Speech concerns for son
mnbyelich
My son is 7yo and shows some evidence of speech issues such as not saying his 's' sounds with his tongue behind his teeth and it seems like his 'r' and 'w' sounds are a little weak. Lately he has been making a few comments that when he was in kindergarten (last year) some of the kids teased him b/c 'they couldn't understand me' and at times, I have to listen harder to hear a word he is saying: example, when he says 'wizard' it almost sounds like'lizard'.
I have heard a few other 7 yo have a harder time enunciating words so I just want to run it by the unschooling community to see what you guys think about this. I've been wondering about sending him to a speech therapist, espcially now that he has been mentioning it more. I did offer to help him enunciate his 's' sound better but he told me 'later' I could. Is this something he can still grow out of or is it now becoming more ingrained b/c he is getting older?
thanks! natalie
I have heard a few other 7 yo have a harder time enunciating words so I just want to run it by the unschooling community to see what you guys think about this. I've been wondering about sending him to a speech therapist, espcially now that he has been mentioning it more. I did offer to help him enunciate his 's' sound better but he told me 'later' I could. Is this something he can still grow out of or is it now becoming more ingrained b/c he is getting older?
thanks! natalie
Verna
--- In [email protected], "mnbyelich" <nbyelich@...> wrote:
>my son is 7 and has the same sound errors. he doesnt care so i am leaving it alone. i have offered to help him and i have offered to take him to therapy.. he turned down both. i am a speech path and can tell you the sounds he is having trouble with are on the very tail end of normal and if you took him in he would probably be offered therapy. ask him what he wants to do.
> My son is 7yo and shows some evidence of speech issues such as not saying his 's' sounds with his tongue behind his teeth and it seems like his 'r' and 'w' sounds are a little weak. Lately he has been making a few comments that when he was in kindergarten (last year) some of the kids teased him b/c 'they couldn't understand me' and at times, I have to listen harder to hear a word he is saying: example, when he says 'wizard' it almost sounds like'lizard'.
>
Mary Hatfield
Natalie,
My son had severe speech issues because he could not hear due to multiple ear infections/fluid in the ear. He has had four sets of tubes since he was three years old. The funny part about fluid in the ear is that it seems to come and go. Some days for my son were good hearing days, mostly they were not so good. I had his hearing checked multiple times, but it was always labeled inconclusive. Now that he is eight he is still having the speech issues that you described. He has had intensive speech therapy, but is still struggling. His self esteem has really taken a beating as he gets older and knows that people do not completely understand him. If I knew then what I know now I would have had the fluid in his ears checked than taken him to see an ENT. Speech therapy seemed to be a waste of time until he could hear clearly. IMO I would ask how this makes him feel and, 'would you like mom to help you practice or find someone who could
help."
I hope this helps!
Mary
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
My son had severe speech issues because he could not hear due to multiple ear infections/fluid in the ear. He has had four sets of tubes since he was three years old. The funny part about fluid in the ear is that it seems to come and go. Some days for my son were good hearing days, mostly they were not so good. I had his hearing checked multiple times, but it was always labeled inconclusive. Now that he is eight he is still having the speech issues that you described. He has had intensive speech therapy, but is still struggling. His self esteem has really taken a beating as he gets older and knows that people do not completely understand him. If I knew then what I know now I would have had the fluid in his ears checked than taken him to see an ENT. Speech therapy seemed to be a waste of time until he could hear clearly. IMO I would ask how this makes him feel and, 'would you like mom to help you practice or find someone who could
help."
I hope this helps!
Mary
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
Hi Natalie--
I also have a 7-year-old son with a speech issue--he lisps. His older brother (now 22) had the same problem at the same age. He went to speech therapy a couple times a week (he was public schooled, it was free) and within a year or two his lisp was completely gone. So speech therapy did work in our case. I have no idea if it would have just gone away on its own, but I kind of doubt it. The one specific exercise I remember was reminding him to "close the gates"--put his teeth together without letting his tongue slide in there first. I tried this w ith my little guy and he got very frustrated, saying, "I can't!" So we've backed off for now, but I would imagine that the sooner we look into speech therapy, the easier it will be for him to correct the problem. I still think it's cute, but when he's older.....I don't know, it could negatively affect his self-esteem. I'm curious to see if any longtime homeschoolers have had kids who just outgrew this.
By the way, the speech therapist at the time told me that the problem could have developed because I had an over-active letdown when I was nursing, and my poor guys got into the habit of thrusting their tongues forward to keep from choking on my milk!
Denise
www.smartingusup.blogspot.com
I also have a 7-year-old son with a speech issue--he lisps. His older brother (now 22) had the same problem at the same age. He went to speech therapy a couple times a week (he was public schooled, it was free) and within a year or two his lisp was completely gone. So speech therapy did work in our case. I have no idea if it would have just gone away on its own, but I kind of doubt it. The one specific exercise I remember was reminding him to "close the gates"--put his teeth together without letting his tongue slide in there first. I tried this w ith my little guy and he got very frustrated, saying, "I can't!" So we've backed off for now, but I would imagine that the sooner we look into speech therapy, the easier it will be for him to correct the problem. I still think it's cute, but when he's older.....I don't know, it could negatively affect his self-esteem. I'm curious to see if any longtime homeschoolers have had kids who just outgrew this.
By the way, the speech therapist at the time told me that the problem could have developed because I had an over-active letdown when I was nursing, and my poor guys got into the habit of thrusting their tongues forward to keep from choking on my milk!
Denise
www.smartingusup.blogspot.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "mnbyelich" <nbyelich@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2009 8:29:18 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Speech concerns for son
My son is 7yo and shows some evidence of speech issues such as not saying his 's' sounds with his tongue behind his teeth and it seems like his 'r' and 'w' sounds are a little weak. Lately he has been making a few comments that when he was in kindergarten (last year) some of the kids teased him b/c 'they couldn't understand me' and at times, I have to listen harder to hear a word he is saying: example, when he says 'wizard' it almost sounds like'lizard'.
I have heard a few other 7 yo have a harder time enunciating words so I just want to run it by the unschooling community to see what you guys think about this. I've been wondering about sending him to a speech therapist, espcially now that he has been mentioning it more. I did offer to help him enunciate his 's' sound better but he told me 'later' I could. Is this something he can still grow out of or is it now becoming more ingrained b/c he is getting older?
thanks! natalie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
swissarmy_wife
--- In [email protected], "mnbyelich" <nbyelich@...> wrote:
Lately he has been making a few comments that when he was in kindergarten (last year) some of the kids teased him b/c 'they couldn't understand me' and at times, I have to listen harder to hear a word he is saying: example, when he says 'wizard' it almost sounds like'lizard'.
******My oldest son sometimes likes to talk about things that happened to him when in school. Even several years later, it is still very painful for him. It isn't necessarily a cry for help on the particular issue. I learned that in time. :-)
I would keep an open dialogue with your son. Is it still bothering him? Would he like your help? If so, could you give him a couple of exercises to do when and if he pleases? Does he know that resources exist that could potentially help him? He might not and he might not want ANY help, which is also fine. I'd take your cues from him. :-)
-Heather
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