It’s designed to provide tactile and visual cues for vowel production. The different tube sizes help cue the child toward the mouth shape and lip position needed for specific vowel sounds.
During a speech session, a speech therapist places the appropriate tube at the child’s lips and guides them to produce the target sound. The child gets a physical cue for how their lips and mouth should be positioned, rather than relying only on verbal instructions such as “round your lips” or “open your mouth.”
The tubes can be used to practise vowel sounds such as /ah/, /oh/ and /oo/ and can then be gradually faded as the child becomes more able to produce the sound independently.
They are useful as part of speech and oral-placement work for children with motor-planning difficulties, including apraxia of speech.
How it is used:
- Select the appropriate tube for the target vowel.
- The therapist positions the tube at/within the lips to provide a tactile cue.
- The child attempts the target vowel while receiving the tactile and verbal/visual cues.
- The cue can be gradually reduced as the child develops a more independent motor plan.
Important: This is a speech therapy tool and should be used according to the individual child’s speech goals and with guidance from a qualified speech-language therapist.
