Impulse for Speech

Lia enjoys expressing herself. She talks easily and animatedly about her family and their many activities.

While speaking during the word games, in which one throws the ‘comet – ball’, she sometimes has a little trouble thinking of words and ‘throwing on the breath’. This improves as she becomes familiar with the various subjects. Free association of words is very good for the breath, remembering to let go of the breath and throw the comet simultaneously. Lia’s breath is somewhat shallow at times. Taking full breaths while walking and talking, and breathing fully out from the diaphragm helps to centre and balance the whole being in a harmonious way. Sophia’s mind is very active and tends to rush ahead of the speech. Muttering words quickly can result. Better articulation creates a stronger straighter backbone

In the Story in Motion with speech exercise verses, Lia plays along, inventing her own imaginations at times in the course of the happenings. Indeed her creativity and artistic development are advanced for her age.

She is interested in the sense world about her, and needs eventually to find the boundary between herself and the sense world. Her tendency to lisp shows an overbalance in this connection between self and world. She needs to pull back into herself a bit. – and ‘ to look before she leaps.’ She is quick witted and rather choleric and sanguine in her speech and movements, though she has a watery side as well.

Flow of Speech

Breathing from the diaphragm will help the healthy flow of well-articulated speech. Using the breath is a way to help one come down into the limbs. Rhythm and varied movements, followed by more relaxed songs and verses, lead into the inner feeling, which is strong in Lia, when she opens up to the process of the story. Clay modelling and colour work afterward help lead to the inner quiet in the forming forces. The right and left crossing experience can be gradually strengthened in Lia and brought into harmony. This activity is beneficial to the whole incarnation process.

The Consonants

Alliteration and strong work on the consonants, with more precise articulation can also aid in the posture, as can the preliminary exercise ‘Here on the earth I stand….’ The bringing of the last phrase in one sentence to the beginning of the next in a poetic rhythm, helps to strengthen the consonants involved, as well as the will and memory. ‘The path before me’……Spiralling inwards and later outwards, and ending with another inward spiral, as the story goes on will help to awaken consciousness.

The S is still in need of improvement, but there has already been some progress. Various exercises have helped to begin overcoming the lisping.

Becoming aware of and enjoying many words with s, sp, spr, ts, st, str, sh, sl, sk, sm, squ, sv, sw, x, z –alone or in verses can always be practiced.

Imagination, playfulness, and humour without too much self-consciousness play a part in the healing.

The whistling, whispering, and/or smiling while speaking, consonant exercises with KLSFM, forwards and backwards,

speaking while throwing the comet over the head backwards, as well as

the speech pathology exercise with tongue and teeth, using currants, can be useful. All tend to pull the tongue into the mouth. The place just behind the teeth where l, d, t, n, and the trilled r sound needs to become more awakened.

Of course, differentiating the ‘th, the’, from the various S combinations, remembering that it is never necessary to stick out the tongue while forming these, is also important. So there is not a lack of ways and means to conquer lisping.

The Vowels

Lia has an equally good connection to the AH, AU, UU, OH, and AEI vowels as she does to the EE, A, and UE. She has a blood-circulation emphasis in her constitution, rather than the nerve-sense polarity. These can become more in balance. She appears to be oriented in spatial relationships. Courage and enthusiasm will be in her nature. She is socially inclined, I believe, and will tend to be a leader.

Course of Therapy

Building up a sense of rhythm in movement stimulates the flexibility and versatility of feeling reactions. Lia is quite musical and can remember spontaneous melodies. The story culminates in the meeting of ‘Theophilus Thistledown’ at present, and the ‘Take your staff and wander’ to the sea. There the spiral unfolds and breathes out in the movement in space. The sea-caves to come shall bring an inner world experience again, in which there shall be an exercise in right-left coordination.

Lia has been able to bring renewed enthusiasm to verses, which she already ‘knows’. A sense for quality, and not only ‘memorising’, is becoming more apparent. The text of the Story in Motion will soon be available for practise in the future.

Lia’s artwork and sculpture should also be encouraged. Attention to detail and more dexterous working with the plasticine has been successfully completed. The hurry to ‘get done’ does not need to be emphasized.

Recommendations

It would be beneficial for Lia to continue this therapy, after a pause. Basically eight to twelve week terms are recommended. There is much that can be accomplished in the interim until the next sessions begin, by practicing the exercises that have already been given in a daily rhythm.