Speech Therapist

This was given to me from a local speech therapist:

AGE OF PHONEME DEVELOPMENT
These ages represent the year during which these sounds should be acquired.

Year 3 = b, p, m, n, h, w

Year 4 = k, g, t, d, y, ng

Year 5 = f

Year 6 = v, l

Year 7 = wh, sh, zh, s, r, th, j, z, ch

He is over 3 years old.. so typically the free early childhood prevention services would not apply.

But yes, for enunciation issues.. it is best to see a Speech Therapist... because they have the professional knowledge about how to work with that... and they do an overall assessment, to pinpoint any problem areas that need work on.

My son had speech therapy before 3 years old. He was just a late talker. BUT.. .it gave us enormous knowledge, about speech and how it develops, PER the age of the child... and the mouth coordination development, hence enunciation... and at what age certain sounds are or are not yet developed, yet.
Speech and enunciation... is age based development. Or sometimes there are mouth coordination issues, which a speech therapist can address.

Keep in mind, that talking/speech ability has NOTHING to do with "intelligence." Einstein did not talk until 3 years old and I believe Mozart. And they were geniuses.

My son was late talking... for his age. But, he was assessed, overall, and was found to be even Advanced in development, in several areas. He is also very bright for his age and bi-lingual. But, his late talking was not a reflection of his "intelligence" nor abilities.

Through speech therapy, I as a Mom, have learned many things and technical things, on helping my son. But yes, even when he was not yet fully talking, even other Moms would talk "down" to my son, thinking he was stupid and asking me point blank "what is wrong with him, how come he doesn't talk like a big boy...." Rude. Very rude. My son, of course is not deaf, and HE can hear those comments too.

Seek out at least getting him assessed. Why not? It is only to help your son and/or determine IF he needs help, or if his enunciation is "normal" or not, per his age.

All the best,
Susan

Hi T.,

When my son was 3 1/2 my four year old nephew asked me why he said his name funny. Until that point I had no clue my son may have speech issues. My sister-in-law said she thought he did but had been reluctant to bring it up. I also asked his preschool teacher who agreed he may need some help. My son jumbled sounds like yours and he could not say the letter "V". He could point it out to you but when you asked him, he would point blank say, "I can't say that."

Even though he was not school aged he was evaluated at the elementary school which was his home school. They determined that he did need therapy and placed him in an interactive speech preschool two days a week for a couple of hours. He loved it!

My son stayed in speech therapy through second grade. The only time he was ever teased was by an older boy at a friend's birthday party. It broke my heart. Luckily this child's parent also witnessed his son's bad behavior and disciplined him along with apologizing to all of us. The kids at the school never were a problem. When discussing teasing and speech therapy with teachers I was told that most of the other kids in the class are envious of the ones that get to leave for a little while. This really did seem to be the case.

I truly feel that my son had no "bad" effects from his speech therapy. He is now in sixth grade. Sometimes I miss his sweet little lispy voice. Call your local school to set up an appointment. They make it fun and unintimidating. You will have peace of mind and he will be fine.

Good luck.

C.

Let it alone....he will be fine.

Blessings....

http://isd742.org/ecassessment/assets/SpeechSoundDevelopm...

this chart should answer your questions

.

Contact your local public school. After the age of 3 they will do an evaluation of him and if they see any problems they will also offer any services that are necessary.

Talk with your pediatrician and ask for a referral to your local speech clinic for an evaluation. You could also contact your school district and request a preschool special education referral. Keep in mind that all children have subsitutions at some point- most outgrow them, but it is better to find out than let it go!

T.,

I wouldn't worry about the intelligence of your child, or what other people may think about his intelligence. I know, that is the hard part. I would try and find a speech therapy program for him. I was a professional nanny for twenty years and had several children who were extremely intelligence, reading before three, etc., that had speech issue. It is so much easier for you and your son if someone else works with him, plus, there is so much more than just repeating the sounds and you saying them over and over again. There are muscles that need to be worked on and fun activities to help your son reach his sound development.

good luck

K.

When my daughter was 3/4, she would say that for cat or dod for dog. She would through her back of the throat letters forward. She eventually had her tonsils removed due to other issues. We had an evaluation with a speech therapist and she said that since her tonsils were so large, she was compensating by throwing the letters forward. Our insurance did not consider therapy to be medically necessary so would not cover. However, the therapist did give me a piece of advice. She told me that for the age, some letters do not properly form until later. Also, we patiently asked our daughter to repeat the word, placing the letters at the back of her throat but we did not force her to repeatedly say the words over and over again. Her tonsils were removed during spring break. By the end of the school year, the pre-k teach noticed a difference. You could have an evaluation done but some kids do mispronounce letters during their early years and correct them later. My son did not correctly say the name Veronica until he was 5 and it had nothing to do with his speech or hearing.

BTW, the teasing with my kids didn't really start until end of 1st grade and then it is usually something that happens rather than speech or other. I have noticed thought that some kids pick on the tiniest things arround 3rd or 4th grade--some do it just to be mean and not because of a speech issue.

I am a speech therapist in the schools. Do go through you school district's preschool screening or contact them about your concerns and request a screening. The screening will be free through them. They might refer him for a speech evaluation for the k/g errors in particular. If he qualifies, they would probably have him come in 1-2 times a week to work on those sounds.

Look into your local school district for speech services. They service children age 3 and up for free. The speech therapist and maybe the social worker/psychologist will evaluate your son and see if he is eligible.

I spoke with the speech therapist at the school to discuss my concerns. I ultimately was told that the letters I was complaining about were ones that don't become clearer to a later age. However, she was able to give me suggestions and work sheets to help with them at home. Try your local school. They will want him to come in if he is not attending so that they can assess him.

Most public school districts do an annual pre-school screening. this is to assess the kids to make sure they are on track in their development. I took my kids to this and my oldest did have a speech issue. They then scheduled him time with the school district's speech therapist for 8 or 10 weeks. they really worked with him there and gave us speech exercises to do with him at home. so, i would recommend you call your local school district office to find out their schedule.

Contact your local school district. My son is 3 1/2 and also has articulation issues. He goes 1 hour a week to our local elementary school. There are only 2 kids in the program and they work with them on their specific speech issues. The best part- it is absolutely free (paid for with your tax $).

Since he knows his ABC's, get some flash cards and work with those letters. Find books that have those letters in the characters names or lots of words in the book and help him learn to read it.......just make it like it is normal.....My grandmother was 92 when she died and she always said electridity......not electricity.....no matter how much I tried......today that word makes me smile..........If you have the money for a speech therapist, then that is fine, but I'm not sure you really need one yet.......kids seem to work most things out themselves.......Good luck!

I am no expert but I know the speech teacher used to come into my second grade classroom to check these sounds. It is very normal. As for the teasing, typically that does not start until later (and if the other kids are brought up properly, never) I had a severe stutterer in my class and my students did not tease him at all (the only one who really did was his younger brother)