4-year-old with "articulation disorder"

We no longer live in the Bay Area, so I don't need specific provider referrals, but...my 4-year old son has been diagnosed by the school early childhood special ed screening program as having an ''articulation disorder.'' However, he did not qualify for services (not severe enough technically). He doesn't make s, s blends, z, and f sounds in conversation (uses the back of his throat for those rather than the front-sounds like German). He is now capable of making these sounds when I remind him to use the front of his mouth, and the sounds are popping occasionally now into his regular speech. Still, if you don't know him he's hard to understand and I'm sure it'll be an issue in K if not fixed. He is advanced as far as language development and in general otherwise. He was referred to an ENT, who said that his tonsils and possibly his adenoids were enlarged and scheduled him to get them removed. The speech therapist in the ENT clinic also thought she could help him. Problem is-we have an extremely high deductible plus lots of medical bills we're still paying off-and can't afford either the surgery or the therapy. If you are a speech clinician or knowledgeable in this area...will my practicing with him perhaps help him overcome this? What else could we do? Preschooler's mom

4 YO challenged with A,B,C's, speech delay

We have two daughters - one just turned 6 and the other just turned 4. The 4 year old, who was born 2 months premature, is delayed approx. 1.5 years in most developmental milestones (potty training, speaking, fine motor skills, etc) when compared with the 6 year old. (Thus the older daughter was able to do the same things as the younger daughter at approximately age 2.5). The 4 year old has also recently qualified for 1 year of speech therapy from the Albany school district since she has speech delays. (For example, she says ''wong'' instead of ''wrong'' or ''dare'' instead of ''there''.) The 6 year old is doing just fine in Albany Kindergarten and is speaking, reading and writing simple words and doing simple math. Both children are happy and healthy.

When we visited our pediatrician, she said the 4 year old is not significantly delayed since she can prepare cereal, brush her teeth, play board games, dress self, copy a circle, draw a person, do a broad jump, etc, but she did suggest that we can have her start receiving some physical therapy to help with some of her fine motor development.

I am concerned because I want both girls to be prepared and do well in school. I have started working with them for about an hour a day, including workbook excercises and reading.

Both girls appear to be enjoying this but it's been a few weeks, and my 4 year old has not yet learned to recognize the letters in her name Isabella. (She has, however, enjoyed the mazes which we do, and she's become much better at holding a pencil.) I show her the letters - A, B, and she gets them. Then I ask show her the "I" and "S" and she says, "I don't know!"

Given her speech issues and her delay compared to her sister, does this indicate a long term issue or is it normal? Do children like this catch up? What should we do for the next 1.5 years to prepare her for Kindergarten? We have decided to have her attend another year of pre-school so she will be 5.75 when starting Kindergarten. We are also considering to switch her from the play based school to a school with a more structured Pre-K program?

What you have described to me does not sound alarming. That being said, if the school district is offering some speech/language or OT services, it certainly won't hurt to accept them. Your child's preschool teacher can also give you a better idea of how ready your daughter is for kindergarten and whether or not it is wise to wait a year. Your child does not need to know all her letters upon entering kindergarten, but kinder has gotten quite academic these days, and in first grade the reading instruction comes fast and furious. Not all kids are ready for it, and they often fall behind before they barely start. good luck

Should I be concerned about 4-y-o's speech?

My son turned 4 in October. He is extremely bright and very verbal. My concern is that he still sounds a bit like Elmer Fudd. His rs and ls still sound like ws, and his js and chs sounds like zhs consistently, among a few more. He is aware that some of his speech isn't clear to others and doesn't get frustrated, but simply explains until we understand. For example, Him: Mama, I saw a guy dressed like a pie-wit. Me:Pilot or pirate? Him: Pie-wit. You know, the guy that fwies the airpwane. The last time I spoke to his pediatrician about it, it was about a year ago and she said it was not time to worry. When should I be or is this something he will just grow out of? do we need speech therapy?

at 4 years:  ''l'' as in lay; ''sh'' as in she; ''ch'' as in chew
at 4.6 years:  ''j'' as in jaw
at 5 years:  ''r'' as in red

Talking to your pediatrician is a good place to start if you have any developmental delay concerns. Ask to get a hearing test from an audiologist if you still are worried. It can't hurt.

My son has major speech delays that have impacted his ability to learn to read phonetically. What you are noticing seems minor to me but every child deserves to have an accurate assessment of any delays that could impact learning. Just because everybody's else's child did fine without any intervention, doesn't mean that's best for your child. On the other hand, pushing a child to do something he/she is not developmentally capable of doing (like accurately pronouncing a particular phoneme) will lead to a lot of frustration for you and your son. SLB

Speech issue for almost-4 year old

Our almost-4 year old makes a ''cchh'' sound (sounds like German or Arabic) instead of f, sh, and s. He is understandable if you know this and otherwise has clear speech. He is very verbal-talked early, large vocabulary, very complex sentences-in other words, no cognitive issues. I am hesitant to do the early childhood screening in our district (just moved out of CA) because I've heard horror stories about being ''labeled special ed'' and never losing the label. The preschool director said, ''he'd qualify for special ed for that speech issue,'' and later referred to her ''special ed kids.'' I just hate the idea of labeling kids-mine and others-so early and setting them up to be carefully monitored and assessed throughout their life in elementary school-all I would like is to have this corrected and be done with it. What causes this issue and how can we (if possible) address it to correct it? Is it likely something he can overcome before kindergarten and thus not become ''part of the system?'' -Hesitant parent

3 year old's speech unclear

My son just turned 3 and his speech is very hard to understand. He favors using certain consonants (d and n) and can't use others (s, for example). He gets very frustrated when we don't understand him. Even though I stay home with him, so I listen to him all day, I can't understand about 30 percent of what he is saying. This is the cause of most of his tantrums and is really frustrating for both of us.

When he was a baby, our lactation consultant said he had a very high palate, so maybe that is the problem, I don't know. I don't want to make him feel bad, but I have lost my temper after a year of tantrums and him yelling at me that I don't understand him, and I yelled at him that he needed to speak more clearly if he wanted me to understand (I know--this goes in the annals of terrible motherhood).

Should we try to find a speech pathologist? I have tried slowly mouthing words to him, but it isn't helping much. He is developing normally in all other areas, as far as I can tell. trying hard to understand my boy

Typically at age 3 a child should be pretty easy to understand. While there are some sounds that will continue to develop for several years, he should not be as frustrated as you described. It sounds like he is definitely struggling and aware that it is hard to communicate his thoughts, and he could benefit from some intervention.

From age 3 on you can go to your school district for a free evaluation and therapy, however it can take several months to get the process going. Therefore, I recommend going to a clinic such as ours to get the ball rolling faster.

It is often more productive for someone else to work with your child rather than trying to help them yourself, which can cause much frustration. We will help give you ideas and techniques to work with your child at home. All of our therapists work with children in a positive, playful, and productive way. You can look us up at www.wordworkstherpy.com Hope this is helpful! Tamara

According to the chart on this website http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml at 3-years-old you should understand ninety percent of a child's speech. So it sounds like it's time to get an assessment. After three, your local school district does these assessments for free and if needed provides therapy. You may also qualify for therapy through your health insurance. (Sometimes the school district speech therapy is not enough.) Not only will this help your child's intelligibility with you but it will help him with friendships and academically. My son, too, had this issue and has made great progress with speech therapy.

About the tantrums, improving his speech probably won't make them go away. But working on parenting skills can help you deal with them and keep you from feeling like a frustrated, inadequate parent. A book that has helped me with my preschooler and my middle schooler is ''The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child with No Pills, No Therapy, No Contest of Wills'' by Alan Kazdin. I got it from the library. It's a behavior modification approach (which usually turns me off) but it works--primarily by changing the parent to focusing on the desired behavior. Good luck!

Does my stuttering 4-y-o need speech therapy?

My child just turned four a couple of months ago, and I'm having trouble figuring out whether she needs speech therapy or is just experiencing normal speech difficulties for her age. For the past three or four months, she often stutters 4-5 times on the first sound of a word. She is also completely unable to make the ''R'' sound. She loves to talk, and it seems to me that the stutter tends to happen when she's thinking about what she wants to say or changes her mind mid-sentence. There is a history of stuttering on one side of the family, which has prompted my concern. I'm not sure whether to pursue this now or wait, and would really appreciate hearing from others. Also, if you do think I should pursue it, what are your suggestions about how to do that? Not sure if there's a problem

Speech therapy for 4-y-o's mild lisping?

My 4.5 year old daughter pronounces ''s'' with a slight twist of ''th'', and you can see her tounge protruding from her teeth, when she says anything with ''s'' (so I think hers can be classified as the ''inderdental'' type). It is not very severe, and does not interfere with her intelligibility (everybody can understand what she is saying). She is bilingual and lisping occurs in both languages (whereas in the other language, ''th'' sound does not exist). I am concerned, because if it contiues like this, she might be one of those people with a slight lisp in adulthood. What if she wants to become a singer or something? Is it time to take action yet, or is it too early? If I needed to take her to a speech therapist, do you have any recommendations? I don't even know where to start from to look for a speech therapist. Does Kaiser have them, or can an initial assessment be done in pre-school or when she starts school next year? Thank you for your advice. anon

The place to start is to get your child evaluated by a pediatric speech therapist associated with a hospital. I am familiar with two, Children's Hospital Oakland, via their speech & language center on Claremont Ave., and Herrick/Alta Bates Pediatric Rehabilitation, speech & language center, on Dwight Way in Berkeley. Both of these are excellent. I don't know if your Kaiser insurance will allow you to be referred their by your pediatrician. If there is a Kaiser in-house evaluation process, then do it there I suppose. But starting with this type of evaluation is key. I would start here rather than having her evaluated in the schools.

The evaluator will then tell you how to proceed and where best to sign up for speech therapy. They will tell you if this is something to be concerned about at 4.5 years or if she'll outgrow it, if there is an anatomical issue, exactly which sound contexts she lisps in (i.e. it may be only when S is before/after certain sounds) and if there are any other issues in addition.

I can recommended extremely highly the speech therapists at Herrick Speech & Language, Angela Korpela and Meredith Trowbridge. They do evaluation as well as the therapy itself. They are both fantastic, work extremely well with children, very knowledgeable. Their scheduler Cathy 204-6729 can put you in touch with them. You may want to initially ask to talk to Angela as she has been practicing there for 18 years and can inform you about your daughter based on much prior experience. I spoke to her myself initially and was so impressed I was willing to be on her waiting list just to get a chance to work with her. My son actually wound up with Meredith Trowbridge, who joined the group this June (we didn't want to wait any longer) - Meredith was fantastic. We were told that 6 months would be extremely speedy progress on my son's issue, and Meredith helped my son finish in 4 months.

Some advice:

1) Insurance approval is difficult to get. Speech therapy is expensive to pay out of pocket, but that's what we did and I am so glad, my son's speech is beautiful. 2) Your child will be assigned daily excercises by the speech therapy. Do these diligently. This is where the real progress is made. The weekly 45 minute sessions are for progress diagnostics, assigning and introducing new techniques and drills, and teaching the child how to focus in on the issue and be aware of it and be able to hear not good/good sounds. But don't expect progress just by the therapy sessions, in my experience everything hinges on teaching the tongue muscle new skills by daily repetition at home.

Good luck! Believer in speech therapy

Also, age may make a difference in the speed of the progress, talk to Angela or Meredith about this. My child was highly motivated at 7 to be able to finally speak clearly, I don't know if he would have been as focused at a younger age...maybe..I just don't have any experience of this sort. Believer in speech therapy

3 year old lisping

At what age is lisping not OK anymore? My daughter's tounge sticks out between her teeth when trying to make an ''S'' sound. If I show her my mouth, and ask her to do it properly, she can after some trying. But, she doesn't normally. Her ''tch'' sounds are a bit off as well. It's very cute, actually, and doesn't bother me, but I have no idea at what age it's necessary to intervene in order for her not to be an adult with a lisp. Lithping daughter

3-year-old is not verbal at all

This is my question; my child is not verbal at all. he likes to talk but is totally non-understandable. the doctor says it is up to him to make it happen i.e. certain constanants etc. are vacant from his speech. the doctor says it's developmental. he has to develope it on his own. we read to him, he loves books. he likes to learn and seems like he wants to talk but just can't find the words. literally. has anyone ever been in this situation? what happens at ''speech therapy'' clases. is it necessary to get them? he is developing normal, does it even matter? he is just three in November? he will catch up adventualy? concerned parent

If you want to do something immediately, or if he is deemed ineligible by the school district, you could have an evaluation done by a private speech therapist. Treatment will depend on his diagnosis.

My son underwent therapy through the school system and with a private therapist starting at age 3. He was having problems socializing at preschool because the other kids couldn't understand him. His was an articulation issue, and the sessions primarily consisted of playing games that involved making specific sounds that he had trouble with. We also had homework to practice at home. My son might have outgrown it on his own, but I think the therapy helped him improve more quickly Speech Therapy Graduate

Call your school district for a speech assesment. They start providing services at 3 years old and will assess children who are near that age. Even if you choose not to use the district's free services (paid for by your tax dollars), at least you'll know where your child's language development stands. My son's assessment helped me understand his particular issues and his speech therapy (twice a week for 45 minutes each) gives me techniques for helping him produce sounds that increasingly make his speech more understandable (along with increasing his vocabulary).

I don't care if he would have ''grown out of this'' someday. My child deserves to use words to make friends, use words instead of screams or fists to resolve conflicts, use words to talk about his feelings, ideas, dreams, fears--just like other children his age. So why wait this out when speech therapy can help him do this now? What I really don't understand--especially since speech delays are easier to resolve earlier rather than later--is why so many people encouraged me to chance it and just wait and see. Susan

Speech therapist for 3 1/2 year old

I'm looking for speech therapist recommendations for my 3 1/2 year old son. I'd like to find someone who is mostly play based and not too structured...someone that my son will look forward to seeing once or twice/week! We're looking to find someone in the Berkeley/Oakland/Albany area. Thanks!

Assessment for 3-y-o's pronunciation problems

I am really worried about my sons speech language development. He has good vocabulary, but for example he transposes words/letters. His articulation of words is at times hard to understand (it is cute - still like baby talk), though his vocabulary is broad. Like he can't pronounce the letters: f or s at the beginning of a word. Snake is ''nake'', frog is ''wog''. I'm wondering where do I get him tested? What is available for assessing preschoolers and where do I start? Also is it covered by healthcare? Are there pediatricians who can do testing? other resources? preschools and schools for children with language learning issues, any information at all. I've researched online and also in the archives but the information is not recent, and most is for older children. thank you in advance for any advice. desperately worried mom

You can also do it privately, and during the summer break we will be doing this through Children's Hospital. For us it all started with the pediatrician who sent us to an ENT who got her hearing tested, which found a deficit, which lead to surgery, which fixed the problem, and in there he ''prescribed'' a speech evaluation. She has articulation problems like your child. This was all paid through via insurance. Then once she turned 3 we went to OUSD who as I've said we've been very happy with and will stick with for now. Good luck. Hilary

Worried my 3 yr old has speech problems/dyslexia

My lovely 3 1/2 year old son is a wonderful boy in all ways. Lately I've been getting really worried about his speech. Lately I've noticed that the clarity of his speech is sounding less and less clear than that of his peers. He's very bright, seems ahead in gross and fine motor development, very active, artistic, communicative, social, friendly and an 'easy', happy child. Everyone keeps saying it is too soon to tell, but I want to catch anything now before he starts feeling self esteem issues when people don't understand him. I'm wondering how other parents have handled these issues and how they have prepared their child for what is ahead without scaring them or leaving them in the dark.

He has good vocabulary, sentences seem fine most of the time but for example he transposes words/letters. (Like he'll say: ''I don't want you to go TA all'' instead of ''...I don't want you to go AT all.'' He sometimes repeats himself till he gets a verbal response to make sure he's been heard or understood. When he is very tired sometimes he stutters slightly - finding it hard to get the words out. His articulation of words is at times hard to understand (it is cute - still like baby talk), though his vocabulary is broad. Like he can't pronounce the letters: f or s at the beginning of a word. Snake is ''nake'', frog is ''wog'' or ''pog'', dog is ''gog'', socks are ''kocks'', cornflakes is ''compakes'', Jeremy is ''Je-emy'', and so on...I'm now almost sure he has something going on - like maybe dyslexia. He is such a charming and adorable child and so communicative that he can still get people engaged with him with ease. I want him to continue with that ease and am worried I may not catch whatever it is in time to assist him fully.

If you or someone you know has experience with anything like this, would you please give me some information? Where do I get him tested? What is available for assessing preschoolers and where do I start?

At first I thought he just needed regular exposure to other kids, as he was home with me till four months ago. Now he is in preschool part-time the overall difference is not hugely significant. He's been exposed to a lot of activities and experiences as I took him to lots of places so is quite knowledgeable, observant and creative.

I'm a single mom and with meager resources. If anyone knows ANYTHING about learning disorders, please can you write something - assessment centers? is it covered by healthcare? pediatricians who can do testing? other resources? preschools and schools for children with language learning issues, any information at all.

I am just beginning this journey and desperate to learn all I can to support him to realize his best potential. I've researched online and also in the archives but the information is not recent, and most is for older children. thank you in advance for any advice. desperately worried mom

I would encourage you to talk to your pediatrician and have your son tested now, and not wait. The sooner you can do it, the better, as children at 3 don't mind repeating things over and over as much as children at 6, when speech problems are normally picked up. Good luck!

I'm not sure what district you are in but we are in the Contra Costa School District where this testing is readily available. Depending on what your child is eligible for, therapy is available weekly, or several times per week (my friends son went 4x per week for 20 min sessions). My child attended once per week for a 60 min speech therapy class. All this paid for by your tax dollars. We went through all this when my daughter was 3 years old. She stayed in the program for over 2 years.

All preschools should have this information posted on the bulletin board. The school district sends out flyers to all preschools. You do not need a referral.

As I stated previously, this service is paid by your tax dollars. If you have any misgivings about your childs speech development (and it's sounds like you do), you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by having them tested.

My advice is to call your district office now and have your child tested, esp. if you intend to have he/she go to a private elementary school. They won't be eligible then. As in all these situations you need to be your child's strong advocate. Good Luck

Speech therapy for apraxic 4-year-old

We want to pay privately for extra speech therapy to supplement what my son receives in school. He is going on four and is diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech. (We have Kaiser health insurance and it isn't looking like they will pay for it). We just scheduled him to see Patricia Dodd with Faltz Associates on Solano Ave. Is anyone familiar with her, and would you recommend her for a child of his age and/or diagnosis? Or does anyone recommend any other private speech therapist? Any relevant information would be much appreciated! Jessica

With that said, we have never had a formal diagnosis for our daughter so we aren't quite sure ourselves if the way, for instance, to tackle the speech delay is speech therapy. My point is, I may not have been completely convinced it was the right route in the first place, so opinions could be tainted. I guess I would like to pass on the information but give ALL the information so that I'm being fair about it as well. anonymous

Twins, 4 yrs, delayed speech, behavior

I have soon to be 4 year old twin girls. I am somewhat concerned about their speech and development. They were born 6 weeks premature, and were in the NICU for a couple weeks because of difficulty feeding, but were basically okay. They are doing well in preschool, but are behind almost all the other kids as far as speech and behavior. One twin, for example, will not answer ''yes'' to a question. If I say, do you want some ice cream?'', she'll say ''Want some ice cream!'' If I say ''Say 'Yes. I want some ice cream.' '', she'll respond with ''Say yes! I want some ice cream!'' The other twin is just beginning to use ''Yes'' appropriately, but she did the same thing for a long time. If they have any distraction at all, they seem unable to focus on what I'm saying to them. They both have low frustration levels, and have temper tantrums and crying jags when they don't get their way, or are tired. They have a hard time sitting still, and we are just now to the point where we can go out to a restaurant and expect them to sit for 30 minutes in a chair. All the other kids their age are so much more articulate. We have had behavioralist specialists see them, and all they say is that they are behind, but they don't know why. They have said that they are not autistic, or on the auitistic spectrum. One specialist recommended a special ed classroom, but I did not like the classroom or the teacher's methods. We are working on some speech therapy at home with recommendations given by a speech therapist. I am just wondering if anyone with twins has had a similar experience, or should I be more worried? Signed: twin mom Signed: twin mom

Sindy Wilkinson, MA 
HANDLE Practioner and Licensed Marriage and FAmily Therapist 
(and she knows about parenting!) 
Lafayette 925-962-9506 

Developmental Language Disorder: Appropriate School?

My son, who is 2.9 months old was diagnosed with a developmental language disorder(mixed receptive and expressive).He is at a pre school right now, but the teacher has no experience with kids with language disorders, so I am looking for a new school for him. Does anyone know of a good school that has experience with this disorder? I would also like to talk with someone that knows about this disorder and have been trough what I am going right now. He is being seen by a speech therapist once a week,trough Regional Center, and is making progress, but I need more resources. I called Scottish Rite Temple and the waiting list is a year long. I am pretty sure that he is going to be eligible for OUSD in September, but he is turning 3 in May and I need to get him in a different pre school ASAP. Can someone help?? Thanks a lot.