Any problems with your kid's speech?

Question

My now 3 1/2yr old was originally diagnosed with speech delay at 30months. Then when she started talking her words were mostly unrecognisable. She now talks all the time, can understand her but very few words are still not articulate or correct. I was then told she probably had speech dyspraxia?? but to hard to effeciently diagnose at this stage. She was in speech therapy for over a year but took her out as I felt there were no improvements and she hated it. Should I leave it for awhile and see what happens or am I leaving it too late?

Answer 1

I would not do anything until another year or 2.  My daughters speach used to be hard for others to understand and when she went to playgroup last year I was a bit concerned.  It turned out that other kids in her group were even less developed than her and her group leader said she would never recommend speach therapy until primary school age (4-5 years).  She is now 4 and her speach is great.  She still becomes a bit hard to understand when she gets over-excited but most kids are like that.  My older brother could not talk normally until he was 6 (he has his own lanuage that only my mum could understand!) but his doctor told my mum that his brain was way ahead of his speech so he could only express himself in this way. He is now 38, has a very good job and no speach problems.  Could be a sign of intellegence!  Relax, and leave your child to develop.  If there is a problem her school will let you know as they are aware more of how she should be communicating.  Good luck

Answer 2

PLEASE don't listen to that answer!  If you even think there might be a problem or a chance for a delay, I can't tell you how important early intervention is in treating it.  Suppose she doesn't need it?  What harm can it do?  If she was in therapy for a year and you saw no progress, you need a new therapist - preferably someone she can connect with and who will make it fun for her by giving her incentives and taking breaks to play games.  There should be progress reports at least every 6 months that will "prove" whether or not there has been progress made by comparing test scores.  It's possible you did not notice small differences because you are with her every day.  Also,have you had her hearing checked?  There are all kinds of very subtle hearing losses that are difficult to detect and they can effect speech.  Kids who receive early intervention with developmental delays do SO much better than kids who start later.  Please do not let this go - it's the biggest mistake parents make.  Good luck!

Answer 3

I have three kids that have all gone to speech because they can not pronounce letters that require you to place your tongue on the back of your top front teeth. They have a different "bite". Their teeth look completely normal when they smile but the front teeth on the top jaw drop too low over the bottom jaw to make those sounds. They have had to learn to find other ways to make these sounds.

My kids went to speech from kindergarten on but they tried to get me to bring them in younger. For years there was no improvement and they got sick of going. Later we moved and they switched schools. I was told by the speech teacher at the new school that unless it is a serious problem she will not even recommend for a student to go to speech until 2nd or 3rd grade because kid's mouths change so much before then and all kids have trouble talking for awhile. She also said that at that age they are not able to concentrate enough on it to really make a difference.

You have to really think about if it is a huge problem or not. People will always try to get your child into speech because they get a lot of federal funding from more kids being involved. To me that is way too young to even think about it unless it is a huge problem. It is better to wait until they are able to understand and work on it than have them get sick of it before they could actually benefit from it unless you see it as a huge problem.

Here is a website you can look at to help you determine if you think what your child has is Apraxia of Speech and if you need to have her in speech right now. Remember that you can also practice these things at home too.

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/

Answer 4

My son is 4 now and he has never officially been diagnosed with anything but he gets a lot of words mixed up and I have to correct him a lot.  It is weird because I understand him but other people can't and I never seem to notice his speech because I know what he means.  He called me from my mother's house one day and I had a hard time knowing what he was saying because I wasn't there to see what he was looking at or talking about.  He also stutters a lot but I also did as a kid and it stopped soon after starting Kindergarten so I don't worry about it.  I figure if it continues when he is older then I will worry then.  I wouldn't worry at this young of an age.  My husband just thinks that his brain is going faster than his speech.  He does seem to stutter more when he has something important to say and is trying to get it out fast.