Speech Assessment?

[cameragirl]

At what point would you consider a speech assessment for your child? My sisters and mom are teachers, and DD recently went on a weekend trip with one sister and my mom. When they got back, my mom mentioned that my sister was concerned that DD may need a speech assessment. My mom stated that she didn't feel the few words DD mispronounces were that concerning, especially for a 5 1/2 year old. I've only noticed a few words, including "little" which comes out "yiddle", "animal" which comes out "aminal", and a couple others. We have DD in a local district's K12 program, and her resource teacher said that she was very articulate and didn't mention speech issues. I was of the impression that some quirks like this resolve themselves naturally as the child learns to read and write. Do you think a speech assessment might be worth it? Or should we write off the comment and keep doing what we're doing?

EDIT: typo
Edited by cameragirl - 11/20/11 at 3:12pm

[Mosaic]

I could see going either way. Personally, I think it's nothing she won't grow out of; but that said, I'd probably get the evaluation anyway just so that I could put the issue to rest.

[justmeandmybrood]

I am a speech pathologist and it sounds like what you have described are errors she may grow out of; however, I will say that I would take her in for a screening just to be safe.  The screening is a short (usually around 30 minutes) sort of pre-evaluation to see if she even qualifies for a full-fledged evaluation.  I hope everything works out great for her!

[tropicana]

if those are the only ones, sounds like you should be posting to the "mispronounciations i love too much to correct" thread. it's a long and popular thread; we love those little "last vestigages" of babyhood.

[mamaupupup]

Hi there,

First, based on my current understanding of language (which is NOT professional, it's just as a Mom), it sounds like your child's language is age-appropriate.  And I agree that an assessment is a great idea, just to be sure!

I have 5 year old twins--one with excellent (over the top) pronunciation skills and one who has had difficulty forming words from an early age (talk about fraternal!!!).  We did a speech assessment at 3 years old (very early on the spectrum--based on my need to understand her better--the pediatrician was not supportive!) and worked with a speech and language pathologist for about a year. 

The great thing about our experience was that it was fun, useful, and confidence-building.  Our therapist allowed me to bring our language-loving twin now and then.  We also made sure that my husband, my mother, and I all went interchangeably so that we'd all get exposed to what our daughter was learning so we could reinforce learning consistently.  We also were very committed to doing our "homework" and the girls actually asked for the "games" nearly daily. 

Then, we sort of outgrew our therapist...and did nothing for nine months.  Just recently we found (via acquaintances of ours) another great pathologist, so we're getting back on the horse again.

For us, speech therapy builds confidence for our daughter, is fun for the family, and reduces my stress level (not understanding words and worrying) and increases verbal intelligibility for others listening to my daughter. 

I guess my last words are:  it's sort of an "extracurricular" activity for us (versus something we don't look forward to).

Wishing you lots of language fun!

[cameragirl]

Thank you all. I appreciate the advice. We're going to look into it after the holiday.