3Yr Old Omitting Ending Sounds on Some Words.

My almost 3 year old says "nown" for down and I was told this is normal. I also heard dropping the repeating sound was normal. I recently took my son to Scottish Rite and had his speech assessed. They were very helpful and my child had fun with the assessor. Having my child assessed set my mind at ease. It's free and the appointment is usually within the month of calling.

I'm surprised your pediatrician hasn't suggested you get an evaluation from a speech therapist. My son (who is now 9) wasn't making ending sounds (and other sounds, as well) and we found out that he had weak tongue and jaw muscles. He did exercises for them, had speech therapy and 6 years later, we still have some issues. It is NEVER too early to follow up on this. Take it from someone who has been on this road for a long time. Please take the time now to find out if it is a true development issue or not.

p.s. My daughter (who is 4 years older) starting taling at 15 months and by 2 was understandable 90% of the time. Each child is different.

My middle son did that at the same age, mine was a bit worse, because as his Mom I only understood him about 50% of the time.... We contacted the early ed program with our school district and had him tested. It was really interesting to learn that when they test, they look for three different parts to the words and in common terms they are the first, middle and last sounds. They then gave us percentages, he said the first part 95% of the time, Middle 80% of the time and the last part only 30% of the time. Which they said he just needed some speech therapy to train him to slow down and say the full word.

The best part, they had the speech therapy there and I had already paid for it in my taxes, so we went once a week for the school year and he was talking great.

So I would start with your school district's early education program, ours here is called Parents as Teachers. Good Luck!

My son just turned 3 end of January and he does the same thing. He also sometimes leaves the letters off the beginning of the words. He will be going to preschool screening next month so I will be looking into it. My PAT (parents as teachers) lady said she will talk to a speech therapist. I try to work with my son to get him to to prounounce the words better.

My daughter was doing this. After turning 3 she was evaluated and was determined that she would benefit from speech therapy. she has been going for 5 months and we have seen a remarkable improvement. Go for a pre-school screening in your school district. if your child qualifies for speech therapy it will be free. and definitely worth it.

My 3 1/2 year old has been dropping the begining and ending sounds of words. I have worked with the local school district with the early education program and have an IEP. An early education speech therapist comes to his daycare 2 days a week and he is making remarkable changes in his speech. He is still hard to communicate with, but it is looking much brighter. I would have him evaluated.
I also discovered most insurance companies do not cover developmental delays for speech therapy.

As the mother of a 4 1/2 year old who's had speech therapy since 18 months, I would say to get it checked out. Your pediatrician can help with where to go first. We had an evaluation at St. Louis Children's Hospital first. Speech therapy has been "play time" for my son. It's fun for him and not a bad thing. There's no reason to put it off, especially if you find a problem, the sooner it's addressed, the better. Some things are developmentally normal and some are not. Let a professional tell you.

I would have representatives from the school district or early interventionists evaluate him. There is a federal law called PL-942 (I believe that is the correct title) and it requires free evaluation and treatment for children aged 0-21 years.
My son was evaluated and has had speech therapy now for almost four years. He went from barely being able to be understood to almost 80% fluency and is very clear to understand. His speech therapy was even cut in half just a few months ago and when he starts kindergarten in the fall, he may not need any according to his teachers! Seek help. It is worth it and by law MUST be FREE!
Good luck!

get him to a speech theapist now. My daughter has been going for 2 and half yrs and she is getting better but still has more to go. I wished I wouldnt have listen to my ped. and not worry. because she is going to kindergarten in the fall and I want her ready. get him there now. he is not going to grow out of it. That what I thought. everyone told me oh soandso didnt talk till... I heard that forever.

Hi H. -

I'm an Speech Language Pathologist and would recommend getting an evaluation for him. Start with your school district's early childhood education program. If he meets criteria for speech therapy, there are a multitude of therapy options for him... not just at the school, but at your home too.

Make sure you are educated on your rights as a parent of a child that may need special services. An IEP (Individualized Education Plan) could follow - this is a plan that sets goals, timelines, etc. for your child... including where therapy is and how often.

* Get his hearing checked! If he's had a lot of ear infections, this is especially true.

In the meantime here are a few at-home techniques to try. Keep it playful and lighthearted - not desk/pen activities.

1.) Whe playing with blocks, point to each block as you say the sounds of a word. Increases print awareness if you use printed blockes. Example: Spell 'D' 'O' 'G' with printed blocks, point to each block as you say the sounds individually. Push them together and say 'doG' (emphasis on 'G'). See if he repeats.

2.) Similar concept as above, but with jumping activities. (All boys like to jump, don't they? :) ) Start with a word, drag it out and jump at the final sound. See if he can repeat.

Hope this helps and good luck!

5 kiddos - you ARE busy! :)

J.

My son had the exact same problem. I also have an older daughter that started saying words at 10 months! It is not a phase. When he went in for his 2 year checkup, I asked his Dr about it. She said he should be speaking many words clearly. She referred us to a speech therapist for evaluation. He started speech therapy at age 2. My husband didn't think I should ask the Dr about it then. My son would get very frustrated and upset because we couldn't understand what he trying to say sometimes! It was really hard for me to see that! I never put him in preschool for fear he would get even more upset if teachers or other children there couldn't understand him. His speech therapist was so great with him! After only 5 or 6 months we saw a great improvement! He quit going the summer he turned 5. That fall he started kindergarten with no problems at all! I'm very happy that I started him early! Good luck! I'm not sure where you live, but i have a great recommendation if you are in Wichita!

I have heard of this, it is pretty common. My son did the opposite. He can get evaluated through his school district, they pick up any of the kids after three years of age. They can then set him up with speech, probably once a week. It doesn't mean he is behind as most kids at this age do something like this. They just help them by teaching them how to do those things and then they can move on with their language developement and ususally have a head start.

I think it's pretty normal. When you have time then correct it slowly. Ask him to repeat it to you. I wouldn't be to demanding about it. I never corrected my little nephew because I knew all to quickly "Ant LaLa" would never be heard again. Time goes by too fast...

L.

My oldest son had similar problems speaking and I was about the only one who could understand him. He spoke in short words usually and we were advised to get therapy. In those days, he's 40 years old now, KU medical center had an excellent program and we took him there. They had a window so I could watch as they worked with him without his being able to see me. He was made to listen better, slow down what he did say, and also they gave us flash cards with pictures of things on one side and when asked," What is this?" and he'd respond with 'car' he was taught to say,
" That is a car." Complete sentences only so maybe you could try that while waiting for therapy and see if it helps. It only took a few appointments and us working at home to help our son.

i think it may be a phase, my son is 2 1/2 and i have noticed him getting lazy with some words - for example, my two year old now calls me "mom" instead of "mommy", and says "nuh" instead of "no" - it drives me nuts! lol. but i notice that when i ask him over and over to repeat words he knows, he gets lazy and says "i don't know" sometimes too. i think the best thing we can do is just be a good example and enunciate correctly. the whole talking thing has lost some of it's glitter now that they've been doing it awhile, and they're experimenting. i've heard lots of kids do similar things. my younger siblings all had their own variations of words, i think it was a way of testing their independance, and they grew out of it (i'm sure i did the same thing too). if it goes on for more than a few months then maybe i'd have his hearing evaluated, but i wouldn't stress about it just yet. kids are so wierd! (especially those ornery little boys!)

My grandson, at that age, was leaving off the beginning consonants from every word except those beginning with p, m, or d. It was very difficult for people who weren't around him a lot, to understand him. The doctor said that they didn't even address speech issues that early. Well, he just turned four and is speaking just fine. So, I'd talk to your pediatrician and see what he/she recommends first, before getting too worried.

Hi H.!

My 11 year-old daughter does the very same thing. In her instance, she's hearing impaired and wears bi-lateral hearing aids. Not to freak you out or anything, but you may need to get his hearing checked if you haven't already.

Also, my son did the same thing, but it didn't last very long. He'll be three in May. I still took him to have a hearing evaluation done on him to make sure. I think it's just a matter of development.

My son went from calling Dad, "da" to "dat". His "T's" are very stong. He usually puts a, "T" in any "S" word. I think it's kinda cute.

You may also want to get him enrolled in Parents As Teachers. Call your local school district and ask them about it. If you've heard of it already, and I'm rambling on, I apologize. :)

Hope I've helped!! ls

Please contact Parents as Teachers thru your local Mo school. Ask for a speech evaluation. This should be free. If your child needs help it is better to get it early.