Questions about 6yo speech

[deesmomma]

My sister had to go to a speech therapist when she was in school, so she thinks she's an expert on this subject. But to be honest, I'm really clueless when it comes to this. I'm not sure if thinking she'll outgrow it/learn the proper way to say it eventually since she's only six is the right way to think or not. I guess I'm just asking for those who have btdt. I personally don't think she has a speech problem, per se, but like I said, I don't really feel educated on the topic, so maybe she does! The problem we have right now is not being able to pronounce the "th" sound. Instead she says the "f" sound. (Firty for Thirty.) While i'm on the subject, my four year replaces the "f' sound with the "sh" sound. Like instead of phone or fun, she says "shone and shun" I feel like I should know if this is okay or not okay, so don't laugh at me lol. Any resources/links or advice would be greatly appreciate. Even if its just to tell my sister to mind her own business. Especially if its that.

[momtomine]

your childs pediatrician should know what is normal, and what needs intervention. for your 6 year old, an inability to make a th sound, could be caused by a short tongue. if it does not easily extend over the teeth, you cant "th". did you nurse your 6 year old? i only ask because usually a short tongue is noticed in nursing cuz mom will have very raw, bleeding nipples.

[jplain]

If /th/ is your only concern, I'd probably wait on getting an evaluation, though I might mention it to my ped if I was concerned. If I noticed other mispronunciations, I might be a little more proactive.

If you Google articulation or speech development charts, you'll find lots of charts that give approximate ages or age ranges by which children acquire specific speech sounds. Most of them say that children should be saying voiced and unvoiced th by 7y0m, with girls a little earlier than boys at about 6y6m. Some suggest that kids should be saying /th/ by 6y0m. This chart, however, says that only 75% of kids are saying /th/ correctly at age 8y0m.

[MamaMonica]

Moved to Childhood Years.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by momtomine

your childs pediatrician should know what is normal, and what needs intervention.

:Most pediatricians get about 2 hours of training on speech development, total.

Originally Posted by deesmomma

I don't really feel educated on the topic, so maybe she does! The problem we have right now is not being able to pronounce the "th" sound. Instead she says the "f" sound. (Firty for Thirty.) While i'm on the subject, my four year replaces the "f' sound with the "sh" sound. Like instead of phone or fun, she says "shone and shun" I feel like I should know if this is okay or not okay, so don't laugh at me lol. Any resources/links or advice would be greatly appreciate. Even if its just to tell my sister to mind her own business. Especially if its that.

Both are age appropriate mistakes. "th" is a late sound. We don't worry about kids not having it until after age 8. Substituting 'sh' for 'f' is also pretty typical. Your 4 yo is a little late in saying 'f', but not so late that I'd worry. My brother did the same thing. My older sister (7 years older than my brother) used to ask him to say words with 'f' for 'fun': Say "fork" "shork". Say "fun", "shun". Say "fit"..... and my mom would break in. "That's not funny." "yeah, that's not shunny..."

This is a good website.
http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/acquisition.html

[deesmomma]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

Say "fork" "shork". Say "fun", "shun". Say "fit"..... and my mom would break in. "That's not funny." "yeah, that's not shunny..."

You know, I'm not sure I've ever heard her mispronounce that particular word. I wonder if she says it correctly. I KNOW I've heard her say phone correctly at least once. If she did it once, why doesn't she do it all the time, I wonder? I initially posted this in Learning At Home because I homeschool and was curious as to if there was anyway I could do anything to help them with pronunciation. Or is this something they would have to see a specialist for IF they didn't begin learning it on their own. Thanks for that link, btw!

[eepster]

When I was around 6 or 7, I lost a tooth (don't remember which one) and said "F" instead of "TH" for a while. It went away as soon as the new tooth finished growing in. So, don't worry about temporary speech issues associated with tooth lose.

[Cavy]

DS is 5yo and has moderate speech delay. From what I've learnt about speech development I don't think you need to be worried at all, OP.