Speech

Replies

• el_pinko

  Dec 21, 2009 6:29PM

  Hi hun,my son Zach is 3 years 3 months and he was a very late speaker, he used to talk in his own way but nothing clear, lately he now speaks away but does say some things wrong and even when i correct him and he says it properly, the next time he will say it wrong again.
  
  My son has a tongue tie but doesn't seem to effect his speech, hasn't caused any problems with feeding etc as a baby so i think he is just a late talker and if he and your son were a even 6 months younger there would be no problems with them pronouncing it wrongly. Just keep correcting him and sometimes i feel it is just a habit, if they thought that is what it is called originally it is hard for them to get it right all the time,if you know what i mean...?
  
  I wouldn't worry hun and speak to your health visitor if concerned,i was concerned when he just turned 3 but my hv said they wouldn't refer to a speech therapist or anything until 3 and a half so maybe you could get referred if concerned x x

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• _B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-Y_

  Dec 21, 2009 6:30PM

  hi hun, just saw ur post on toddler so thought i would come and check this out.
  when my eldest was 3 she was referred for a hearing test and speech therapy by hv as she couldnt pronounce certain sounds. it did take a while- a good 8mths before she got an appoinment!! any way hearing was fine and was discharged from speech therapy- they did confirm that she couldnt pronounce these sounds but said it was totally normal as they dont normally pick these up until the age of 4/5. now i have another problem....she started school in sept, had a hearing test at school last mth (i didnt know this was happening until she told me that she went to see 2 ladies who put funny things on her eyes and ears so kind of figured she meant the school nurse) and a note attached to her bag saying she failed the hearing test?!?
  she does have trouble pronouncing "the" and "l" comes out as "y" so im not sure what the next step is at the moment. i think ur lo should be ok as speech therapists arnt too concerned at that age but do speak to gp to see if you can get a hearing test booked in for him. sorry if ive babbled a bit to much. xxx

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• tanroe

  Dec 21, 2009 6:33PM

  My son is 3 and has started seeing a speech therapist, but before he did they suggested i get his hearing tested. Apparently alot of kids with speech issues have hearing problems, so they like to rule that out first!! Have you seen anyone about his speech. Its probably more an issue with his speech than his hearing.
  xx

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• waiting4baby

  Dec 21, 2009 7:48PM

  Hi my son is only 2 but noticed your thread on toddler so popped over for a nosey.
  It's always worth getting hearing checked out even if it's just to rule out any problems. It may well be that he's just getting to grips with his language but there's no harm in checking. My brother had a friend who had a child thought to be deaf, they did tests at home by banging pans together Etc and the child jumped so they thought he was fine. It turned out the reason he was flinching was from the air with the action of the pans being swiped. I'm not saying this to worry you but is it possible when you did your 'buddy' 'buggy' test he could see your mouth moving differently?
  My brother was actually referred for speech therapy because he couldn't say 'strawberry' as it turns out it was because he had a high palette and nothing more exciting than that.
  my son is visually impaired and could easily go unnoticed without a specialist knowledge, they check everything with him because they like to say without doubt what the cause of speech delay or whatever is caused by and not make assumptions.
  Think I've babbled but hope I've helped a little

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• campbellly

  Dec 31, 2009 10:57AM

  Hi there. I'm a paediatric speech and language therapist so I'll try and answer your questions. In terms of speech sounds, it sounds as if your child is 'fronting'. This is the most common type of speech substitution in children and happens when sounds that should be made by the back of the tongue (k and g) and made by the front of the tongue which means they are produced as t and d respectively. This is a normal process up until around 4 years of age. In my department, we won't treat a child who is fronting until between 4 and 4.5 years of age so I woudn't worry about this just now. Just keep an eye on things. If you do decide that you want an appointment with speech and language therapy later on, then you can contact your local department directly. There is no need to go through a health visitor or GP and doing this can actually hold up the process as it puts in an unnecessary 'middle man'. You can even call them just for advice should you want it.
  
  Butterfly - it is still normal for a child to have problems producing the 'th' sound up until around 6/7 years of age. We would expect 'l' to have come by around 5.5/6 years of age so again, this is a later sound.
  
  Hope that helps. x

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• Deli3

  Jan 12, 2010 6:39AM

  campbelly, that def helps.
  My children are all late speakers. My first (now 18) was fronting. Gate was date, car was ta etc.. however, when they tested her hearing she had profound hearing loss in one ear and only 50% in the other ear. She had grommits in and was fine from then on.
  My 3rd born also fronted. His school referred him at 4 but the speech therapist said that in Reception they work on sounds so much that by the end of that year his speech was fine.
  
  My 4yr old seems OK so far and my almost one year old never shuts up..lol
  
  I do think that ruling out hearing probs is a good idea but is not always the cause. Also, if your child has speech problems don't let it worry you too much as so much can be done to help them. i remember my first born having exercises like pretending to lick a lolly, ahh like a crocodile, eeee like a mouse and ooooo like the wind. Also, make sure you dont correct them. If they say it wrong just say ' Yes, theres a car, well done!' dont say ' no its not a ta its a car...say car. ' this can make it all so much worse.
  
  Good luck
  
  d xx

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