Almost 6 with some speech issues

[seemfrog]

So, I've seen some discussions on how long its considered "normal' for kids to continue to have some issues with certain speech sounds.  Can anyone provide some links?

My ds will be 6 in September.  He still has trouble saying "CH" (sounds more like "T"), "SH" (more like "S"), "G" (like "D"), "TH" ("T"), "R" (sometimes sounds more like "W")

His Kindergarten teacher never mentioned anything to us, I can understand him almost always, but I know him...

Should we get him into some speech therapy?

thanks for the thoughts!

[chaimom]

Here's an easy link:

http://www.kidworkstherapy.com/ArticulationChart.pdf

It does seem like your sign might be a little delayed on some sounds.  

One of our twins couldn't say "r" until 3rd grade.  I was annoyed that he couldn't get speech therapy at school because they said it was age appropriate until 3rd grade.  Well, he got it then, so I guess they were right.  Our 5 yo dd has very "messy" speech, too. She just doesn't articulate very well and doesn't say her "r" either.  But this time around, we're not going to worry about it. 

[poetlizabeth]

It wouldn't hurt to have him evaluated either at school or privately. Sometimes speech therapy can be covered by insurance but not always. A basic evaluation done by a speech therapist should let you know if therapy is necessary or not.

[ctdoula]

Some of those are normal for his age, some he may need some help in. Ask his school for an evaluation when you return for the year in the fall. 

I did this when my son was in preschool (late in the year, April I think). He qualified (barely) for speech services based on his pronunciations. He saw his speech teacher 1-2 times a week this year with one other Kindergartener. He loved going. They played games and generally had fun, and we saw improvements in his speech. She was also very reassuring, telling us what's normal for his age, etc. He really loved working with her. 

I'm personally of the opinion that there is no reason to wait, why not get the services for him and get him on the right track as early as possible?

[LynnS6]

Most of those sounds are 'later' sounds (th, ch, r) and I wouldn't worry about it until he's 7-8. However, G is usually an early sound, and the fact that he's got so many sounds that he's still doing substitutions for suggests that he might benefit from a speech-language evaluation. You should also have his hearing tested, just to make sure he's hearing clearly in all frequencies that are important for speech. Even if his overall hearing is OK, a minor deficit in the speech range can make things difficult.

[Cavy]

I expect he's in the normal range, but like others said, if you can afford it, getting a professional advice & assessment might help reassure you & get his speech to clear up a bit sooner.

[gmvh]

My son, too, has some sounds he does not articulate well.  We asked for a speech eval this past year, in kindergarten, and he saw the speech therapist once a week and loved going.

One of my concerns is that he needs to learn to hear and pronounce words accurately to help with spelling/writing and reading.  Their school encourages a lot of writing and they do much of it independently and I don't want him to have to unlearn much once he starts pronouncing an "l" correctly.

Just a thought!

[phathui5]

There should be a speech therapist at the school who can do an evaluation for you.

[seemfrog]

thanks so much for all the replies!

I should make one clarification, when I said his "G" sounds like "D" I meant when he says the letter "G" so its actually the sound of "J" I guess, as in jump.  He can say gas and gate fine.  Also saying his numbers 13 and 14 both sound like 14.

Anyway, I agree, better to check than wonder.  We definitely can't "afford" anything, especially right now since DH quit his job to pursue his desired career interest... but we will do what we need to do to give him the best start we can.

thanks again!
 

Originally Posted by seemfrog 

So, I've seen some discussions on how long its considered "normal' for kids to continue to have some issues with certain speech sounds.  Can anyone provide some links?

My ds will be 6 in September.  He still has trouble saying "CH" (sounds more like "T"), "SH" (more like "S"), "G" (like "D"), "TH" ("T"), "R" (sometimes sounds more like "W")

His Kindergarten teacher never mentioned anything to us, I can understand him almost always, but I know him...

Should we get him into some speech therapy?

thanks for the thoughts!