Cycles Approach Handout

Cycles Approach
Overview
Designed explicitly for children with highly unintelligible speech (2 -14 years) and clients with
special etiologies (i.e, CAS, cochlear implants, cleft lip/palate, etc.)
Phonological therapy approach
Goal: 100% accuracy for all target productions
Each phoneme should be targeted in error patterns and presented in the cycle for 60 minutes
Cycle is complete when all phonological patterns that are in error have been targeted
Cycle is repeated once the previous cycle is completed
*any new sounds beginning to emerge in conversation are removed from the cycle
Theoretical Basis for Cycles Approach
Phonological acquisition is a gradual process (Ingram, 1976)
Children with normal hearing typically acquire the adult sound system primarily by hearing (Van Riper,
1939)
Children associate kinesthetic and auditory sensations as they acquire new patterns, enabling later self
monitoring (Fairbanks, 1954)
Phonetic environment can facilitate/inhibit correct sound productions (Kent, 1982)
Children are actively involved in their treatment
Children tend to generalize new speech production skills to other targets (McReynolds & Bennett, 1972)
An optimal match facilitates a childs learning (Hunt, 1961)
Where to start
Assess childs phonological system
Five Steps of diagnostic process
o determining childs phonological strengths and weaknesses, severity level, stimulability
information, optimal direction for intervention, baseline measures
Determine primary and secondary target patterns
most common primary: syllable structures, single consonants (when consistently omitted), /s/
clusters
Target only stimulable sounds
Develop cycle
Each phoneme within a patter is targeted for 60 minutes per week
Target each pattern for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 6 hours per cycle
Reassess phonological system at end of each cycle
Auditory Input Cycle
children younger than 3, used as first cycle
Target patterns are identified (e.g, final consonants) and a phoneme within the pattern is
presented/facilitated for a session
Child is not required to say anything during these sessions
After auditory input is focused on, child moves into regular cycle
Session Structure Model
Review production-practice words from prior session
Provide auditory stimulation
Incorporate target words into play activities
*only 5-6 target words should be used per session
Repeat auditory stimulation at end of session
Give homework!-picture cards of target words to take home and work on for two minutes a day
*progress shows significant increase when worked on at home
What is Cycles for Phonology?

A Parent Friendly Explanation of Cycles
Given the number of errors your child has, it will take time to remediate all of them, so please be patient. The
approach your therapist is going to use is called Cycles. In this approach, your child will work on ALL
sounds in error over the next few months instead of one sound at a time. Why is this important?
The research has shown that by targeting the processes your child is making, they will be more understandable
in a shorter amount of time. In addition, your child will only target sounds at the word level (not in phrases
and sentences), but you will see carryover to conversation because your SLP will target the patterns specific to
your child.
How Does It Work?
Your child will target a sound in 5 or 6 target words for 60 minutes and then move onto another sound in error.
You will be given the same 5 or 6 target cards to work on at home. Exposure to each sound will be brief, but the
research shows brief weekly exposure to be enough to change the productions. Your help at home is critical to
your childs success. Home practice can decrease therapy time by half or more!
Here is an example of what a Cycle would look like

NOTE: This is an example only. This is not based on your child and your child may not need all
of these sounds or may need more/different sounds.
Cycle 1:
Session #1:
Session #2:
Session #3:
Session #4:
Session #5:
Session #6:
Session #7:
Session #8:
Session #9:
Session #10:
Final /t/ and Final /n/--3 words with final /t/, 3 words with final /n/
Final /t/ and Final /n/--3 words with final /t/, 3 words with final /n/
Final /p/ and Final /m/--3 words with final /p/, 3 words with final /m/
Final /p/ and Final /m/--3 words with final /p/, 3 words with final /m/
Final /s/--6 words with final /s/
Final /k/--5 words with final /k/
Initial /sp/--5 words with initial /sp/
Initial /st/--5 words with initial /st/
Initial /sm/--5 words with initial /sm/
Initial /sn/--5 words with initial /sn/
After these sessions are completed, the entire Cycle will be repeated and will be called Cycle 2.
The therapist will remove any sounds that are beginning to emerge in conversation and add in
any sounds the child was unable to say during Cycle 1.
*It may be advised to include a list of example processes to help the parents fully understand what processes
their child is exhibiting

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Cycles Approach

What is Cycles for Phonology?

Here is an example of what a Cycle would look like

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