Childhood speech impediments

[ols386]

My son stuttered when he was young, and eventually grew out of it, with no speech thearpy. It wasn't the absolute worst case of stuttering, but never the less, it was stuttering. Maybe it depends on the severity of it.

 

[MichelleVW]

I knew I'd be unpopular

School therapists do indeed often work with groups of 3-4 kids at a time (in some districts the group size can be larger). If your dd was seen individually then consider yourself very lucky.

As far as it doing no harm..........of course not but if my child could be spending that time in the classroom, that's where I'd rather have him/her.

As far as it helping........sometimes yes. Often (when speaking about developmental articulation errors only), no...........especially if there is no home program involved.

That's fine, you're welcome to your opinion. I just know how much speech therapy helped me and my DD. I had to go to therapy the entire year before I started school because my speech was so horrible that no one could understand me.

 

[MichelleVW]

My son stuttered when he was young, and eventually grew out of it, with no speech thearpy. It wasn't the absolute worst case of stuttering, but never the less, it was stuttering. Maybe it depends on the severity of it.

You're lucky, my poor nephew is in his 20's and has a horrible stuttering problem. I don't know if he ever went to therapy for it, but it's really really bad.

 

[Magpie]

I knew I'd be unpopular

School therapists do indeed often work with groups of 3-4 kids at a time (in some districts the group size can be larger). If your dd was seen individually then consider yourself very lucky.

As far as it doing no harm..........of course not but if my child could be spending that time in the classroom, that's where I'd rather have him/her.

As far as it helping........sometimes yes. Often (when speaking about developmental articulation errors only), no...........especially if there is no home program involved.

When I looked into what the school was able to offer my child by way of speech therapy, I realized I'd be doing most of the work myself at home. So, I decided I might as well give it a shot myself first, and only turn to a therapist if I found myself unable to make reasonable progress.

I think therapy CAN be useful, but it has to be a partnership. Ideally, the therapist teaches the parent and then the parent applies the program at home.

 

[ols386]

You're lucky, my poor nephew is in his 20's and has a horrible stuttering problem. I don't know if he ever went to therapy for it, but it's really really bad.

So sorry to hear that. I'm sure it's very difficult.

 

[pacrosby]

That's fine, you're welcome to your opinion. I just know how much speech therapy helped me and my DD. I had to go to therapy the entire year before I started school because my speech was so horrible that no one could understand me.

My point is not to make anyone second guess their decision. And with all due respect, it's more than an 'opinion' since I have a graduate degree and worked almost two decades (I hate to say that as it makes me sound obnoxious but I think it may be worth pointing out LOL). I have no idea as to the specifics of your particular child's speech issues (or yours). It may very well have been necessary. Not all articulation issues are developmental. And even for those that are....like I said above......if a child can't be understood or is feeling self-concious than it absolutely is advisable. However, I will stand firmly by my assertion that if the instruction/practice took place only during the actual therapy session it had little to nothing to do with any improvement. What can I tell ya.....it is what it is

eta: case in point, if your speech was so horrible that no one could understand you and yet you were pretty much 'cured' in a years time......you were 'cured' because of development not therapy. Like I said, it's not magic. Children with non-developmental articulation/phonological disorders are in therapy for years and years....sadly there are no quick fixes in this field for those truly in need

 

[pacrosby]

My son stuttered when he was young, and eventually grew out of it, with no speech thearpy. It wasn't the absolute worst case of stuttering, but never the less, it was stuttering. Maybe it depends on the severity of it.

A therapist can often tell if it's just a developmental stage as opposed to the beginning of something much more. It's more a matter of the 'quality' of the behavior, not the 'quantity'.

My aunt was such a severe stutterer that as an adult it completely isolated her. Finally, in her 30's/40's she received therapy and now has control. For the poster who said her 20 yo nephew still stuttered.....I'd suggest seeking out a great clinic who specializes in this disorder. He is not too old to seek help and in fact may have more success now that he is older. Stuttering can be a difficult disorder but it can be managed.

 

[asta]

I think you should definitely pursue speech therapy. Both of my daughters were in speech therapy when they were four. They might have grown out of it but their preschool teachers pointed out that children that are hard to understand are almost always left out by other young children. At a young age this isn't done out of meanness but just happens because most children will take the easiest path and will want to play with someone they can understand. Why risk putting your child through this?

You might look into the school offerings. Here in Tennessee children as young as three are entitled to free speech therapy in public schools. I think they tend to keep this quiet in order to not overwhelm the system. We paid for private therapy with my older daughter but I was told how to ask for the school to deliver the therapy when the second one needed therapy.

 

[IdesOmarch]

I'm no expert, but from what I know most will grow out of it. If you are really concerned there are ways to correct a lot of speech impediments. One that comes to mind is the famous Astronaut, John Glenn's wife. She had a bad stuttering problem, but was able to do therapy and totally got over her impediment. And that was after she was an adult. I think she totally recovered and eventually had a total normal speaking voice.

 

[MichelleVW]

My point is not to make anyone second guess their decision. And with all due respect, it's more than an 'opinion' since I have a graduate degree and worked almost two decades (I hate to say that as it makes me sound obnoxious but I think it may be worth pointing out LOL). I have no idea as to the specifics of your particular child's speech issues (or yours). It may very well have been necessary. Not all articulation issues are developmental. And even for those that are....like I said above......if a child can't be understood or is feeling self-concious than it absolutely is advisable. However, I will stand firmly by my assertion that if the instruction/practice took place only during the actual therapy session it had little to nothing to do with any improvement. What can I tell ya.....it is what it is

eta: case in point, if your speech was so horrible that no one could understand you and yet you were pretty much 'cured' in a years time......you were 'cured' because of development not therapy. Like I said, it's not magic. Children with non-developmental articulation/phonological disorders are in therapy for years and years....sadly there are no quick fixes in this field for those truly in need

Trust me, I wasn't "cured" in a year. I went to speech therapy from the time I was four until the time I was about eight or nine. The first year just made it easier for me to be understood. You may not like it being called your "opinion", but educated in the field or not, it's still your opinion.

 

[js]

Oh, this gives me hope. My DS has been stuttering since 3-1/2 and still does (he is 9). He will slow down and not stutter in structured speech. But, when he is just talking and excited he still has a bad stutter. He has been in speech since he was 4. Some kids made fun of him in 1st grade, but last year and this year noone has (as far as I know). He goes to a Christian school, and his teachers and principal told me that they would not allow someone to make fun of him. But, I do still worry.

Hi. My ds's stuttering started to slow down when he was about 9 or so and I was VERY afraid to stop the therapy. It was with a private speech pathologist but my insurance covered it, although I had to fight since they wanted it done in a group of about 3-5 other children so once I stopped going, I knew it would be VERY difficult for me to get back in "the system". My ds also attends a Catholic school. How the heck can a child get good service for stuttering when in a group?????

Anyway, I went for about another year after his stuttering subsided. He still got/has some "hiccups" and sometimes I can see his face contort like he is trying to fix himself/speech, but that has been the extent of it for now, and hopefully forever. My dh constantly sang with him since we were told that made good speech habits or something like that, really not sure. We went over workbook pages with words, and twice a week, he would sit with the pathologist and work on speaking.

My ds also had tubes in his ears when he was smaller and I was told before he got them, for him, the sounds sounded like he was underwater poor boy. So, as the OP, he had very lazy speech that became a habit.

You are doing all you can and I am sure your son will grow out of it How did it come on? For my ds, we were away on a summer vacation and one morning he woke up, came into the kitchen of the house we rented at the beach and couldn't speak. I remember him saying, mommy I can't talk We kept telling him to slow down, his soccer coach would tell him to slow down and it wasn't until I got him into threapy a few weeks later after it didn't go away, that I found out that was the worse thing to do I felt terrible but so happy I got him the help he needed, just as you are now doing for your son. Good luck

 

[js]

My son stuttered when he was young, and eventually grew out of it, with no speech thearpy. It wasn't the absolute worst case of stuttering, but never the less, it was stuttering. Maybe it depends on the severity of it.

I am very happy for your son (and you) that he grew out of it.
I couldn't wait to see what happened with my ds. He couldn't get a full sentenence out without stuttering and face contortion. It was so painful to watch and terribly upsetting and scary for him. I would have given my life if it was an option if threapy didn't work for him to no longer stutter (so happy the speech pathologist worked LOL)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this (I bet there are plenty). My nephew has some speech issues. He's 6 1/2 and all of his "L" and "R" sounds come out like "W". Also, his "th" sounds like "fw" (as in the number "fwee"). His teachers at school have been telling his parents that they shouldn't be worried and that he may grow out of it. It's a very VERY pronounced speech issue.

Has anyone had a child with a speech problem like this that has just "grown out of it"? Or was speech therapy eventually required?

There is an articulation chart available that says when certain sounds are expected to be developed.

My son *fingers-crossed* should be wrapping up speech therapy soon. He does still have some sound issues...but they aren't issues....b/c they aren't age inappropriate.

I don't expect that he won't grow out of them...the chart goes all the way up to age 8. He will soon be 4. So he still has 4 years of expected normal speech development to go.

This is from my old county.....


but the "th" voiced is expected at age 7 and the unvoiced "th" is expected at age 8...I still can't get the sound difference in my head...but that at 6.5, it isn't expected.


As for the l and r--according to the chart....

age 5 is the r (final), age 6 is the r (initial and medial).
l is age 5. So his l and r, are not age appropriate. (not a therapist of course--just reading you what is on the chart they gave me that I use for reference.)

And as far as his therapy in school...at our old county, he was 1 on 1, in our new county and state, he is in group with 2 other children. Which is fine. At his age, his speech was part play/part speaking therapy anyway--so while he plays, the therapist works with the next child. He has flourished.

If they are concerned, at least in my county--they say that you can request an evaluation. It doesn't have to be recommended by the teacher.

So while my son may graduate soon, after about 2.5 years of speech therapy--at any time that I am concerned that he is no longer developing his sounds in an age appropriate manner, we are always permitted to request a reevaluation to see if he is eligible for services.

 

[Mandychelle79]

My dd has been in receiving ST since the age of 4. She is now 7.5. Im betting next year will be her last year in therapy as she is doing VERY well in it this year. Last years therapist sucked and she actually regressed. She meets with her ST 1 time per week, before school, in either a 1:1 setting or in a small group setting. Also, the ST observes her in the classroom 1 time per week to sure she is doing the lessons in the real world. Her therapist is also working on other social issues she has with speech ( taking her turn, speaking at the appropriate volume, using the correct tense/word, making eye contact,not repeating) so that her issues does not affect the social aspect of school, which her speech issues can at times.

 

[bumbershoot]

I knew I'd be unpopular

Not with me.



DS still says "w" instead of an L or double L (so if he says "I like you, Molly", it comes out a little differently), but he CAN say L if he tries. So I'm fine with it.

DH and his brother both have a bit of a lisp, just b/c of the way their mouths and teeth are, and it hasn't affected their lives at all. Thankfully they are strong enough that a bully who teases them because of their speech was simply ignored, as children who tease SHOULD be.

The idea of sending my kid to classes so that there's no teasing bothers me on a fundamental level. Send the kid that teases to a class to learn how to be human; don't send the kid whose mouth or brain isn't yet forming letters perfectly just to avoid the rude kids....


(not to mention...a teasing kid will then just tease the kid for going to special classes...)

 

[pacrosby]

Trust me, I wasn't "cured" in a year. I went to speech therapy from the time I was four until the time I was about eight or nine. The first year just made it easier for me to be understood. You may not like it being called your "opinion", but educated in the field or not, it's still your opinion.

I'm sorry if I misunderstood but you yourself were the one who specifically stated "and I had to go for the entire year" not "and "I had to go until I was 8 or 9". By the way, DID you have an intensive home program to go along with the once/twice a week sessions you had with a therapist? Just curious. I know few therapists have the time to actually put them together and closely monitor their follow-through and, sadly, even fewer parents have the time and/or interest in taking the time to make sure they are carried out. Such a waste


Anyway......my point was simply that it is a 'professional' opinion based on years of study and experience; specific knowledge of speech sound production/development/treatment etc. as opposed to a layperson's opinion based on what they 'think' they know because they had 'some' when they were a child (or their child had 'some') and, lo and behold, they got better. I am sure you are smart enough to know that A + B doesn't always equal C. Things are generally a wee bit more complicated than that.

Anyway, like I said, I don't know you or your dd OR your specific situations and I never said that therapy is NEVER necessary so I don't really understand why you would take issue with my 'opinion' in the first place

 

[tasha99]

I am doing my student teaching in speech language pathology right now, and at the school I'm working at, a kindergartner would not be seen for those speech sound errors. If he didn't improve by 2nd grade, then he would be picked up. No harm in having him screened by the school slp though since she could hear whether the sound is developmental or truly distorted. (For example, "s" is a sound that is corrected later, but if a kindergartner has a lateral lisp, he may be seen for that since it isn't developmental like a frontal lisp.)

Where I am, we have some artic groups of 3-4, but more than half the kids with just a few articulation errors are seen individually for 5 minutes every day. They're supposed to work at home 5 minutes a day as well, and I can tell who does. Following the home program seems to make a huge difference.

As for the stuttering conversation, I was taught that 80% of preschoolers who stutter will improve on their own. It doesn't have anything to do with severity, either, and sometimes the most severe preschool stutterers will improve without therapy. Even with an 80% natural recovery rate, a young child who stutters should have it checked out. Sometimes parents mistake normal dysfluency for stuttering, so a therapist could give a parent peace of mind if what she hears isn't really stuttering. If it is, therapy is usually started if the child has secondary stuttering characteristics, seems unwilling to talk, or is upset by his or her stuttering. If the child doesn't have those behaviors but also doesn't spontaneously recover within a few months, therapy probably should be started as well (a program called Lidcombe for that age). Stuttering is curable for preschoolers, but mostly just manageable for older people. It can be VERY manageable, though. A lot of the more renowned slp's who work in stuttering stuttered themselves, and you can barely tell.

 

[dyna]

All 3 of my DD's was in speech by age 3, for the oldest it was years of speech at age 3 she had maybe a 10 word vocabulary that only her daddy an I could understand. Once she started therapy we saw a difference within a couple of months. Then when DD was in 2nd grad the ST at the public school noticed that DD's mouth was misformed and recommended othodontist immediately.

The roof of DD's mouth was up past her eyeballs the upper teeth was out to far as was the lower the poor childs tounge had nothing to hit on to be able to speak properly so we started what became 10 yrs worth of orthodontist work. The more DD's teeth improved the more her speech improved along with the ST. Unfortunately when DD got to high school she refused to get the ST anymore...the day DD turned 18 she went got the braces taken off her teeth her speech never did quite get the chance to develop into what it could have been an DD is still hard to understand sometimes an gets very frustrated when asked to repeat herself. It has kept her from getting jobs an keeping them, having friends etc her whole life she is now 34 yrs old.

DD#2 was only in ST 1 yr at age 3 her problem was she talked just like her older sister but she was able to overcome her difficutlties now some might argue this I don't think it was a developmental age thing with DD#2 I think she needed to be taught the right way to speak. I honestly thing without ST she would have continued talking just like big sister.

DD#3 had simular speech to DD#1 it was funny when I had the odler DD's at the orthodontist when DD#3 was a toddler she was already being seen by the ortho ever 6 months or so free of charge but he also knew when it was time he'd have another patient. He an I both knew it was only o his advantage for him to see how DD#3's mouth was devloping from a very early age.

When the ortho seen DD#3 at age 7 he told me he could have been working with her an bringing the roof her mouth down since she was about 2 or 3 yrs old... ut at the time NO ST told me what the problem was no dentist told me she needed to be seen by an ortho....YES it is unusual for a child that young to be seen but not impossible for them to help in the right circumstances.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

If there is help available to make your child's life better why on earth would anyone not take it? You can "wait it out" but there is no guarantee it will develop and learning at 9 or 10 is much different than at 6-7-8. Some have said that the child will most likely outgrow it but if you are noticing it at an older age (say 6) then what are you waiting for? (a general you) Help the kid! Yes, it will hinder a child. When the child is reading out loud in class they will not pronounce properly and others will think he/she is reading the wrong word. (as an example) Speech issues carry over into many other areas. You also have no idea if the child has a tongue thrust or low muscle tone or simply enlarged tonsils. All those affect speech. You can't outgrow those. You have to taught proper tongue placement and there are exercises to increase muscle tone.
Oh- and to the poster who said that their husband has a lisp and it has not effected his life well that is great but I can tell you that if you cannot speak well many companies will not hire you. It is simply a fact unless you are in a non speaking position. It sounds terrible but you need to think to the future. If you can get any kind of help for your child (whether you pay for it or get it from EI/town etc.) why wouldn't you? (again a general you) Give your kids every chance at success. Good luck!

 

[Magpie]

Not with me.



DS still says "w" instead of an L or double L (so if he says "I like you, Molly", it comes out a little differently), but he CAN say L if he tries. So I'm fine with it.

DH and his brother both have a bit of a lisp, just b/c of the way their mouths and teeth are, and it hasn't affected their lives at all. Thankfully they are strong enough that a bully who teases them because of their speech was simply ignored, as children who tease SHOULD be.

The idea of sending my kid to classes so that there's no teasing bothers me on a fundamental level. Send the kid that teases to a class to learn how to be human; don't send the kid whose mouth or brain isn't yet forming letters perfectly just to avoid the rude kids....


(not to mention...a teasing kid will then just tease the kid for going to special classes...)

Hear, hear!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting a kid's speech assessed if you're worried. There are mobile clinics in my town, that will assess any preschooler without an appointment. And if a child is frustrated trying to communicate, then getting them help only makes sense. But the primary reason shouldn't EVER be a fear of the kid getting teased.

My daughter has a complicated birthmark on her upper lip. We opted (with her doctor) to take a wait-and-see approach, instead of diving in there to try and surgically "fix" her when she was still a baby. She's chosen to have a couple surgeries since then, but her mouth is still crooked. And you know what? She says she's never been teased because of it! In fact, she's refused to have any more plastic surgery done on her lip, because she says she's comfortable as she is. I respect her decision.

I've worked hard to "bully-proof" the kid by teaching her to be confident and speak up for herself, and I think I've done a decent job. One way or another, almost all kids get teased. Trying to change them so that they don't offend the bullies is sending the wrong message. It's pretty much saying, "You deserve to be teased."

That's very different from, "You're frustrated because no one understands you? Let's see what we can do about that, together!"