A Growing List of Strategies to Help Elicit the /r/ Sound in Speech Therapy

There are so many ways to get that glorious first /r/ sound. Here's a bunch of ideas to try!

(Please note that I am NOT being paid to recommend products. I am just a real SLP, trying to do the best I can for my students!)

My fellow SLPs: I'm not going to go into detail here about why this semi-vowel is so hard to elicit. I know you're already (painfully) aware!

In my experience working with kids on their /r/ sound in speech-language therapy, I've never had two cases that were even remotely alike. There is no universal technique that works for everyone. And every time I start working on the /r/ sound with a new student, I go back to this growing list of strategies, knowing that one of them will eventually work.

Bookmark this page and come back whenever you need a new idea!

Here's a long list of strategies for bunched and retroflex /r/ sound elicitation in speech therapy:

1. Before getting too far into eliciting /r/, make sure kids can hear the sound and identify correct productions accurately. I really like the SAILS app for this.

2. If the child is gliding, use /r/ and /w/ minimal pairs to highlight the critical difference in meaning these sounds have in our language. Look in a mirror and show the child the difference in our articulators when we produce /r/ versus when we produce /w/.

   
   

3. Use co-articulation to encourage the tongue raising and tension needed to produce /r/. Some common words/pseudo-words used for this are: KARLA, ARG, ARK, EUREKA, EERIE, and EERKEE

   
   

4. The Bite-R worked for one of my trickiest students. A cheaper alternative could be to use a popsicle stick or chopstick placed in the mouth so that the teeth can bite it (stabilizes jaw) and the tongue stays behind it (helps with tongue retraction).

   
   

5. Use a rubber band to model the tension needed in the tongue ("slingshot tongue"). I suggest using a mirror so the child can see their tongue. Transition from EE to ER.

   
   

6. Sweeping the tongue back over the alveolar ridge while phonating to produce "LERRRR" can elicit a retroflexed /r/.

   
   

7. If you can get your hands on a copy of this Entire World of R screener, you might find that there is at least one phonetic context in which your student can produce a good /r/. https://www.sayitright.org/articulation/entireworldofr-evaluate-screen.html If you can't find it, make yourself a list of words with a couple versions of every type of /r/: AR (art), EAR (earring), prevocalic (red), AIR (airplane), IRE (iron), ER (earth), OR (orca), RL (curl), initial PR (prize), initial BR (brown), initial TR (trap), initial DR (dream), initial KR (crib), initial GR (grape), initial THR (three), initial SHR (shrug), initial FR (frozen), initial STR (string), initial SPR (spring).

   
   

8. Here's a PDF of Pamela Marshalla's R Therapy Program: https://pammarshalla.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Successful_R_Therapy_Preview_Marshalla.pdf

   
   

9. Use these gifs from Syracuse University to show your students what your tongue does to produce bunched and retroflex /r/.

   
   

10. Elicit a "tiger growl" (grrrrrrr) with tight, round lips.

    
    

11. Try this yummy trick.

    
    

12. Try the staRt app.

    
    

13. Encourage the child to keep their mouth open so the tongue has to move back (they can see this in a mirror too).

    
    

14. Have the child hold a finger to their cheek and pretend it's a lever. As they raise their finger up and back, it "pulls" their tongue into position for /r/.

    
    

15. SATPAC Speech has a whole program: https://satpac.com/free-ceus-online-course/

    
    

16. Have the child say eeee with a big smile, and as they say it, have them pull their tongue back to get an /r/.

    
    

17. You can try this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2SaDuXunGz/?igsh=aTJ5aHRwdW15eXRk

    
    

18. Observe what happens when we move the articulators in different ways with this cool (and hilarious) tool. https://imaginary.github.io/pink-trombone/

And if you need any research-based therapy materials...

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Did you find this blog post helpful? Subscribe below to get the latest blog posts, which feature lots of speech therapy ideas for busy SLPs who want to provide fun, impactful, and meaningful speech-language therapy.

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Enjoy!