Speech Therapy Question

[Anonymous]

My preschooler has perfectly fine speech for her age with one exception: instead of the "er" sound, she consistently says "or".
The "er" sound comes up in so many words, that it is really getting in the way of understanding her, especially as she gets older and is using more words.

An animal's "fur" she calls "four"; a "bird' she calls a "board", a "girl" she calls a "gorl". You get the picture.

She can hear the difference between the two sounds, and can tell the difference between a bird and a board; but she can't produce the sound.

I had her speech tested through her nursery school earlier this year and they said she was fine, but I'm wondering if I should get her tested privately.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to teacher her to say the "er" sound by smiling when she says it -- that draws the lips back more away from the "or" formation and into the "er" formation.

We have no money or time for speech therapy, so if there was any way I could teach her myself, I'd be really into that. Does anyome have any other suggestions for helping her say the "er" sound better?

thanks!

[Anonymous]

http://www.sayitright.org/article.html

OP here -- ay yi yi, I just googled around a little and found the above article... looks like this isn't such an easy problem to fix....

[Anonymous]

There are certain sounds that kids don't get until later. My DS has been receiving speech therapy and words with r sounds in them are the last that are being addressed because the ability to make the sound doesn't come until later. He is 7 and will just start working on this in September. That might be why your DD didn't qualify for services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are certain sounds that kids don't get until later. My DS has been receiving speech therapy and words with r sounds in them are the last that are being addressed because the ability to make the sound doesn't come until later. He is 7 and will just start working on this in September. That might be why your DD didn't qualify for services.

That kind of makes sense, but it also doesn't. My older son never had any problems with the /r/ sounds, even at age 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are certain sounds that kids don't get until later. My DS has been receiving speech therapy and words with r sounds in them are the last that are being addressed because the ability to make the sound doesn't come until later. He is 7 and will just start working on this in September. That might be why your DD didn't qualify for services.

That kind of makes sense, but it also doesn't. My older son never had any problems with the /r/ sounds, even at age 4.

every child is different.

[Anonymous]

OP: How old is your daughter?

[Anonymous]

sounds fine to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sounds fine to me.

She's four.

The thing is, I spend a lot of time with her, and I'm having trouble understanding what she is saying. Her teachers at school don't have any trouble, but they also say she doesn't talk much at school. But at home, she talks a LOT, and so many times I have to ask her to repeat herself again and again, before it dawns on me what she is saying. That just doesn't seem normal to me. SHouldn't the mom have the best idea of what her kid is saying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sounds fine to me.

She's four.

The thing is, I spend a lot of time with her, and I'm having trouble understanding what she is saying. Her teachers at school don't have any trouble, but they also say she doesn't talk much at school. But at home, she talks a LOT, and so many times I have to ask her to repeat herself again and again, before it dawns on me what she is saying. That just doesn't seem normal to me. SHouldn't the mom have the best idea of what her kid is saying?

not necessarily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sounds fine to me.

She's four.

The thing is, I spend a lot of time with her, and I'm having trouble understanding what she is saying. Her teachers at school don't have any trouble, but they also say she doesn't talk much at school. But at home, she talks a LOT, and so many times I have to ask her to repeat herself again and again, before it dawns on me what she is saying. That just doesn't seem normal to me. SHouldn't the mom have the best idea of what her kid is saying?

not necessarily.

Oh. Well, thanks for that help.

I'm just getting very frustrated. It seems that I should not have to ask my daughter repeatedly, what she is trying to tell me. She is quite verbal, and talks a mile a minute, but just jumbles up her /er/ sounds a lot. And, they come up in so many words. "were" becomes "wore"; "sure" become "shore"; "shirt" becomes "short", "purr" becomes "pour". (and don't even think about what she says for "her".)

I did not have this issue with my son. And I babysit for two other kids about the same age, and I understand them just fine. So, I don't know what to think about this problem. Her friends have trouble understanding her, too. AT least, they don't really talk together much. I think she just doesn't talk at nursery school.

[Anonymous]

You might try recording her, and playing it back for her to hear. Might help her understand that her words don't sound right?

[Anonymous]

I don't think that the last PP's advice is a good idea. Making her feel self concious about the way she talks may worsen the issue and make her talk even less in school.

I would have her evaluated by a private speech therapist. I know you said you don't have the money but if it frustrates you so much, it might be a good idea.

[Anonymous]

When DS was four, he was unable to say "L", and had a lot of trouble with "S". It was within the limits of normal development but caused him, and us, a lot of frustration. We took him to speech therapy (Metropolitan Speech Pathology Group) for a few months. He learned "S" pretty quickly, took a little longer with "L", but it was very focused and very fast.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, we're another family that cannot really afford speech therapy, believe me. And yet, we did send DS when he was 4.75, weekly for about 3 mos.

The reason is, it became clear that he peers had a difficult time understanding him and it was affecting his self esteem.

[Anonymous]

I understand your frustration wholeheartedly. Mine had an articulation problem that drove me bananas, but it was not serious enough to qualify for speech therapy through our county. Our pediatricians shrugged it off and said it will correct itself by age 6 and if it doesn't then treat it. Our dentist said the same thing. Meanwhile, it was making me insane. I had a real hard time ignoring it, but I managed to b/c I knew that I would treat it when appropriate. I also remembered how awful I felt as a child when my well meaning relatives made "helpful" comments about my weight, height, etc. Remembering my own pain really helped me to put a cork in it even when I could not understand her fully.

Flash forward to age 6, we did 6 weeks of therapy and nightly practice and her articulation is perfect. She is thrilled and loved going to therapy and practicing. We are going back for a check up of her progress in June.

If you live in Fairfax County, you can contact ChildFind for an evaluation. If the SP who evaluates her finds a problem, you may qualify for free therapy for her. Also, they come to your house. I think MOCO has a similar program don't know name. I have no idea about DC.