What is PROMPT? 

• PROMPT=Prompts for Restructuring Oral Musculature Phonetic Targets
• Evaluation and treatment method
• Utilized as a therapy tool to give children and adults manual sensory input for how sounds are produced in isolation and within words. As stated by the program, the uses of PROMPT are to “develop an interactive focus for oral communication, an integrated multi-sensory (tactile- kinesthetic) associative mapping for cognitive or linguistic concepts, and balance or restructure speech sub systems at the sound, word, or phrase level.”
• Dynamic method that is defined as a philosophy, approach, system, and technique
• Helps with neuromotor-programming and planning

PROMPT is research and evidence-based through studies conducted by founder Deborah Hayden and other contributors to the field.

• The sensorimotor experience (direct tactile and kinesthetic manipulation) may change internal representation and create new pathways in the brain that affect both recognition and use of sensorimotor information
• Tactile input is important in changing speech motor action or patterns of movement for speech production
• Speech requires many different elements in both sensory and motor production in order to be successful

Who is PROMPT used with?

• Children and adults with a variety of speech related disorders
• Successfully used with:
  • Phonological disorders, Apraxia of Speech, Developmental Delays,
    Dysarthria, Hearing Impairments, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Fluency Disorders
    that are developmental or acquired

What does Treatment consist of?

• Activities are based upon the system analysis observation (method of assessment) that ranks an individual according to a hierarchy; prioritize areas for intervention based upon areas of weakness that a client presents with
• Each sound and combination of sounds in English has a particular placement that is manifested by tactile cues at the sound, word, phrase, sentence, and discourse level
• Specific targets are selected based upon child’s current level of functioning according to the hierarchy and modified as treatment progresses
• The clinician maps out these sounds to help the child with patterns of movement that he/she has difficulty with for speech production
• To better understand PROMPT, please come see a demonstration!

Citation: Introduction to Technique: A Manual by The PROMPT Institute