FREE shipping on all orders over $125

Speech Buddies Placement Tools

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

Speech Buddies help children overcome articulation disorders – faster. Improve your students' existing speech therapy routine or establish a new one.
Email to a Friend Email to a Friend
Share on Facebook Share on X
74230 Speech Buddies R Rabbit Buddy

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

74231 Speech Buddies S Seal Buddy

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

74232 Speech Buddies L Lion Buddy

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

74233 Speech Buddies CH Cheetah Buddy

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

74234 Speech Buddies SH Shark Buddy

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

74229 Speech Buddies Professional Set (All 5 Buddies)

While Supplies Last

Excluded from Promotions

In Stock

Product Description

Speech Buddies Placement Tools are easy to use. They train the tongue to make the correct shape by providing targets that you can feel. Getting started is simple. Choose the right tools for your child, practice for 10 minutes 3 times a week, and see results.

Speech disorders often occur when children have not learned correct pronunciation through normal visual and auditory cues. The tactile bio-feedback method works by presenting a precisely located target so that children can feel correct tongue placement and movement required for speech. There is a uniquely designed Speech Buddy that uses this method for each of the most common problem sounds: R, L, S, CH, and SH.

Tactile biofeedback has been proven by several research studies to provide learning breakthroughs in speech whether a child is just starting to address it, or if they have been working on their sounds for years. Speech Buddies have been clinically proven to help children overcome speech disorders between two to four times faster than industry standards.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Unlike oral motor methods which focus mainly on training muscle strength during non-speech exercises, Speech Buddies work by providing targets and tactile feedback inside the mouth during actual speech. The individual Buddies have been designed by a team of speech-language pathologists and engineers to target the five hardest to treat problem sounds – R, S, L, CH, and SH.

Speech Buddies Placement Tools are a great way to manage busy caseloads. They are perfect for group and individual therapy. Numerous trials and studies have proven that these tools are effective in school therapy. Speech Buddies Tools work quickly, saving your district money.

Whether your client is new to speech therapy, resistant to therapy, or in group therapy, Speech Buddies will complement your current practice and can help you overcome the challenges you face on a day-to-day basis. This system will allow you to treat more clients, faster, and more effectively.

Speech Buddies have been tested in numerous clinical studies with the findings that they fix speech problems and they do it quickly. Speech Buddies have been shown to be so effective that they were presented at the 2012 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s conference, showing that kids learn 2 to 4 times faster.

View the Tabs for additional information including videos and case studies!

Key Features:

  • Trains correct tongue placement during active speech
  • Supported by rigorous clinical trials
  • Research has shown that children learn an average of twice as fast with Speech Buddies.[1]
  • Reduce your caseload dramatically and save your district thousands
  • Improve group therapy effectiveness
  • Enable learning breakthroughs
  • Easily to learn how to use in 10 minutes
  • Online resources enable home practice and "carryover"
  • Made with BPA free FDA grade biocompatible plastics and colorant
  • Easy to clean - use mild soap and water or dip quickly in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Clorox Germicidal wipes are also appropriate. Rinse thoroughly with water before using

Proven to help children age three and older with:

  • Speech and articulation disorders of all severities and several types, including hearing impairment (with or without cochlear implants), autism spectrum disorder, or no known cause.
  • Childhood apraxia of speech.
  • Acquired apraxia of speech from stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Accent modification where English sounds are misarticulated

[1] “Examining the Clinical Application of Intra-Oral Tactile Biofeedback in Short-Duration Therapy”, Gordy Rogers  and Megan Chesin, PSHA Jornal, 4 (2013): 4-18

[2] “Hand-Held Tactile Biofeedback as a Cuing Mechanism to Elicit and Generalize Correct /R/”, Gordy Rogers, Ohio Journal of Speech Language and Audiology (2014): 39-55

[3] Evaluating the Efficacy of Treating Misarticulated /s/ with Tactile Biofeedback - San Diego, American Speech and Hearing Association, 2011, Gordy Rogers and Jessica Galgano.

[4]   Examining the Effectiveness of Tactile Biofeedback in Charter Schools- Atlanta, American Speech and Hearing Association, 2012, Gordy Rogers, Julia Lee, Elise Parmentier.

[5] Treating Misarticulated /r/ with Speech Buddies, Philadelphia, American Speech and Hearing Association, 2010, Gordy Rogers.

[6] Parent Effectiveness in Treating Speech Sound Disorders Through Tactile Biofeedback - San Diego, American Speech and Hearing Association, 2011, Gordy Rogers.

Specifications
Reviews 3
Quality
Price
Value
Effective
Review by
I have used Speech Buddies on new and treatment resistant patients, including those with articulation and phonological delays/disorders and dyspraxia and have seen great results. Several of my clients receiving accent reduction have also benefited significantly from using these tools. Preliminary evidence, as well as my own anecdotal evidence obtained using these tactile biofeedback tools, has done nothing other than begin to convince me of how effective Speech Buddies can be
Quality
Price
Value
Wow!
Review by
I just tried the CH with a 5 year old who had a cleft palate repair. She was able to get the sound on the first try. I have never had anyone get a sound on the first try! It brought tears to her mother's eyes, as she watched and listened
Quality
Price
Value
Designed for Speech Therapy
Review by
Although we don't like to admit it as speech therapists, sometimes we throw our hands down in frustration and have to grab a coffee stirrer or a spoon to help physically guide a patient's tongue to the right spot. I'm so happy that finally a solution exists to accomplish this task in a much more effective, consistent, and professional way. Speech Buddies also enable me to apply this method to a much larger set of sounds including the R sound, one of the trickiest to teach.

3 Item(s)

Write Your Own Review
Only registered users can write reviews. Please Sign in or create an account
Product Use
Product Use/Directions Speech Buddies can be used for:
  • Patients age 3 and older
  • Speech and articulation disorders of all severities, including
    • Vocalic and Consonantal /r/
    • Lateral /s/ and /sh/ errors
  • Deaf and hard of hearing
  • Treatment-resistant students
  • Developmental or acquired Apraxia
  • Accent modification
  • Craniofacial abnormalities (cleft palate)

Rabbit Buddy: R for /r/ distortion. Teaches proper tongue placement to make the perfect R sound. Corrects consonatal and vocalic sounds by training the tongue to unroll and coil in the mouth, a motion that is often difficult to communicate through traditional visual and auditory cues. The child can feel the coil unwind when the R is pronounced correctly. The coil does not unwind when R is pronounced incorrectly.

Seal Buddy: S for /s/ distortion. Teaches proper tongue placement to make the perfect S sound. Corrects both frontal and lateral errors by training the tongue placement at the correct depth within the mouth. Helps both tongue placement and airflow to fix a "lisp" or "slushy" /s/ sound.

Shark Buddy: SH for /sh/ distortion. Teaches proper tongue placement to make the perfect SH sound. Corrects frontal and lateral errors by teaching tongue placement at the correct depth within the mouth. Helps both tongue placement and airflow to fix a "lisp" or "slushy" /sh/ sound.

Lion Buddy: L for /l/ distortion. Teaches proper tongue placement to make the perfect L sound. Trains correct frontal placement by guiding the tongue target behind the upper teeth.

Cheetah Buddy: CH for /ch/ distortion. Teaches proper tongue placement to make the perfect CH sound. Helps train proper positioning by guiding the tongue to the correct spot on the alveolar ridge.

How Speech Buddies Work Inside the Mouth
Documents
Training
Faq
Faq Should I incorporate Speech Buddies into my practice?

Speech Buddies are the highest standard of care. As a speech-language pathologist, Speech Buddies help you provide the highest standard of speech therapy care that your clients deserve and you wish to provide. By using Speech Buddies in your clinic, you are serving your clients with advanced technology and evidence-based practice.



Effectively involve parents
  • It has been clinically proven that involving parents in the speech learning process results in better outcomes. Help your clients achieve their full potential by involving parents with Speech Buddies

Speech Buddies offer you a technological advantage over your colleagues
  • Be a leader. 94% of SLPs surveyed indicated that they would like to integrate more technology into their practice to help provide the best possible solutions for their clients.6 Join the movement to incorporate Speech Buddies into your speech therapy practice.

Spread your influence
  • Speech Buddies allow you to treat more clients more effectively.
  • Using Speech Buddies in your speech therapy practice will help you reach more people and help them get better results.

What types of students can I treat with Speech Buddies?

Speech Buddies have helped speech therapy patients age four and older with:

  • Speech and articulation disorders of all severities and several types, including hearing impairment (with or without cochlear implants), autism spectrum disorder, or no known cause.
  • Childhood apraxia of speech
  • Acquired apraxia of speech from stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Accent modification where English sounds are misarticulated Speech Buddies are still being evaluated for:
  • Speech and articulation disorders associated with neuromuscular weakness, cerebral palsy, paralysis and Down syndrome, swallowing disorders (dysphasia), and craniofacial abnormalities (cleft palate).

Sounds good, but how do I know that Speech Buddies really work?

First, read more about the rigorous clinical trials that show that Speech Buddies make a big difference in speech therapy in our "Documents" product tab. Then check out various third-party Product Reviews where researchers have tried our products with their students in our "Testimonials" product tab. Our 30-day satisfaction guarantee makes it easy to give them a try.

Do Speech Buddies work with entire words or just with the sound by itself?
Speech Buddies can be used by your students to practice both words and syllables. It is best to use simple syllables when you start using Speech Buddies and gradually start to use the Buddies with words.

When pronouncing a word they can be used for sounds at the beginning, middle and end of the word. Use the word list provided in our instruction manual for exercises with syllables, words, and sentences that are tailored to be used with Speech Buddies.

When will I see results with Speech Buddies?
Getting results from Speech Buddies will vary between children. Some see results right away as a child has an "aha" moment and understands how to produce the sound correctly. Others take a bit more time and practice and have a more gradual improvement. We suggest using your Speech Buddy at every lesson for about 10-15 minutes. After a couple of weeks, you should start seeing the results!

Does the S, SH, and CH Speech Buddies work for lateral as well as frontal errors?
Yes! Speech Buddies work with lateral errors for all of these sounds. Students with lateral errors benefit from Speech Buddies in one of two ways: either the Speech Buddy encourages them to pull their tongue tip forward, which encourages airflow to pass through the front of the mouth or the target itself helps teach children to channel air around the target and through the device.

Does the R Speech Buddy work with vocalic R as well as consonantal R?
Yes! The Rabbit Speech Buddy works for both vocalic and consonantal R errors. If you are working on consonantal R, position the Buddy forward in the student’s mouth. If you are working on vocalic R, position the Buddy more central or further back in the mouth to make the sound correctly.

How should I clean my set of Speech Buddies?

To wash your Speech Buddies, use mild soap and water or dip quickly in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Rinse thoroughly with water.





6 Gordy Rogers, Technology Adoption Survey: Speech Language Pathologists and Parents, 2010.

Testimonials
Testimonials

"I am a Speech Pathologist and have used Speech Buddies on new patients and treatment resistant patients, including those with articulation and phonological delays/disorders and dyspraxia and have seen great results. Several of my clients receiving accent reduction have also benefited significantly from using these tools. Preliminary evidence, as well as my own anecdotal evidence obtained using these tactile biofeedback tools, has done nothing other than begin to convince me of how effective Speech Buddies can be."
- Dr. Jessica Galgano, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, Director, Open Lines Speech and Communication


"I was introduced to Speech Buddies at the ASHA conference in Philly this year. As soon as I saw the research results from their study, I knew I had to have them! What a wonderful tool for tactile feedback it has been for teaching kids how to correct such things as lateral lisps, depalatization of SH for S (you can use the tools to help kids feel the difference), and the CH tool can be used to elicit velars K and G by pushing down the tongue. My school principal gave me a glowing review for my observation when he saw how helpful technology is in speech practice. Definitely has helped me to "graduate" more students this year! Highly recommend for all SLPs!!"
- Jessica Newell, SLP, Northeastern School District, PA


"Although we don't like to admit it as speech therapists, sometimes we throw our hands down in frustration and have to grab a coffee stirrer or a spoon to help physically guide a patient's tongue to the right spot. I'm so happy that finally a solution exists to accomplish this task in a much more effective, consistent, and professional way. Speech Buddies also enable me to apply this method to a much larger set of sounds including the R sound, one of the trickiest to teach."
- Pamela Ely, M.S. CCC-SLP, Owner, The Ely Center


"I just tried the CH with a 5 year old who had a cleft palate repair. She was able to get the sound on the first try. I have never had anyone get a sound on the first try! It brought tears to her mother's eyes, as she watched and listened."
- Maryann Kaminsky, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, Director, In Plain English
Warnings
Choking Hazard No
Sterile No

You May Be Interest In

Navigating through the elements of the carousel is possible using the tab key. You can skip the carousel or go straight to carousel navigation using the skip links.
Clorox Germicidal Disinfectant
Clorox Germicidal Disinfectant

Starting at $18.99

Choose Options
Chat with an Agent Now