Today at the end of Judd's (4) Kindermusik class the teacher pulled me aside and asked if his preschool teachers had raised any concern of his speech? As she believes he needs some help with certain sounds because he's got a huge tongue apparently!!

Now nothing has been said by his preschool teachers, but I am going to have a chat to them and see what they think. I do know when he gets excited that he gets a bit jumbled up but I thought that was fairly normal.

Oh and there are some letter sounds that he has trouble with like T but again I thought fairly normal.

I'm feeling a bit deflated after her comments and feel sick to my stomach that something might be wrong with my baby sad

So what issues did you or would you take your child to speech therapy?

Ro, Bella mispronounces words all the time.

Blue or glue is poo.
Bread is bed.
Maree (her middle name) is wee.

She has trouble with certain letters and sounds. She'll say them in some words but just can't get it right in others. I've never been concerned about it. Like you, I thought it was normal!

I'll be watching this thread.
Hopefully you get some helpful answers smile

my eldest went at 2 as he was not speaking much or would just say ah ah and point.The youngest probably should have had therapy at the same age too but I had some health issues myself at the time and it was overlooked.He had some speech therapy through school in kindy, he just was not articulating words very well and still doesn't all the time.

Thanks Kat. He's only 4 after all and only just started preschool and he was a late talker to start with.

Both DH and I don't have any issues with how he talks but then I wonder is that because we just "understand" him because we're used to the way he talks??????

Anyway I guess I'll see what the preschool thinks - if they have concerns aswell then I'll have to take it more onboard sad

Hey, if it makes you feel any better, we've had DS booked in for speech therapy since he was 18 months old. He just started going (2.5yrs) and although he's in the lower end of average...he's not below average!! haha

I mentioned his slight lisp and apparently that's normal until around 4yrs, he keeps mixing up his sss ffff and www and that's normal too. He just doesn't have a wide enough range of action words and that's their only concern.

Do you know why they're concerned? Is his actual speech or pronunciation? According to DS' speech therapist, pronouncing TH doesn't usually occur until 4-5yrs, as does R sounds (mid-word or end of word) and producing a range of clear initial and final consonants (e.g Car Gone) occurs between 2-4yrs.

You could take him to a CHN and ask them if he needs to be assessed.

Good luck, don't stress, it's nothing you've done. Sometimes kids just excel in different areas and are slower in some areas. For example, speech is DS' slow area and yet he excels in fine and gross motor skills. smile It'll be fine.

Good luck, don't stress, it's nothing you've done. Sometimes kids just excel in different areas and are slower in some areas. For example, speech is DS' slow area and yet he excels in fine and gross motor skills. smile It'll be fine.

Thanks.

To be honest she couldn't really explain to me what the exact issue was just said he had trouble pronouncing some sounds (I think that's what she said - I was a bit shell shocked to be honest) and that she had had to ask him to repeat something a fair few times before she understood what he was saying.

The main thing that worried me was that she said she doesn't normally interfere or do it lightly - so her approaching me makes me think there is an issue.

He goes with us to all of Wil's appointments at the MCHN and she's never had an issue with him - we've got another appointment for Wil's 6month check on 5th July so I'll ask her then too. Plus DH is doing fruit duty next week at preschool so I've asked him to bail up the teacher and see what she thinks.

i think that she doesn't really sound at all qualified!! I think you would know if Judds speach wasn't up to par. He sounds perfectly normal to me. However since your worried ask your MCHN what she thinks.

I went to speech therapy from 5 as i couldn't say a thing without it coming out like like like like like thhhhhhiiiiss. Worked wonders, and quickly.
xx

Thanks.

To be honest she couldn't really explain to me what the exact issue was just said he had trouble pronouncing some sounds (I think that's what she said - I was a bit shell shocked to be honest) and that she had had to ask him to repeat something a fair few times before she understood what he was saying.

The main thing that worried me was that she said she doesn't normally interfere or do it lightly - so her approaching me makes me think there is an issue.

He goes with us to all of Wil's appointments at the MCHN and she's never had an issue with him - we've got another appointment for Wil's 6month check on 5th July so I'll ask her then too. Plus DH is doing fruit duty next week at preschool so I've asked him to bail up the teacher and see what she thinks.

Some sounds do take longer than others to pronounce. Like the 'R' sound is often the last that children pronounce properly.

If she couldn't describe what she meant by 'having trouble with some sounds' then I would question whether she should be assessing your child's speech tbh.

I would talk to Judd's preschool teacher and see what she thinks about his speech and go from there, but don't be too worried or upset by it Ro. You know Judd is a bright boy, you know that if he needs a little help with learning how to say a few sounds it is not really a big issue nor does it mean that something is 'wrong' with him, it is just a little developmental blip on the radar of life. A little bit of practice, guidance and time and all those sounds will come.

Speech therapy can have quite the stigma attached to it (people seeing it as an indication that there is something 'wrong' with their child), but it is just some fun games and exercises that when undertaken for the vast majority of children assists them quickly in learning how to form their sounds (by teaching where their tongue is in their mouth etc through fun games and rhymes.)

I went to speech therapy as a child and I can vaguely remember it now some 30 years later....it was fun!

Hi ro!

If it were me I would investigate it ... Not by your mchn but a gp!!

Yes it is normal that kids at 4 can still mispronounce sounds!

However as parents WE understand our kids better than others as we are used to the way they talk so sometimes it's easy to overlook if there is something there and third parties 'can' at times be better guages.

so yes, sometimes it is only kids taking a little longer to articulate sounds, other times kids need a bit of help!

Let us know how you go??

Xox

Thanks girls smile

Hey Ro

I have had the same issue with Ryder, the girls at the Childcare centre said last year that his speech wasn't where it should be for his age (he was 2.5 then) and that they would let him go and re assess it this year, it was only a few weeks ago that i asked how he was going, and although they said he had come along in leaps and bounds, it still wasn't quite where it should be and recommended i think about speech pathology.. but you know what? He is 3 and a half years old. As far as i am concerned he is still a baby! He is well advanced in other area's, and i think his speech will eventually catch up. If there is still a problem when he goes to kinder, which will most likely be the year after next THEN i will consider speech therapy. I think there is WAY TOO MUCH pressure put on kids these days, let them be kids for heavens sake!! Honestly, i know how you feel, it was like a kick in the guts when i was first told to, but after i sat down and thought about it and the emphasis they put on things these days, i felt much better

But thats just my opinion of course smile

my daughter has had trouble with quite a few sounds. g, k/c, l etc to the point that many people could not understand her even tho her grammar and comprehension has been just about perfect for years now. Just certain sounds make some words hard for her.

she's nearly 5 and lately we have just encouraged her to make the right sounds and she is improving. We sorted out l a few months ago. k/c is still a struggle but apparently that can be a hard sound to master.

Some family members have expressed concerns and others have said wait 'till she's in school... so who knows huh