Why do retarded people pronounce their Rs like Ws?

Question

I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm just wondering what the reason is for this speech impediment.

Answer 1

I agree with many of the anatomical reasons listed above.. it also could be a speech impediment known as "gliding." Most little kids who have problems saying "r" do the same thing. Many patients with mental retardation have never received speech therapy, and probably don't even realize they are saying it wrong. They may really think that a word like "rock" starts with a "w." That's the case of many of my clients who don't have any anatomical deformities... just a speech problem.

Answer 2

First of all do not refer to mentally disabled people as "retarded people". Secondly, I have heard people who are very well educated speak with this problem.

Answer 3

Just a conjecture...

When you say words that begin with "w," such as "we were wishing..." note how close your tongue is to your teeth as you pronounce the w-sound.  One of the characteristics of Down Syndrome is an enlarged tongue.  If the person you describe is in that category, the w may be easier than the r because of the position of the tongue.

Answer 4

Many highly intelligent people have speech impediments.

Answer 5

How unbelievably offensive.

Not a valid point.

Answer 6

First of all, just because you have that kind of speech impediment does not make you "mentally retarded."  Barbara Walters has that same impediment and she's brilliant.  Try to use better words.

Answer 7

/r/ is a sound which chages slightly when combined with other

letter. This makes it difficult to teach/learn. The tongue is sort of floating, without a place to "anchor" For example /t/ always touches the roof of the mouth behind the teeth- easy to "feel" it doing that. Not so with /r/ or /s/ for that matter. That is why those two sounds and r-blends, /tr/-, /str/, /br/ etc etc are common speech therapy goals for BOTH regular ed and special ed kids.

Many speech therapists dismiss kids  from therapy when they only have those sounds left to develop because they are still intelligible.

Take some Bostonians- no /r/!

Answer 8

well Speech Impadiment is a Mental Disorder I have 2 cousins that have it and that is why and if they have a genetic disorder than their parents have a third chromosome whick crosses a gene that mixes the two disorders so yeah and anymore questions u can e-mail @ [e-mail]  SO......... yeah

Answer 9

Any one of several reasons.  Depending on the type of retardation...  Some do not have good auditory sensitivity.  They are repeating what they believe they are hearing, and their ears are not completely sensitive to the difference.  Or, perhaps, they don't have the fine muscle control over their larynx.  And some have an enlarged tongue and physically can't make the sounds properly.

Or, any combination of the above.

Answer 10

Ok... what do you mean by "retarded" as it is a very offensive word. Normal people have stutters and things but that doesn't mean they're retarded.

You wouldn't call Johnathan Ross retarded would you.

The reason they say r's like w's is because thats how they cannot pronounse the r because they have trouble getting it out due to the speach imparement.

Answer 11

it could be a number of things.  First it could be a hearing problem or it could be a malformation of the bones in the facial structures that doesn't allow them to pronounce things properly.