Speech/articulation

[ChristaN]

I don't know if this is better here or in preteens, but thought that I might get more responses here. Re a good friend -- I know that this is considered problematic at her age, but wanted to know from anyone with speech expertise if it is likely correctable at this point. How likely is it that a 10 y/o with articulation issues (wif for with and wun for run, for instance) will ever resolve these articulation issues if it hasn't happened yet? (With or without speech therapy)

[ChetMC]

What I Know

I believe there are certain speech sounds that some children can't make until they are 7 or 8. So, it is normal for kids to not have perfect articulation until grade two or three. If they haven't got it sorted out on their own by age 10 I'd say that they certainly need some assistance, probably from an SLP. It's definitely correctable.

[pbjmama]

It is certainly correctable with therapy, not sure about with out.

[LynnS6]

At 10, unlikely without speech therapy.

With speech therapy, possibly. And speech therapy can get them closer than if they didn't have it. I had a student a couple of years ago who couldn't say 'r'. I didn't notice it until she pointed it out, but then I could. (It came up in the context of a class I teach where we have a significant segment on language acquisition.)

[LauraLoo]

Your friend might want to consider some auditory processing tests in case some of these sounds are mapped incorrectly and the child can not "hear" them correctly. An SLP or an audiologist could do this, but not all SLPs or audiologist have training in auditory processing tests.