DS6 may need speech therapy

[hrh_disney_queen]

His teacher has referred him to the school therapist, who is referring him to another level of therapist. He is having trouble with "r" pronunciation..(I am being paid back for all those years of laughing at Gilda Radner do her "BaBa WaWa" imitation.) I haven't noticed it until I really think of it while listening to him. DH said he has always noticed it...???!!!

Anyone else going through this therapy with their young child?

I am sorry if I offended anyone with my reference to Gilda. Just about anything she did made me laugh.

 

[Annette_VA]

My kids are too young, but I did have this issue myself. Couldn't say my R's. I was in speech therapy in 1st grade. I loved it! I always thought it was neat to go to speech when the other kids had to stay in the classroom

 

[shelbyjosh]

If therapy is needed, I suggest you get him going ASAP. DS6 has a phonological disorder and artic problems. He has been getting private ST since June 03. He also gets it one day at school. His "r" wsa pronounced "wah" among other sounds. He has come a long way since starting therapy. Private ST will get him alot further that what is given in the schools. The one-on-one really makes a difference. My son is now learning to read and I am not too concerned about his speech like I was last year. If possible, have him evaluated privately. Maybe you can see if your insurance will cover some of the treatment. Ours pays NONE. We are all out-of-pocket. We have shelled out thousands and it was worth every penny. Now we are just working on syntax--putting sentences together the right way!

 

[Cheap-n-Dale]

Our DD5 is in speech therapy. She was screened in her 3 year old pre-school. We were able to get her into a program that was a part of the county school district. It was great because she was able to get 18 months of therapy before she set foot in Kindergarten. At that point the plan transfers straight into the school.

She had all kinds of problems (R's, F's, S's, Y's). It was also severe becuase she would mispronounce the same letter different ways depending on where it was in the word. I am proud to say that she is just about done at this point. Get on it as soon as you can.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Wow! It's great to hear everyones recommendation for early intervention!!! I'm a speech language pathologist in the public school system and I have to tell you we see a lot of /r/ distortions. I would say it is the most common articulation error and it is not exactly the easiest to teach either.

 

[powellrj]

all three of my kids had speech when they first started school. I also went when I was in 1st and 2nd grade so its kind of a family tradition!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Give your DS a hug for me. I not only had problem saying 'r' words, but also stuttered (something I still do when I get extremely nervous/ticked off/excited). It's not the end of the world and therapy will help. Good luck with the therapy.

TOV

 

[luckywife]

DS2 just had his first speech therapy session with EI last week. They're really very helpful and he really enjoys the toys and different games they play with him. I've been very impressed with everyone involved in this process. Good luck to you and your DS.

 

[hyerpraise]

I had a problem with my 'T' and 'S' so I had speech when I was in 3rd grade.

 

[missypie]

If a public school is offering it, I'd jump on it. We had to fight pretty hard to get our kids in.

 

[buzzlady]

DS had trouble with "r" as well. When he was in 1st grade, he went to speech once a week in school. They make it fun for the kids.

 

[stacy2197]

My son met with a speech teacher for 3 years and my daughter is currently on her third year with probably a couple more to go. There is a probably about 5 kids in her class of 28 so its common for kids to have these problems. The speech teacher meets with her once a week by herself once a week with another student and then comes to the class once a week. Neither of my kids ever got teased at all for the speach problems they are both actualy pretty popular. My son speaks so nice now.

 

[thelittlemermaid]

DS who is 8 is also taking speech in school. He also has a problem with his R's. Actully to me it sounds like he has a New York accent, but I guess since he lives in Ohio and has never been to New York in his life, to the speech therapist, it's a problem. I really don't think a New Yorker would think that!! LOL!!!

DD has been taking speech therapy ever since she was in Early Intervention. But the first year of EI, she had the worst speech therapist there ever was!!! They finally got a very good one and she told us that she should also have private speech therapy and told us about a lady she works with. She was amazing!! Really brought DD out of her shell. But that stopped cause of our insurance company {#%@#!} and now she is in preschool. She is getting it through preschool, but getting it for 60 minutes once a week is really not enough. Plus we have to fight tooth and nail to get anything for her through the school system.

If your school system is offering it, JUMP ON IT!!!! I don't know why we have to fight so hard for our DD, but didn't have to do anything for our DS. All we had to do was show up at the meeting to sign the papers to get his speech therapy started. To me it seems they make it harder for her cause she is special needs. The school system here is really bad about giving special needs kids what they need. Parents shouldn't have to fight almost to the death to get their kids what they need. Ok, now I am rambling and venting. LOL!!!

 

[Az Pirates]

Our son had some significant speech problems. We had him tested before he was school age.
His delays were so substantial he even qualified for the early intervention pre-school program and he continued the therapy through the summer (had to "advocate" pretty forcefully for that one) and into kindergarten. He had all his therapy through the school district. He's in 3rd grade now, no longer in speech and is doing great.
I would just say to stay involved, be aware of what is available, and be his best advocate.

 

[Missy1961]

My younger brother had major issues with his speech. He went to speech classes from kindergarten thru 3rd grade or so. It made such a difference! You'd never know he had problems with his speech at all now. He's 41, a doctor and he lectures frequently!

 

[DVC-Don]

My son did speach therapy from age 3 up through grade 5. He's doing fine now, but now and then even I have trouble understanding him when he gets excited. Grade 8 now.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Ds had to have speech therapy from age 3 to 7. He had very delayed speech. When others his age conversed in full sentences, he was lucky to be able to put 2 or 3 words together. I was devastated! But when he was about 12 yo, we went back and asked the speech pathologist, "Can you undo it?" Once he started talking, boy was he a talker! But I should have known then his "talents" lay in music, not speech. One day, the speech pathologist showed him a picture of a viola (or violin). He said "Yo Yo Ma play that on Sesame Street". She thought it was so cute, that name he "made up"-Yo Yo Ma! Boy, did she learn something from that! My apologies to the artist, Yo Yo Ma. So although I cried 20 years ago at the thought of DS needing speech therapy, now I know-have no fear.

 

[torismom]

Ds has speech therapy and ot once a week for 60 mins each. He has always talked constantly but noone ever understood him. Both of have been very beneficial to him and he has only been going since June. He does not pronounce some letters correctly, pronounces some letters differently depending where they are placed in words, and troubles with first, last, middle, beside and etc.. and basic speech sentence structure. I am very blesses that he has started so early.

You will not regret it for your son.Therapy can do wonders for children. Good Luck to him.

Edited to add his age. He turned 3 May 24.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Thanks to all for your best wishes to DS6 and encouragement to me. I guess no one likes to receive (in my case a booklet) anything from the school that has the words "Special Education Department" on it, but I am not letting it bother me. I am totally open to any help that the school can give me, and I am surprised/disappointed that some of you had such trouble getting help for your kids...Good for you to demand the help, or find a way to pay for it yourself when there wasn't another option.

I guess my biggest fear was that the other kids may tease him. But I don't remember anything like that happening to the "speech kids" in my school. Hopefully, the school can help him. And there is an agency in our city that helps kids with all kinds of developemental problems. Right now we are still in the evaluation stage, but since there definitely is a problem, we will see how severe it is, and deal with it...

Thanks y'all!!

 

[mickeyboat]

My DD's are enrolled in our school district's pre-K program which was set up initially to bring kids with special needs to the school on a daily basis for the help they needed. They have opened the program to other pre-K age children in the district as well. My daughters attend a companion class, where half of the kids are labeled as needing special assistance, and half are not. Aides come to the classroom and pull out individual children for special lessons.

My children have not even noticed. They talk about school all the time and they have not even mentioned the children receiving special assistance. The only reason I know is because I spent a morning in the classroom and witnessed it first hand. There was no disruption at all.

Don't hesitate to get your son the help he needs.

Denae