speech therapy?

[somemama]

When should a child start speech therapy? My daughter has improved a lot lately on a lot of sounds (I've been working with her) but the "L" sound is still difficult for her. (She is five.) Should I take her to a professional speech therapist?

[khrisday]

L is a sound that, I believe they do not expect to see naturally until age 7. So unles she has other speech issues I would not even bother.

[Linda in Arizona]

I don't think it ever hurts to get a speech evaluation. There could be a problem that isn't going to just go away on its own that is hard for a parent to figure out. One of my friends little boys had a minor speech problem that turned out to be due to the way his tongue was attached to his mouth. They were given exercises to do and it really helped.

If your insurance won't pay for it, you should be able to get a speech evaluation through your local school (even if your child doesn't attend school).