If you are a speech-language pathologist, I’m sure you would agree with me that you almost always say (out of pure habit), “Great snake sound!” when you are working with children to help improve their /S/ pronunciation. It only makes sense that we automatically associate the hissing sound a snake makes with the /S/ sound that we humans make; but here is a question to ponder . . . what if we actually brought a REAL snake into the speech therapy room?
Would it be awesome?!
Below you will find 5 reasons that lead me to believe that it would be pretty amazing to have a living, breathing, and slithering reptile on top of the speech therapy table.
1. Perfect sound!
It goes without saying, a real snake is probably the best role model for children who are working to solidify their /S/ sound. The perfect /S/ hissing noise that snakes make is music to any SLP’s ears. (The only con I can think of is a real snake might bite someone. Is that really a big deal, though? I do have band-aids in my desk.)
2. Perfect shape!
A snake’s body could easily be manipulated and molded into the perfect “S” shape, further proving that a snake is probably the best role model for children who are working to create rockin’ /S/ sounds. (Once again though, a con is that the real snake might bite someone and I’m not 100% sure a band-aid to a snake bite would “fix” the situation.)
3. Perfect attention!
Some of my students are disinterested in speech class, but I’m willing to bet that giving them the opportunity to hold or pet a real snake might prove to be an excellent reinforcer. (Eeek! I just read online that some snakes are poisonous . . . this might be a bad idea!)
4. Perfect prize!
Occasionally, I will forget to restock my prize box. I could easily just throw a real snake into the prize box, right? I’m sure the student would love to take it home! I’m positive that I would be crowned “the coolest speech teacher ever” by that child! (Oh no, but what if the student has a pet mouse at home? Do you think the snake might accidentally swallow the mouse?!)
5. Ummmmm . . .
Actually, I’m just going to stop this list right now. It seems clear to me that having a real snake in speech therapy is a horrible (and dangerous) idea, and besides, my supervisor HATES snakes.
Wait, my supervisor hates snakes?!
Hmmm . . . maybe I can somehow use the snake to get out of all that CRAZY paperwork I’m told I have to do. Or maybe I can use the snake to get out of a few of those BORING after school faculty meetings. Suddenly, this whole “snake idea” might not be so bad after all. LOL!!!
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.