Speech question

[BamBam'sMom]

I have my son scheduled to have a speech screening through the school district, but I'm not sure if he needs it. He is 3.75. His vocabulary is pretty good, but his pronunciation is pretty unclear. I understand almost everything he says. As far as other people are concerned, some understand him and some don't. My mom doesn't understand much, but pretends she does (She's always answering his questions with, "I know." which I find annoying). Sometimes I have to interpret my son's language for my husband, but not often.

He says "wabbit" instead of "rabbit", which I think is pretty common. His "R" at the end of a word sounds like an "I," so "car" is "tai," because his "C" usually sounds like a "T." There are other sounds he has trouble with: Sandwich is "Shammich."

He also sort of gets words jumbled up. He says them in the wrong order sometimes.

My sister's a teacher and thinks I should have him in ST. He has improved a lot in the last six months or so. I feel like people should be able to understand him better at this age.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[SquishyBuggles]

I wouldn't be terribly worried, but I would probably be proactive and have him evaluated at least. Talk to your pediatrician about your concerns and he/she should be able to recommend where to go from there.

[earthmama369]

We just did this with ds, who's 2.5, and I had similar feelings. His vocabulary is huge for his age, but his pronunciation is unclear and very different than his sister's was at the same age. In the end, it was more of a gut feeling than anything that brought to getting an evaluation.

And it turns out he does have a speech disorder and is scheduled to start therapy once a week, which should really help reduce his frustration over not being understood.

The evaluation took nothing but time. They played games with ds and made him the center of attention for a couple hours, and he had a blast. It was very worth it. I was worried it would come across as more of a doctor's appointment, which ds hates, but they were very friendly and playful with him, very genuine, and they brought toys, which ds loved. I'd say it can't hurt to get an eval, if only for peace of mind.

[lucyem]

It cannot hurt to have the evaluation and if there is an issue now is the best time to deal with it.

My second DS has a delay. Though we knew from the start when he did not start speaking or even trying to. It ends up it was hard for him and he saw no need to try. He loved his "therapy" play at home. Now at 3 1/2 he qualifies for free preschool this year and next in the school district. He really enjoys it and he gets real hands on in a class with a high teacher/student ratio. Just being the class has made a huge different in pronunciation.

[chamomeleon]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

In the end, it was more of a gut feeling than anything that brought to getting an evaluation.

I've got to agree with earthmama that you should go with your gut. You know your son better than anyone else! I think there's no down side to getting the evaluation if you feel you should. That said, I can tell you about our experience having made the opposite decision. My son started preschool early at 2 yrs. 8 mos., when a space happened to open up right after I had registered him to start the next fall. (We've since decided to homeschool.) His teacher mentioned that it was hard for her to understand him and that we might want to consider having him evaluated, but that it didn't seem urgent since he wasn't even 3 yet. DH and I could understand him, but we had to translate for almost everyone else. It was very much like what you described with your son - mixing up letter sounds, sometimes jumbling words, but showing steady improvement. Because we could tell that he was improving, we decided not to do the evaluation right away. Right after his 3rd birthday, it was like a switch flipped in his brain and his speech improved hugely in a matter of a month or two. One of my friends says, "It was like he was speaking another language, and I had just started to learn it, and then all of a sudden he started speaking English!" He still can't say certain letters - like your son, his R's sound a bit like W's, he says T instead of C, and S-combinations are hard for him ("spoon" sounds like "foon.")

One of the reasons we decided not to do the evaluation is because it never seemed to frustrate him too much when he isn't being understood. Usually if he's having trouble communicating something, we ask him to describe what he means using other words (which is a good exercise in itself, IMO!), and often turns into a fun game with a rewarding "AHA!" moment at the end of it. But I know that a child with a different personality might find it incredibly frustrating not to be able to make himself understood on the first (or second, or third) try. Another friend of mine has a son with speech issues who also qualified for free preschool and she has been so happy with that situation and her son's progress.

All the best to you and your son!

[BamBam'sMom]

Thanks for the replies! I think I am going to go ahead and do it. My son does seem to feel frustrated, or sometimes sad, when he can't communicate with people. I guess it can't hurt.

[momof2kiddos]

Mama trust you gut on this, and if your son does not qulify the first time keep pushing. I have a 7 year old with speech issue and we had him tested at 2, 3 and 4 and they kept telling me that it would come with time. By the time he hit first grade he was so far behind in speach that now we are playing catch up. We only got to this point by calling, calling, calling and to the point of threting to get an attoney if they would not help. My daughter is easier to understand then my 7 year old at times. We have made huge progress this last year but we have lots to go.

[Eliseatthebeach]

I agree to have him evaluated. At nearly 4 he may qualify for services with the preschool at your local elementary school which would be a great advantage!

[thepeach80]

At 3, MOST people who meet your son w/out knowing him well should understand most of what he says. If they don't, and it seems they don't since family is having problems understanding, there could be a problem. I would do the eval and see what they say. At best, there's nothing wrong, at worst, he gets help and it helps everyone.

[marieangela]

My soon to be 6 year old was evaluated when he was about 3.75 or so. He also had a great vocabulary, but pronunciation issues. He went to speech therapy for a few months and improved greatly. I remember that he worked on "f" and "v" sounds. It did get frustrating for him to have other kids not understand him at the park and such. The evaluation and the therapy were all fun and games for him and he learned very quickly with a little work.

[BamBam'sMom]

Wow. Thanks Mamas!

I was thinking that I might be overreacting by setting up the screening. I was thinking about cancelling it when I started this thread. I'm definitely taking him.

Thanks for all the input!

[merri]

I know I am jumping in here a little late, but I just wanted to let you know I think you will be glad you went through with the eval. I went ahead and had my dd evaluated this past August. She has a great vocabulary, but had some articulation issues that were causing her frustration when speaking to others. Many of the articulation issues were common /w/ for "r", difficulty with /l/ and /th/, but they felt like since she was so aware of it sounding different that we should go ahead with a screening.

Since did qualify for services and has been receiving speech therapy once a week since September. I do not regret it at all. I am actually glad we did it before starting Kindergarten next year. It seems to be a little more laid back for her and she is more relaxed since it is on a day we do not have as much to do.

She has made great progress and I am so glad I did it early.

Best wishes to you!