When is it time for speeech therapy?

[Anonymous]

My som has always had trouble with his Rs. He has made a lot of progress in the past few years and now at 8 he can say it correctly most of the time. He still has trouble when there is a vowel before the R. The pediatrician isn't worried, the school isn't worried...but I am. I was hoping someone with experience could tell me where the line is between waiting for it to develop and waiting too long.

[Anonymous]

I personally would look into speech therapy now, and pay for it privately if that's the only way you can get it.

[Anonymous]

It's very hard to get it through the school. Get it done privately and do it sooner rather than later. I have friend who waited so long to deal with some articulation issues that her dd did qualify for school services. However, she was mortified to be in 6th grade and pulled out for speech.

[Anonymous]

My son is 10. His ST goal this year is "r" sounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10. His ST goal this year is "r" sounds.

Could you elaborate?

Did the ST think it was still within normal limits up to this point?
Or are there just multiple issues and this is the one being tackled now?

We can't really afford to go with private speech therapy...

[Anonymous]

If R is the only sound and he's almost got it and is making progress then I'd wait and see. Although he's at the upper end or maybe outside Normal Limits, the fact that he's showing progress on his own is really great.

An 8 year old who needed speech therapy to get to the point where it was "just R's" should stay in therapy until they're mastered. An 8 year old who had been stuck at the same point without growth for 2 year should be evaluated. But a kid who is making progress on their own, and only has one sound left? I'd be comfortable waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If R is the only sound and he's almost got it and is making progress then I'd wait and see. Although he's at the upper end or maybe outside Normal Limits, the fact that he's showing progress on his own is really great.

An 8 year old who needed speech therapy to get to the point where it was "just R's" should stay in therapy until they're mastered. An 8 year old who had been stuck at the same point without growth for 2 year should be evaluated. But a kid who is making progress on their own, and only has one sound left? I'd be comfortable waiting.

Thanks!
He just turned 8 a couple months ago, so I am comfortable waiting until the end of the year to look into it further. He can make the sound in most words, and when he can't it's more of an open r sound (not the w it was when he was 5). I'm really hoping he can get it on his own, but if it doesn't happen we will have to go with therapy eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10. His ST goal this year is "r" sounds.

Could you elaborate?

Did the ST think it was still within normal limits up to this point?
Or are there just multiple issues and this is the one being tackled now?

We can't really afford to go with private speech therapy...

R is one of the last of the sounds. According to his ST, it isn't abnormal not to really get until his age. That being said, he had lots of problems with sounds and we are at the end, or so I hope. My son gets all of his therapy at school now, but there was a time when the school services weren't adequate so we supplemented. I doubt that ST will be available through the school if "r" is the only issue. But, in my experience, once you get a training session on now to work on the sound, if your child is amenable to working with you, you can do most of the work through home programs without lots of therapy.

One thing you might want to try is getting a meeting with your school ST. He/She might be willing to give you a few minutes of advice that could help you avoid formal therapy. Also, I'm guessing you checked, but just in case, maybe your health insurance covers therapy or even an evaluation.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

My daughter had a lisp. She did not qualify for any of the free services. My pediatrician said to wait and see at 5 and 6. I waited until about 6.5 and sought private therapy. The therapist worked well with my daughter and they licked the lisp in a very short period of time. When we went back for her 7 year visit, the pediatrician noticed her speech and complimented her on it and then just talked with us about the therapy. Basically, it is a personal thing. Some people believe in less and fewer interventions and other people want a more proactive approach. I am in the more proactive court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If R is the only sound and he's almost got it and is making progress then I'd wait and see. Although he's at the upper end or maybe outside Normal Limits, the fact that he's showing progress on his own is really great.

An 8 year old who needed speech therapy to get to the point where it was "just R's" should stay in therapy until they're mastered. An 8 year old who had been stuck at the same point without growth for 2 year should be evaluated. But a kid who is making progress on their own, and only has one sound left? I'd be comfortable waiting.

Thanks!
He just turned 8 a couple months ago, so I am comfortable waiting until the end of the year to look into it further. He can make the sound in most words, and when he can't it's more of an open r sound (not the w it was when he was 5). I'm really hoping he can get it on his own, but if it doesn't happen we will have to go with therapy eventually.

I am taking my six year old to work on this this summer. I did it with his sister at six as well. I think it's worth a few sessions to have someone stimulate the sounds he's having trouble with. My six yr old sounds very similar to your son. He can say many r sounds "green" for instance is perfect. But try Curl. or World or Card and people don't know what he's trying to say. That's unnecessarily frustrating. I think the kids can change their habits better when they are younger. The school should not be your guide. They are only interested in saving their resources for kids with more acute needs. Ask your friends if they notice it and whether they thinnk it makes your kids stand out. You could also ask his teacher that question not whether she thnks he needs therapy.

[Anonymous]

I was similar to your son as a child. The only sound I had trouble with was r's, and I started speech therapy through my public school in 3rd grade. I wish I would have started earlier, if only for social reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to get it through the school. Get it done privately and do it sooner rather than later. I have friend who waited so long to deal with some articulation issues that her dd did qualify for school services. However, she was mortified to be in 6th grade and pulled out for speech.

Yep, this. My son had a speech issue at 4yo. Ped, preschool, DH all said no issue - but I knew it was a problem. We had a private evaluation done and he started speech therapy after that. He's 11 now, it has been remedied.

[Anonymous]

We did a couple of months of st at eight for r sound, paid for by us, and it was a huge help --- DC says the sound right now, and the embarrassment it used to cause is no more. I highly recommend it.

[Anonymous]

I am a SLP, work primarily with adults not kids (but have a few of my own). Kids should have mastered "r" and "er" in all positions by age 7 (end of 7th year). It is developmentally the last sound that kids master. You can give it a few more months since you have seen some progress but you will see the most progress if you honestly give him a few private sessions with a pediatric SLP. They can probably remediate the sound in a few sessions and give you word/phrase/sentence level things to practice at home. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I am the pp whose friend waited a long time to get this taken care of. I realize that private speech therapy is expensive but as others have said, your dc will probably only need a few sessions and the therapist can give you exercises to work on at home. I would call your insurance company to find names of speech therapists who take your insurance. There probably aren't a lot but hopefully you can find someone who can squeeze you in for a few sessions. Since you are only dealing with an articulation issue, you don't need to search for the "best" or most expensive therapist. In contrast, my dc has had more extensive issues over the years so I need to find therapists who specialize in his issues. Good luck!