Solving the Speech Sound Mystery with Catherine Grizzard

Have you ever wondered why age norms alone cannot tell you if a child needs speech therapy? Are you ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about treatment sequencing?

In this episode of SLP Full Disclosure, host Michelle sits down with her friend and school-based SLP Catherine Grizzard to explore the world of articulation and speech sound disorders. With almost 20 years of school-based experience, Catherine brings clarity and confidence to a topic that trips up even seasoned clinicians. Together, they navigate the gray areas of speech sound norms, challenge outdated therapy sequencing, and equip you with the tools to make eligibility and dismissal decisions with conviction.

Key Topics Discussed

• Speech Sound Norms: Comparing Sanders (1972) and McLeod and Crowe (2020), and why no single chart should drive your eligibility decisions.
• The Complexity Approach: Understanding the "waterfall" method of targeting later-developing sounds to unlock earlier sounds for free.
• Auditory Discrimination: Using minimal pairs to build a child's awareness of their own sound errors.
• Tongue Tie Controversies: What the latest research says about the connection (or lack thereof) between tongue ties and speech sound production.
• The Post-Pandemic Rise in Severe Speech Sound Disorders: Exploring how reduced access to visible mouth movement may be shaping outcomes for our youngest learners.
• Structural vs. Treatable Disorders: Recognizing when a physical difference, not a disorder, is driving a child's speech pattern.
• Eligibility and Dismissal: Building the confidence to make evidence-based decisions, even when it means saying "we've done all we can."

Chapters

• 00:00 – Introduction and catching up with Catherine
• 04:11 – Catherine's journey into school-based speech pathology
• 06:20 – Why articulation feels like solving a mystery
• 08:03 – Comparing speech sound norm charts
• 11:23 – The complexity approach and the "waterfall" analogy
• 16:19 – Building awareness through minimal pairs
• 18:27 – The truth about tongue ties
• 20:17 – The rise of severe speech sound disorders post-pandemic
• 24:26 – Structural limitations versus treatable disorders
• 27:23 – Differences versus disorders in eligibility decisions
• 30:27 – Managing plateaued progress and knowing when to dismiss
• 35:55 – Advice for new SLPs facing complex cases

Resources Mentioned

• Sanders (1972), "When Are Speech Sounds Learned?"
• McLeod and Crowe (2020), speech sound acquisition norms
• Holly Storkel (2019), "Using Developmental Norms for Speech Sounds as a Means of Determining Treatment Eligibility in Schools"
• Kelly Farquharson, complexity approach resources
• Theresa Farnham, complexity approach professional development
• Deborah Beckman's Oral Motor Therapy

Guest Spotlight

Meet Catherine Grizzard, M.S., CCC-SLP, NBCT, a school-based speech-language pathologist entering her 20th year in the field and owner of Bright Birmingham Speech Therapy. Catherine holds a bachelor's degree from Auburn University and a master's degree from the University of Montevallo, and she earned her National Board Certification in exceptional needs in 2017. Her passion for solving the "mystery" of severe speech sound disorders, paired with her dedication to mentoring the next generation of SLPs, makes her insight a true gift for anyone in the field.

Connect with Catherine at brightbirminghamspeechtherapy.com or by email at [email protected].

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