Sully was a twelve and a half year- old middle schooler who was unable to correctly produce the “R” sound in isolation and in every position of words.  He spent several years in traditional speech therapy, going to various clinicians using a variety of methods.  Despite everyone’s best efforts, none of these treatment approaches were successful for him.  His overall confidence in ever correctly producing the sound began to wane, and so did his parents’.

Sully had no other speech and/or language issues related to his inability to correctly produce the “R” sound.  He was a smart young man who excelled in school.  However he did admit that his inability to produce the sound correctly affected his self-confidence and he thought his peers noticed his speech deficit and that it may have shaded their opinion of him.

Sully began receiving speech therapy using ultrasound technology.  He attended once weekly and his progress in the beginning was slow.  It took some time for him to orient himself and his tongue with the visual display.  Once he became familiar with the display and comfortable with using the wand, progress began to occur.  And once he was able to produce the sound in isolation, he quickly transferred the skill to single words, then phrases and finally conversational speech.

Ultrasound use in speech therapy was very effective for Sully.  He had what is considered a residual speech sound error, one that was not remediated in the typical time frame that other kids master production of this speech sound.  Sully will start high school in the Fall of 2025.  His production of “R” is perfect, with no hint of ever having been inaccurate.  He is confident in his speech and his parents are forever grateful for this innovative technique.