Ellyn McKinney-Gehrke
​Phono Program Coordinator
708.482.1181
egehrke@ladse.org

Sandy Nichin
Phono Administrative Assistant
708.482.1156
​snichin@ladse.org

Phonological Program

The Phonological Program was developed for a specific group of children, ages 3 to 6 years, to remediate severe to profound speech disorders.  The children who are eligible for this program have good understanding of language, no significant oral motor delays, and can form sentences,
​but their speech is very difficult to understand.

Curriculum
The curriculum of the classroom is based on the phonological therapy approach as researched by Dr. Barbara Hodson. Each therapy session focuses on words to say (target words), and words for listening (auditory bombardment words). Many different sound patterns are targeted for practice. Activities are also designed to promote early literacy awareness. Children enrolled in this program attend class for two hours, twice a week. Parents are provided with reinforcement activities to facilitate generalization of target goals.

Phonological Goal
The goal of the Phonological Program is to improve a child’s speech intelligibility. Dismissal of a child from the program can occur when the child’s speech is rated to be moderately delayed as measured by a formal phonological assessment. A child may be dismissed from the program with a recommendation to either continue with district speech-language services or to receive no services, depending on the needs of the child at that time.

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