ds6 not getting: "r", "th", and "l" sounds

[lulubelle]

My son will be 6 tomorrow. We had him tested for his speech a year ago with the town and they said it would most likely improve or they would "keep an eye" on him in kindergarten. Well, homeschooling here. What should I do. We just started Phonics Pathways and got to the r with the vowels and he is so disappointed and discouraged! He has 2 R's in his name!!!! I feel so bad. He makes them sound like w and the th like f. Please tell me what I could or should do to help him???? Thanks!!!!!!!

[calandalsmom]

It may still be fairly age appropriate and developmental. As long as he can HEAR the difference it wont affect his reading/ phonics.

 

Check this chart to see if its age appropriate (btw boys are later than girls.)

 

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/acquisition.html

 

My dd gets speech at the public school but your access to that varies by state.

[jenL]

I would contact the place where you had him tested first (or your pediatrician's office) and explain that he's struggling with those specific sounds, and it is beginning to interfere with his learning as you are trying to teach him to read. I imagine (from our speech experience) that they will test him again and begin services.

 

My eldest was in speech for a year around the age of 4, and once he began speech, he quicky picked up reading. I have a feeling my youngest will need speech therapy soon as well. Wishing you the best!!!

[joannqn]

He's not late yet. Those are the very last sounds to be developed. If he doesn't have the th and l at age 7 and the r at age 8, then I'd worry. As far as helping him, have him watch your teeth, lip, and tongue placement as you enunciate the sounds and words with the sound and try to copy you. It takes a lot of practice.

[LisaKinVA]

R is the most difficult sound to "get."

 

You can work on "L" and "TH" with a hand mirror, with you modeling the way you move your lips, teeth and tounge in an over-exaggerated manner... Speechercize is also a fun and apparently worth-while for many people.

 

Generally, speaking most schools won't refer to speech therapy for those sounds until the end of 2nd grade (around 7 1/2); HOWEVER, if it is causing problems with school, or self-esteem, you can talk to your pediatrician about it and get a referral to a speech therapist for an evaluation.

 

When we took my dd (then just 7) to a speech therapist for her evaluation there were more problems than I was really aware of... we took her because it was causing problems with school (made decoding words she KNEW more difficult, because she didn't recognize them when she said them, and it made spelling problematic because she'd repeat the word to herself incorrectly:tongue_smilie:).

 

Oh, I meant to add, if you model the sounds and they can say the correct sound when they think about it, it's probably just a matter of time and a little work. If they can't... you will probably need therapy (I have two who had speech issues, one needed therapy, one did not)

 

Even with therapy, getting the R may take awhile. There is no easy way to teach it. It took Kathryn 19 weeks to achieve mastery of the R sound alone (it was her final sound), practicing repeating, etc. She finally learned how to say the sound when she thought about it, but getting her to the point where she recogized that she was saying incorrectly took forever!

Edited April 5, 2010 by LisaK in VA

[cani e porci]

My son's 6 years and 6 months and he is just now saying R and L consistently. He still substitutes F for TH (and writes it that way, too, fank you very much!), but now I occasionally hear him say an actual TH.

 

This time last year, I was worried, but didn't take him for testing because he was very understandable and articulate despite the substitutions. When I tried to teach him the correct sounds, it only ended in frustration for both of us, so I decided to watch and wait, and it worked in our case!

[KathyBC]

 

You can work on "L" and "TH" with a hand mirror, with you modeling the way you move your lips, teeth and tounge in an over-exaggerated manner... !

 

This is what we did for both th-f and r-w. Overexaggerating lips, tongue and teeth movements; looking at ourselves in the hand mirror; placing our hands on our mouth to feel the difference. It was very organic (i.e. not very organized, just spontaneously as it cropped up) but over several years, it did seem to help this area resolve. And homeschooling, there were no self-esteem issues to work on as a result. It was just the way things were for that child. :)

 

That said, if you have access to speech therapy, it sounds like it would be helpful.

[courtney.byrum]

My almost 6 yr old has problems with th and l - I'll have to pay attention to r - so I'm curious what the speech/language eval will show. (He had a full eval done by the school district we just haven't had the meeting yet) I know that it is normal at this age but mostly curious to see what they say about when it is no longer 'ok'.

[Tiramisu]

I was really worried about that r. Dd was about 7 when it finally came, out of the blue. I had her evaluated but insurance wouldn't cover the therapy so I just waited. Now another dd is 4 and uses t for k, y for l, and d for g. I'm not quite as stressed about it this time and am more inclined to use strategies at home to address it at this stage.

[KathyBC]

These speech therapy games might be helpful. I saw them recommended on another board, though we've not used them.

[LisaKinVA]

My almost 6 yr old has problems with th and l - I'll have to pay attention to r - so I'm curious what the speech/language eval will show. (He had a full eval done by the school district we just haven't had the meeting yet) I know that it is normal at this age but mostly curious to see what they say about when it is no longer 'ok'.

 

It depends... one of my friends recently faced this issue in our local PS elementary school. They are doing speech therapy, but they also wanted to retain her, because her speech issues were affecting her school work, spelling,etc. (she is also dx ADD, and her writing is bad, which is another reason they wanted to retain her). My suggestion was at the IEP meeting, that they include keyboarding as a modification to help with her writing issues, and hold off on any retention discussion to see if the therapy and the writing modification using keyboarding would resolve the concerns. This is the direction they've taken for the year, and so far things have gone pretty well... except for mean girl issues.:tongue_smilie:

[dansamy]

Dunno if it was already suggested, but have his hearing evaluated. My DS8 doesn't get his "r" sound either, but it is due to a genetic hearing loss. He's now wearing hearing aids and has improved, but he could probably still benefit from some speech therapy as well.

[ElizabethB]

Phonics usually helps.

 

Here is a website that you might find helpful:

 

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

 

Also, if PP is proving too tough, syllables might be easier, you could try Webster's Speller.

[Omma]

I have a Super Star R & L Speech Therapy Made Simple book for sale. It is by Deborah Lott (she has a M.Ed. in Speech Language Pathology). I also have Super Star Speech.

 

Editorial Reviews

 

Product Description

 

Super Star R and L will aid you in teaching your child to correctly pronounce the R and L sounds. This manual can stand alone for a child with one or two speech sound errors, can be used as a supplement to Super Star Speech, or as additional home practice for children who are already receiving professional speech therapy. The manual includes specific tips for teaching the R and L sounds as well as worksheets, games, and 168 picture cards, all designed for step by step, enjoyable learning. Your child will have fun while improving his or her speech skills!

 

About the Author

 

Deborah Lott is a licensed Speech language pathologist a with Master s degree in Education in speech pathology. She has home schooled her 4 children for the past 15 years while doing part-time speech therapy, primarily with children with articulation disorders. Through her interaction with other parents, she has come to realize that many parents cannot afford speech therapy for their children, prefer not to utilize speech therapy through the public schools, or may simply prefer to work with their children prior to beginning therapy or as a supplement to professional speech therapy. These reasons inspired her to design these very affordable speech therapy manuals, specifically for parents to use with their own children.

 

 

 

 

Let me know by a p'm if you are interested.

 

Brenda