Niece has a speech impediment?

Question

My 6 year old [seven in october] has a really bad speech impediment.

I'll use the classic sentence.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

She says:

The wuit bown foss dumms oer the lazy dod.

So that gives you the sounds she can and cannot say.

Anyways to fix this?

Also, any ideas on how it is caused?

I'm just curious, I'm only 14, so not much I can do about it.

I feel bad. She tried to ask my other niece [her cousin] to play CootieTM. And she said "Hey you wanna play tootie?"

and my niece kept saying "What's TOOTIE?!"

You have to listen very hard to understand her.

Also, she says um after atleast every other word. Well, usually she does.

Thanks for any info.

:]

Answer 1

You might mention to her parents that you've noticed she seems to be having trouble speaking. She really should be going to a speech therapist. It's much easier to help a speech impediment if you catch it as early as you can. Otherwise she could end up having problems speaking for a long time, maybe all of her life. I have a friend who was hearing impaired and her parents didn't start taking her to speech therapy very early. She still has a hard time speaking so that people can understand her well.

Answer 2

She needs her hearing tested NOW

Answer 3

my brother talks like that!!!! he's older than here i think. it might be there heritage. but take her to speech therapy. and make up games with her that invovles learning to punciuate but a fun way.

Answer 4

Your niece is nearly 7 and no one but you has noticed her speech problem? I think it's great that you are so concerned -- and you should be. But I find it hard to believe that no one at her school has mentioned this problem to her parents/guardians.

If your niece really pronounces things like you've written, she has an articulation disorder. She is reducing clusters (wuit/quick, bown/brown) and fronting (wuit/quick, dod/dog) in addition to some other phonological errors.

I would imagine that her friends have difficulty understanding her if people in her own family struggle. Are you sure she isn't already getting help in school? If her parents/guardians are also concerned and your niece attends a public school in the U.S., they can ask for a speech-language assessment. It's a federal law that such an assessment must be performed if the parents request one.

Please email me if you have any other questions.

Aloha  :)

Answer 5

I think her parents should take her to a speech therapist just to see whats going on with her. At 6 she should be articulating better than that. Good Luck.  

Answer 6

Get her enrolled in speech therapy, ASAP. This is the time to correct these things.

Her school may provide a speech class, but if they don't, look around in the yellow pages, and ask around.

Good luck!