The best way to approach teen about a speech impediment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: table your guilt and focus on walking the tightrope of seeking help while also affirming that she is wonderful the way she is. I’d just tell her you’ve noticed some ppl have a hard time understanding her and want to see if she can get some tips from a speech expert.

So agree. Table the guilt. Be kind but firm. I would consider just saying you think she shpukd be evaluated in case there is some muscle issue that could cause problems in the future (to avoid focusing on the problem now).

[Anonymous]

It's an emotional issue at this age. Hands down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD (14) has a bit of a lisp that we assumed she would outgrow. She also has a tendency to kind of swallow her words. We discussed it with her briefly before that she needs to articulate better, but she blamed it on her braces. Now that the braces are off and the lisp isn't any better we'd like to seek either speech therapy or get her started on some exercises to help but I'm not sure the best way to approach this without ruining her confidence or making her think there's something wrong with her. I really wish we had addressed this earlier before the delicate teen years but here we are. Any suggestions?

This should have been addressed about 10 years ago with a speech therapist.

Serious questions. What part of this response did you think would be helpful to OP? Why did you post your response?

+1
My kid has a slight tongue tie. Only noticeable with a few sounds. When he was in 2nd grade we went to a speech pathologist and worked with her for 9 months. No improvement. After research I learned that speech pathologist really didn’t help much because it is a structure issue and surgery is the only option and then speech therapy following that. BUT surgery can create scar tissue which can make the problem into a much bigger speech issue. So we left it alone and the kid sounds “normal” for an American but with a couple sounds presents as if DC has a slight accent, sort of British it is hard to place. DC is extremely bright and an all around good kid. DC has friends. We decided not to mess with what is working well enough. If someone thinks he was born elsewhere later in life do I really care? DC didn’t want the surgery( they are now 12) that could always be something pursued later if that is DC’s choice.
Now, this doesn’t have a major impact in their life, but a judgements pwrson might say,”why didn’t you fix that earlier?” And not understand that some issues are more complex and that parents have given a lot of thought to the issue already in discussion with their child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an emotional issue at this age. Hands down.

Can you elaborate?