What is PROMPT?
Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets was developed by Deborah Hayden.
PROMPT is a specialized speech-language treatment method allowing a trained therapist, during communicative exchanges, to physically manipulate a child’s jaw, face, and mouth to show him/her how speech sounds, sounds within words, or words within sentences are produced.
Additionally, the PROMPT approach goes beyond manual manipulation and holds the belief that verbal communication represents the purest integration of a child’s mental, physical, and emotional development. A breakdown in any of these developmental areas can lead to communication difficulties.
Therefore, when a child’s speech-language ability is analyzed and treated by a PROMPT trained therapist, s/he will also incorporate activities that consider areas of developmental needs including cognitive functioning and social skills.
The goal of therapy is to achieve a state of equilibrium across these developmental areas to the highest level attainable by that child.
Who will benefit from PROMPT?
Research shows that PROMPT has produced positive results in children with motor speech disorders (such as dysarthria and dyspraxia/apraxia). Since PROMPT delivers tactile-kinetic input for a child, it supports those with weaker auditory skills.
PROMPT is also helpful for children who have difficulty participating in interaction, and/or have fluctuating cooperation levels for therapy because the PROMPT approach emphasizes a reciprocal, turn-taking interaction as a firm basis for communication.
PROMPT is one of a few modalities that Yichien incorporates in SOARSM and in regularly scheduled sessions with children dealing with speech-language challenges.
Yichien’s Comments: While PROMPT is among of the most powerful tools I have in treating children with speech difficulties, it works best when the child truly desires to communicate with others. When a child evinces desire and is consistent in wanting to communicate, PROMPT support expedites the process.
For those children who are non-verbal or minimally verbal, it is crucial to investigate and provide intervention effective in supporting development of bonding, speech-language, and cognition. In the process of addressing the fundamental challenges of sensory processing, emotional regulation, and self-organization, PROMPT can work as an adjunct to assist verbal production and expression. For children whose verbal skills are mainly affected by decreased postural control and motor control, PROMPT can provide muscular mapping for development of motor memory and control.
To know more about PROMPT, see PromptInstitute.com/.
