a favorite of mine-we can sit on my office chair and work on spin and stop.
- Sentences-If needed, I will work on minimal pairs in sentences. I also use this approach a lot with my older students who are working on sounds like /s/, /r/, and /l/. We can work on sentences without pictures or I can have them make sentences by using the word pair cards.
I started making minimal pair products “Nothing minimal about these pairs” because I was looking for minimal pair cards at work and I didn’t have any that had more than 5-10 examples per pair. I wanted more options for pictures so that I could pick the ones that I thought would help my client learn the best.
The minimal pair cards are in color-but everything else is in black and white to save on ink. You can cut out the cards OR just leave them as 5 pairs on a sheet.
I’m excited to have a BHSM Minimal pair sampler Freebie for you. Have you ever encountered the child who substitutes /f/ for /s/? Here’s a packet for you. Click on the picture below to go to my TPT store and pick up your packet!
I’m placing my minimal pairs bundle an extra 10% off (for a total of 30% off through this weekend to finish up Better Hearing and Speech month.
I’m finishing up a packet on initial consonant deletion and plan to address /r/ and /l/ blends this summer. Any other minimal pairs packets you’d love to see?
I have a bonus for my friends who purchase over this weekend-send me an email at Speech2uslp@gmail.com with your name and date your purchased your bundle. I’ll send you a free copy of my initial consonant deletion packet when it is done.
