Q: What is an articulation disorder?
A: An articulation disorder occurs when an individual has difficulty making a specific sound(s). This could include imprecise production of the sound, deleting specific sounds or substituting an easier sound for one that is more complex. It is normal for a child to make errors as they develop, but if those errors persist after a certain age or significantly impact the child’s ability to communicate, an individual may be considered to have an articulation disorder. For more information about speech sound disorders, visit ASHA.

Q: Can these books be read with children who do not have problems with their speech?
A: Yes! While these books are created to target speech development I wanted to ensure that they were fun and did not feel like “work”. These books can easily be read as a fun story without focusing on speech. In addition to being a fun reads, many caregivers enjoy using these books with their early readers as they learn how to read certain sounds.

Q: Will there be more books to target other sounds?
A: Yes! I am currently working on more children’s books that target other sounds. Please like and follow my author page on Facebook or Amazon and sign up for my email list to receive information on future book releases.

Q: How can I receive information on future book releases?
A: You can follow my Facebook, Amazon, or Goodreads author pages to receive information on future book releases, giveaways, and events. You can also join my email list by signing up under the follow tab.

Q: Where can I leave a review for the Talking Tales books?
A: If you purchase the books online, you can leave a review on the website where you purchased the books. You can also review these books on goodreads.com.

Q: Are these books designed to help a nonverbal child on the autism spectrum?
A: These books are specifically designed to help with articulation disorders. Articulation disorders are classified as difficulty saying specific sounds such as slurring a sound, substituting a sound, or just imprecise sounds due to errors in technique. Many children who are on the spectrum will have difficulty with language and communication skills in general and therefore, articulation may not be a primary goal for them initially. However, these books target articulation in a very non-direct fun way by providing a child with multiple auditory examples of how a sound should be produced. Because of the way these books have been written, they are appropriate for any child, whether or not they are currently working on a specific sound, and can still help that child develop an auditory model of sounds for when they do begin to speak more.

Q: My child was diagnosed with Apraxia. Would these books help?
A: These books are specifically designed to help with articulation disorders. An articulation disorder is when a child can physically make a sound and their brain is able to initiate and coordinate that sound, but they have not quite figured out how to do it yet. Articulation disorders often display as consistently mispronouncing a specific sound or replacing one sound for another.

When a child has Apraxia of speech their brain has difficulty planning and coordinating how their mouth should move while speaking. Apraxia is much more complex than an articulation disorder and requires assessment and intensive intervention from a speech-language pathologist. Early detection and intervention is important. For this reason, it is always essential to consult a speech-language pathologist if you have concerns about your child’s speech and language development.

That being said, reading with your child is an important way to help encourage speech and language development regardless of their diagnosis. These books have been written as fun stories that can be enjoyed by all children.

Please visit ASHA to learn more about Apraxia.

Q: Are you available for author interviews and blog posts?
A: Absolutely! If you are a blogger or website manager who is interested in featuring the Talking Tales series, please feel free to contact me.

If you have any other questions about the Talking Tales series, please use the contact page. Thank you!