Speech Development - Columbia, MO

L., I'm with Ruth Ann. I think he'll be fine. If the school thinks there's a problem, I think most of them have a speech teacher that will take kids out and work with them. At least when my kids were in school, they did. I babysat a boy who was VERY dutchy when he went to school. The speech teacher worked with him and found that there was a malformation in his mouth. An orthodontist created an appliance that made all the difference in the world! He's grown now, and speaks just like everyone else. I'd relax and wait to see if the school thinks there's something that needs to be addressed. :o)

L....I am not a speech therapist but I would say just relax...wait until he gets into school and they will know whether this is something that needs intervention or not. It sounds pretty normal to me..and you say he CAN make the sounds when he isolates them...so it is just a matter of practice, it sounds like to me!!! Now is not the time to be putting a lot of pressure on him...or on you...as he gets ready to take that big leap into Kindergarten!!!
R. Ann

I actually disagree with people who tell you to "just relax." I am a teacher and I wish more parents showed concern and took a proactive approach to their child's development. I would look into speech therapy. If the school does not offer it, then they should at least be able to guide you in the right direction, or you can contact the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic (for children with speech/language needs). There is a timeline of articulation for certain sounds, but generally by age 5, children should be making the sounds you indicated. My daughter is 3 and has been in speech therapy since about 2 1/2. Prior to 1998, it was recommended that children be making many of these sounds by age 3, but around 2000, they upped the age to 5. However, many "old school" therapists still agree with the "3 year old" recommendation because all research indicates that early intervention is the key to success. Having taught grades 3-8, I have seen junior high children that still say the "f" for "th" and still cannot say their "r" correctly. This doesn't usually correct itself, but it is easily able to be corrected with the proper help. This certainly isn't a reason to panic, but I definitely think you should get the help your child needs. Why not give our kids the tools they need at the beginning of their school career to set them up for success?

My son(5) has a speech delay that sounds very similar to what you described. I asked the pediatrician and he told us to call Parents as Teachers for an evaluation. We did and they found him to be significantly delayed for his age. They set him up for speech once a week - this was last year during preschool - free of charge. This year when he enters school he will continue with speech during the week at school. It can't hurt to call P.A.T. first, there may be a speech program in your district too, and it would be best to catch it as early as possible.

L.,
It can't hurt to have him evaluated (your school district should be able to do it or know who can). It is FREE due to federal law and if services are needed they must be provided FREE!
It sounds fairly normal to me; however, with school becoming so very academic these days, I'd err on the side of caution and have him evaluated so he receives the help as early as possible if help is needed.
My youngest received speech for almost four years (age 2 until age 5 1/2. He recently "tested out" and will start kindergarten tomorrow! Speech therapy is available for him if the need resurfaces; however, right now, all of the teachers feel that he will be fine.
Good luck with your son. Remember to trust your instincts.

Hi L. -

I am a speech language pathologist and can say you've gotten a lot of good advice, but ultimately, it's your (family's) decision.

Out of just knowing what you've outlined above and assuming that his language skills are fine, here's what I'd recommend:
* Have him evaluated by your school district because of your concerns, even though the examples you've given are somewhat age appropriate. These are later-developing sounds and some kids just have a wider range of time to fully acquire them.
* If the school determines no therapy is needed or if he doesn't qualify for services, I'd give it 3-6 months and see if he's improved just by being around kids his own age. Kindergarten will be teaching him a lot about letters and their corresponding sounds... social peer pressure to 'talk right' might help him 'grow-out-of-it'... lots of things can happen in the first 6 months.
* If the school determines therapy is needed, you have many options as to 'how' that happens depending on your child's individual learning style and what would suit him best (i.e. pull-out therapy, in-the-classroom, group sessions, etc.)
* In the meantime, innunciate the words YOU use when talking to him, emphasizing the sounds you'd like to hear. * Play with 'rhyming' words or point out what you see in books that have the target sound (sh) vs. the error sound (s). Just like your example: Sue vs. shoe. Can he hear the difference?
* Don't be the 'speech police' just yet. Wait until his evaluation to become too worried :)

Just my two pennies - I hope it helps. Good luck with his first 'big-boy' school experience!

J.

I had two that did that too. Kindergarten will catch it or you could also bring it to their attention. They have speech therapy at school and will begin working with him three times a week or whatever they see necessary. They will do a great job and keep him on for as long as they feel he needs it. I have four kids and one of them, in 2nd grade now, the school brought a small speech problem I didn't see to my attention and took care of that for us.

You can work on modelingthe correct way to say the word, and also showing him how to hold his mouth/ where his tongue should be, there are very simple exercises you can do, it is more training the mouth and remembering. My own daughter had a lot of the exact same speech issues, I brought it up as a concern when she started school as well but they told me it was all developementally normal and that she would out grow it and so she didn't get any speech at all. The teacher who did speech did give me advice on what exercises to put her through to help develope it but the school didn't do anything. I honestly think she needed speech, she will be in 3rd grade this year and still says her brothers name wrong...his name is Tyler, it comes out Tyla. If you are concerned and the ped says everything is fine when school starts talk to your sons teacher about speech, I have been told time and time again that my daughter is just being "lazy" by not saying words correctly and it really is irritating because I "know" my little one and that just isn't her. I truelly believe we are given instincts and we don't listen to them often enough ( I am a self doubter too ) when you feel something isn't right or that your child needs extra help never be afraid to get a second opinion = ). I hope that your sons school has a better policy for speech therapy than ours did .

B.

I think you are doing the exact right thing. Helping him witht the sounds when you notice them. Your childs teacher will let you know if he needs extra help. But I weren't worry to much. I with a teachers aid for both of my older child when they were in kindergarten and I would say at least half the class still made the same sounds you discribed. sss for sh and so on.

Good luck

Good morning, L..
When I lead a special education team I noticed that many of our children with speech, reading & focusing difficulties benefitted from hands-on learning methods. It was particularly interesting one day when a child who was working with me began learning to use some of these mental tools. Then he went to his first speech class. The list of articulation errors that had been present the previous week was gone. I know this is just one case but I've found there's a long list of early childhood difficulties & talents that point out children who are picture thinkers.

Early difficulties with speech can be a sign of a child who has a natural "visual-spatial" or "picture-thinking" learning style. You may find reading The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D. Davis helpful. I know this book has changed my life!

Have a great day!
C.
www.onpointlearning.org

Don't wait to seek help. It sounds cute now, but he is developing habits that take a while to re-condition. I have a 4 year old that already has an IEP with Early Childhood. There are a lot of resources in Columbia available to help with speech development. You can contact the School District and they can get you the correct contacts for your childs age ###-###-####). If he's starting Kindergarten this month then I would talk with the school counselor to get him started in Speech therapy thru the school.
Don't wait, kids notice difference and it could hender his social development.

These are very commonly mispronounced sounds, and often the last ones that kids get. My guess is that your son will get these sounds on his own within the next year. If he goes to public Kindergarten, the school will have a speech therapist who will be able to tell you whether your son's speech development is normal and what you can do to help your son work on his sounds. My oldest daughter, and now my almost-three-year-old son had lots of trouble with the beginning s blends and would only pronounce the s, for example, they went to "sool" every morning and would wear a "setter" if it got chilly. If they caught cold they would "seeze." The speech therapist at my daughter's school didn't even recommend therapy, and my daughter just suddenly started getting them on her own. Don't worry.