How do you know if your child needs speech therapy

3024 Views 17 Replies 15 Participants Last post by ri*smom, Jan 20, 2010

Palooka

Discussion Starter · Jan 18, 2010

This is starting to bother me. My son will be 3 the end of May but doesn't pronounce his words that great. I know what he is saying, but also lacks sentence structure and some people have made... *cough comments on this..

For example when he says words like...

doggie, it's more like 'dohe'
thank you is 'than you'
outside is more like 'side'
Taylor(his sister name) is 'yalor'
nose would be 'ose'

Also I notice when he tries to pronounce a word, it's the last letter that seems hard for him to pronounce.

The most he has put into making a sentence is 3 words. I know boys develope slower than girls but I guess with comments and going by my other two kids at that age...it makes me think.

Like(like lol) when my SIL told me he needed this. My kids have been so far apart that I can't remember the golden rule and there was never an issue brought up with them... They make straight A's in school. Okay a few B's here and there.

So can anyone give me some advice or things to lookout for to see about his developement.

TIA

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

pat in east texas

· #2 · Jan 18, 2010

Have his hearing checked. It looks like he's missing sounds that are softer.

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ilovechocolate

· #3 · Jan 18, 2010

He can receive speech therapy in the public schools once he reaches 3 years old. Contact the speech therapist at your neighborhood elementary school and talk to him/her about it. The therapist can determine if it's a developmental issue or if therapy is needed.

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2ndGenGranola

· #4 · Jan 18, 2010

If you were to repeat one of the words for him, can he correct it?

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ubumartin

· #5 · Jan 18, 2010

If he does have speech needs, he may be able to get early intervention. My daughter was 3 and was in an intergrated pre-school. She was considered a "model" student which meant only that she was on target. It was by lottery that she got in. The class was made up of 12 children with half being model and half being children with needs, whether physical or speech, mild to moderate needs. My child went 4 days a week for a fee and the children who needed services went free 1 to 4 days, depending on their need and they got free transportation. It was a wonderful program. Those children would have therapy, speech or PT, but they would also take the children without need with them to model. It was a great ratio per child and my child was automatically allowed to go the following year. This was through my town. She also ended up being in the intergrated kindergarden class where there was also a great teacher:student ratio. Many of those children just needed a little extra but caught up very quickly. It is worth having him evaluated. I would also make sure you have his hearing checked to make sure it isn't medical. Has he had a lot of ear infections?

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cab54

· #6 · Jan 18, 2010

I'd say get the hearing checked first. Once that's ruled out (if it is), I'd say he's still not 3 yet...give it a little time and work with him on the words he has trouble with.

By the time he's in school and trying to read, they will offer speech therapy. My sons both had trouble with the R's. Think Elmer Fudd. Wascally wabbit. Once the older one got speech therapy at age 6, his brother followed his lead and began to correct his own R's naturally on his own.

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amieg

· #7 · Jan 18, 2010

I agree with everything said above, but would also like to add that you are right in that they all develop at their own speeds. I have a tumbling gym and we start the kids at two. I have little guys that are clear as a bell at two, don't speak at all at three, and some that are still difficult to understand at four. My brother called me "Mamie" for two years before he figured out to drop the first M.

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Debbie-cat

· #8 · Jan 18, 2010

Get hearing checked first. Final consonant deletion is common however he is getting to the age where early intervention will be beneficial. The last sounds that are developed is "r". "g", "k" are also difficult sounds for children to pronounce.

I was a speech teacher for 17 years and have seen many different children with different difficulties.

Look for early intervention centers that will do all different types of screening. They are wonderful people that will guide you through the process.

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mauimagic

· #9 · Jan 18, 2010

Great advice - and lots of withit people here!!

Depending on the state where early intervention ends and the Dept. of Ed. takes over. In Hawaii, EI is birth to three and DOE takes over from there (but can be earlier if child is 3 by 12/31).

Check with your public school and request an assessment of your child's speech. By law, we cannot turn down such a request. This assessment will give you the information you and the speech pathologist need to go further.

....and let us know what happens please!!

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McD

· #10 · Jan 18, 2010

Has your child had a problems with ear infections? The reason I ask is that our neighbor has a son about Wesley's age who had trouble talking, very similiar to what you described with your child. He had quite a few ear infections, and once he got tubes in his ears to help drain the fluid/prevent it from building back up, his speech problems improved dramatically.

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Palooka

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 19, 2010

2ndGenGranola said:
If you were to repeat one of the words for him, can he correct it?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I've been working with him.

amieg said:
I agree with everything said above, but would also like to add that you are right in that they all develop at their own speeds. I have a tumbling gym and we start the kids at two. I have little guys that are clear as a bell at two, don't speak at all at three, and some that are still difficult to understand at four. My brother called me "Mamie" for two years before he figured out to drop the first M.

Yea, this is why I not going to worry about it much until he is 3 and see how much he improves.

Debbie-cat said:
Get hearing checked first. Final consonant deletion is common however he is getting to the age where early intervention will be beneficial. The last sounds that are developed is "r". "g", "k" are also difficult sounds for children to pronounce.

I was a speech teacher for 17 years and have seen many different children with different difficulties.

Look for early intervention centers that will do all different types of screening. They are wonderful people that will guide you through the process.

Thanks! Didn't know about the r g and k thing.

MrsMcDowell said:
Has your child had a problems with ear infections? The reason I ask is that our neighbor has a son about Wesley's age who had trouble talking, very similiar to what you described with your child. He had quite a few ear infections, and once he got tubes in his ears to help drain the fluid/prevent it from building back up, his speech problems improved dramatically.

He has never had an ear infection. *knock on wood* I know tubes are pretty common and my daughter always had bad ear infections when she was little. Thank goodness he has been very healthy and never has had to be on antibiotics.

Also his hearing is very good so I know that is not a problem. Here they will start at 3 for therapy. I'm just going to keep working with him and in the spring if he hasn't improved, I will then set something up. He has been adding way more words to his vocabulary lately, but not pronounced as well.

frugalwarrior2

· #12 · Jan 19, 2010

Consider having him tested for an auditory processing disorder. My DD has that. Words get lost,parts of words. She did not babble or coo. Her hearing is fine. It's the neurologic routing thats a prob. We had a hard time detecting it because the little skunk taught herself to lip read by 7. The Dr. was amazed.

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savininfl

· #13 · Jan 19, 2010

I'm not sure when he turns 3 but I would have an appointment that week. The reason I say that is cause if you ignore the speech and think "he'll get it someday" by the time he's in kindergarten it will effect his learning. It's better to be safe than sorry! I babysit a little boy with a speech problem and the only way his mother knew that is cause she realized everyone asked her what he was saying and she realized she was the only one understanding him. This was over a period of a year. Good Luck!

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miss_thrifty

· #14 · Jan 19, 2010

both my children had speech therapy. it doesnt take long. we went to the public health nurse ans she sent us to speech therapist. she would see them once every week for about a month, and i did one on one with them at home with work she gave us to do together. in no time they could say all the words and sounds properly. I find it was just getting them to pronouce them more slowly and the sh sounds th sounds were big ones them.

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Palooka

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 20, 2010

It's almost scary for a parent just to do a few searches on the net and autism pops up for this. Nope he has no signs thank goodness, but spent a ton of time reading on family/doctor forums and such.

I spent half the day going over words with him. He says close to a hundred words and I counted. lol. thank goodness.

He is on a cute kick of saying "excuse you" if someone even coughs or burps. lol. Then "bless you" for a sound of a sneeze. Then if he gets a boo boo he says...I'm fine. Last night he turned around in the bathroom and hit his head on the door and I said are you okay? I'm fine.

One word I can't get him to pronounce is glove. He loves to play with my gloves, but he can't say that word very well. It might be that g thing like DC said.

Thanks for all the great advice!

Palooka

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jan 20, 2010

miss_thrifty said:
both my children had speech therapy. it doesnt take long. we went to the public health nurse ans she sent us to speech therapist. she would see them once every week for about a month, and i did one on one with them at home with work she gave us to do together. in no time they could say all the words and sounds properly. I find it was just getting them to pronouce them more slowly and the sh sounds th sounds were big ones them.

When I was in second grade my parents put me in a speech class just for ch and sh. It did me wonders and I remember I thought it was fun too!

Dancing Lotus

· #17 · Jan 20, 2010

It's good you are aware of his speech. My dd didn't get speech therapy until her teacher in K brought it up to me. As her mother I was accustom to her speech and I really didn't notice.

My advice is ask his ped about it.

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ri*smom

· #18 · Jan 20, 2010

With ds, who is now five, I didn't think he needed it, but another teacher recommened we get him screened at 3yo through the school district and sure enough he qualified. He meet all his goals in less than a year. Now with dd (2.5), she automatically qualifies for FirstSteps (which is the early intervention program for children under three) because of her seizure disorder. She is dropping final consonant sounds as well. She is also recovering from her first known ear infection (in both ears)--we go back to check fluids in April because it looked like they were slowly correcting at our last re-check. (Ds had a history of ear infections as well) She was making progress with ST and then she had another seizure in December so we have taken a couple of steps back, but she loves the therapist and thinks it is fun playtime. My theory is it can only help them--especially at this young and crucial age. I say go see if he qualifies; even if he doesn't, they can give you resources for activities to do together at home that will give him some extra reinforcement. :hug2:

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