As a professional I have used Souns in therapeutic play, as a teacher, and as a classroom facilitator; but Souns is so much more personal to me and my family. We introduced Souns to our toddler and enjoyed watching him begin to mouth and sound out the alphabet one symbol at a time. As he began to identify these symbols on placards and traffic signs we started the exciting process of blending sounds and later decoding. During this process my son was identified as having pervasive developmental delays. Now, at age eight, he still works hard on self regulation and focus, but demonstrates fifth grade reading comprehension, is writing in a journal most days, and loves to read at night before he falls asleep.
This personal process helped me to identify other children who were able to learn letter sound recognition using Souns. As a special needs teacher in a DIR/Floortime school I used Souns to give meaning to the alphabetic symbols when children had memorized the letter names. Some of my non-verbal students were able to give the sound of a letter as the first means of language. A child may not be able to say cookie but could grab the “c” cuh to express what s/he wanted.
I have also used Souns to help children who struggle with fine-motor delays. Using the large letters, children are able to “write” words and short sentences by placing the letters together to form phonetically spelled words. The child is able to produce inventive writing while their fine motor skills continue to develop.
Both personally and professionally Souns has proven to be a remarkable tool when introduced playfully and strategically during the appropriate developmental level.
Kellie Porter-Burks M.Ed.
DIR/Floortime Practitioner
Souns Talk Weblog 