Hodson’s Cycle Approach: Why I Love It and Why It’s Great for So Many Kids
Speech Therapy
Nujood Price, CCC- SLP
As a speech-language pathologist, I'm passionate about helping kids overcome speech sound disorders. It is my favorite thing to target! One of my favorite research-backed approaches is Hodson’s Cycle Approach. I'm excited to share why it's such an effective and enjoyable way to improve speech.
Why Hodson’s Cycles is So Great!
If your child is highly unintelligible or has multiple phonological patterns, Hodson’s Cycles can help them become more understandable quickly. Here are some of the reasons I love this approach:
Quick Improvement: By focusing on primary speech patterns that impact overall intelligibility, we often see faster results.
Suitable for Young Children: It works for kids as young as 3 years old.
Personalized Targets: We select specific patterns and words tailored to each child, usually only 4-5 words instead of a long list of words.
Word-Level Focus: We only need to work at the word level to see improvements.
Generalization: Working on specific patterns or sounds often improves other sounds that aren’t directly targeted.
Phonological Awareness: Hodson’s cycles includes phonological awareness activities that may boost literacy outcomes.
Fun and Fast: The method is engaging and can be done quickly.
What Happens in a Cycles Session
Here’s a glimpse into what a typical cycles session looks like:
Introduction: I start by introducing our target sound or pattern. For example, I might say, “Today we are working on the SW blend.”
Auditory Bombardment: I read a list of words with the target sound to help the child recognize it.
Practice Words: We work on the 4-5 preselected words that the child can already do either independently or with support. We aim for 100 trials of these words, and often, we achieve this!
Phonological Awareness Activity: We do activities like identifying/producing rhymes or identifying sounds in words.
Wrap-Up: We finish with another round of auditory bombardment and prepare for the next target sound or pattern. Homework is sent.
Supporting Your Child
Your involvement is crucial to the success of Hodson’s Cycles. Here are some tips:
Practice at Home: Do the homework that is sent home!
Encourage and Celebrate: Celebrate your child’s progress to build their confidence.
Stay Connected: Communicate with your child’s SLP to understand what patterns are being targeted and how you can support them at home.
