ABSTRACT
Many of our clients would not experience such a profound, or any, sensation of numbness, but would still have a difficulty in sound production and with feedback or self-monitoring of their speech sounds. It is likewise an eye opener to see members of staff at talks and workshops suddenly realising how difficult and frustrating communication must be for people with phonological difficulties. We demonstrate this difficulty without anaesthetic(!) by asking the staff to put three fingers in their mouths, that is, vertically, for maximum disruption to the speech apparatus, and then try to say something important. While some of our clients will struggle with their speech clarity so much that they might always need to augment speech with sign language or other forms of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), many can be helped with articulation and phonology work.
