diaperjoys Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Our second son, 7yo, is still using "w" in place of "r" in many words. Sometimes he can get it right, if he really tries, but more often than not, it is a "w". Other sounds seem off to me as well - certain "l" words, for example. Add to this an overall tendency to skim over consonants when reading or speaking ("fa-er" instead of "father"), and I'm concerned about his speech development. What do you think? We've had him checked by a speech therapist before, but he was only 4 or so at the time, and he scored way high on all the tests they gave him. His pediatrician checked him when he turned 6 - had some criteria like "at 6yo 75% of his speech should be understood by others", and he passed that. But, now he's seven. Seems to me we should be well beyond this sort of thing. When is it time to intervene? I'd appreciate hearing about experiences of others! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 (edited) I say yes, do it now. But, my son has been getting speech therapy for years. I work with the public school to get it for him. Here is a handy dandy chart: http://speech-language-therapy.com/acquisition.html He should have had a clear "r' at 5. It is a late developing sound, but I think it is time. I have used this chart in discussions with my own child's therapist and she accepts the ages etc as valid. Well, I have never shown her the website, but I have said things like "by 5 he should have this sound" and she has agreed. edited to add that if you google things like "speech development age" you will find a lot more information about what sounds should be acquired when. Edited September 22, 2011 by redsquirrel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24us Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 We were told by the speech therapist our daughter saw at age 6 that the "r" sound is the last one to work on. Our daughter tested out of speech therapy having mastered all other sounds but "r". The therapist told us it is totally developmental and if she is still having trouble past 8, then we will start working on it again. She just turned 8 recently and she has improved on her own, but it is still hard for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I'd do an eval. My 4 year old has been in speech therapy with the local school since last year, and it's so painless (and fun for him!) that I wished I'd gotten him evaluated sooner. I was afraid of the public school system, and really I had no need to be afraid. They've been great to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 When my 4yo was in speech therapy I asked about my 6yo who also struggles with the "r" sound. Her advice was to let it go until grade 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Some kids get the r down pat and then lose it when their teeth start to fall out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessicaLady Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 My son has been in ST for almost 5 yrs. We are still working on this sound. I believe most kids should achieve proper pronunciation by 7-8 yrs. You can check w/ your insurance on getting a private ST eval and treatment. There may be an issue getting it covered for this age child w/o any chronic issue (stroke, autistic spectrum, etc). Our insurance in fact will no longer cover speech after age 7 and my child is ASD. In any case an eval would be warranted and I would fix it. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caelia Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 My daughter is 7.5 and is in speech therapy at her school. When we consulted the speech therapist last year, she said that once she reached her 7th birthday, she would qualify. However, the way she says "r" is different from most kids with an "r" issue. She only substitutes the "w" sound at the beginning of words, but when the "r" is in the middle or end of the word, it sounds like "eye" or "oy." So, for example, "board" would be "boyd," and "star" would sound more like "sty." Apparently, the "oy" vs. "w" substitution made a difference in her ability to qualify for therapy because it is less likely for children to outgrow it on their own. The speech therapist said kids normally don't qualify for the "r" sound until later (I know I substitued the "w" sound for "r" when I was younger and outgrew it at around 7 or 8). BUT, she also said that she sees kids that are now 11 and 12 that still can't say it because they didn't qualify until later. So, I guess my point is some kids do qualify at age 7, so it might be worth looking into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gailmegan Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 My son couldn't say "r" until he was almost 9. The phonics program I had used for him K-1 said not to worry about "r" until 3rd grade. But then time went by and he was 3rd grade and I was starting to worry. My close neighbor is an elementary age speech therapist and she told me they don't worry about "r" until 9 or 10 years old. It's often the last sound that some children can make. And sure enough, out of the blue, he started saying it correctly. Overnight his speech was perfect. No one would ever guess he was saying "w" for "r" for sooooo many years. If you trust your pediatrician, I would bring it up at the next visit, but for now I wouldn't get too worried about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 My daughter is 7.5 and is in speech therapy at her school. When we consulted the speech therapist last year, she said that once she reached her 7th birthday, she would qualify. However, the way she says "r" is different from most kids with an "r" issue. She only substitutes the "w" sound at the beginning of words, but when the "r" is in the middle or end of the word, it sounds like "eye" or "oy." So, for example, "board" would be "boyd," and "star" would sound more like "sty." Apparently, the "oy" vs. "w" substitution made a difference in her ability to qualify for therapy because it is less likely for children to outgrow it on their own. The speech therapist said kids normally don't qualify for the "r" sound until later (I know I substitued the "w" sound for "r" when I was younger and outgrew it at around 7 or 8). BUT, she also said that she sees kids that are now 11 and 12 that still can't say it because they didn't qualify until later. So, I guess my point is some kids do qualify at age 7, so it might be worth looking into. That's interesting. I'm going to pay closer attention tomorrow to exactly how dd sounds when attempting the "r" sound - I'm thinking it is more like "oy" in the middle of the word. At times other adults really can't tell what she's saying. In fact, thinking of it, to say something like "ride" sounds more like "yide" than "wide" when she speaks. Hmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I don't want to hijack the thread, my ds5 still has trouble with this. I was wondering how you go about getting speech therapy through the school? He will be turning 6 in October and seeing his pediatrician for a check-up, should I ask then? I went to the school board's website and got the e-mail address for who to contact about special services. I e-mailed my son's issue and info, and they called me up and set up an appointment to meet. It was pretty easy. My daughter is 7.5 and is in speech therapy at her school. When we consulted the speech therapist last year, she said that once she reached her 7th birthday, she would qualify. However, the way she says "r" is different from most kids with an "r" issue. She only substitutes the "w" sound at the beginning of words, but when the "r" is in the middle or end of the word, it sounds like "eye" or "oy." So, for example, "board" would be "boyd," and "star" would sound more like "sty." DS2 has some things like that where he can say it at the beginning of a word but not in the middle. He also said things only on certain words (particularly his m/n confusion... he'd say "mama", but for "milk" and "mail", he'd say "nolk" and "nail"). We practiced a lot with individual words, then he started to self-correct some of the other words. He used to also say "lah-ler" for "water", even though he could say other /w/ words just fine. I had to slow it down and say it really clearly for him. The poor kid didn't hear words correctly until he was 2 when he got tubes in his ears, so a lot of these things are probably just how he heard them, so they stuck. He's made huge progress though. Almost time to work on blends ("sn", etc.). Some of those he can technically say, but again, he didn't hear them correctly. If I model it slowly so he can really hear the sounds, he'll do it right. Sometimes I have to sound it out, kind of like you do for spelling. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennsmile Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 You might try Speechercise. It is a CD /cd rom with fun songs and activities. I used it with my guy that was having issues with speech. And now is fine. And yes I agree R is a later sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Speech therapy really helped my 6 yo. She had K, R, and G problems. Her ST said R is common and usually goes away, but she was being teased and became very self-conscious, so we took her to ST. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sushi's Mom Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 You might try Speechercise. It is a CD /cd rom with fun songs and activities. I used it with my guy that was having issues with speech. And now is fine. And yes I agree R is a later sound. Do you know if the Speechercise 2 has enough on it to help with the sh & ch sounds? There is only one review on Amazon. The child is 8 years old and doesn't have problems with other sounds, just ch & sh. For example, the child would say 'sour' for 'shower' and 'teep' for 'cheap'. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Again Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 My son was doing that too at age 7. He outgrew it without speech therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I don't want to hijack the thread, my ds5 still has trouble with this. I was wondering how you go about getting speech therapy through the school? He will be turning 6 in October and seeing his pediatrician for a check-up, should I ask then? I would look at your state homeschooling regs. Some states are perfectly fine with homeschoolers getting special ed services while remaining homeschoolers. Others, not so much. I live in NY and it has been fairly easy. It helps that I live in a hs friendly district. I can see that a different attitude could make it very difficult for me. I do have to bring my son to the school for services. That means that on Mondays I am there from 8:45-9:15 for speech and then from 2-2:30 for PT, Tuesdays at 8:15-8:45 for OT and 3-3:30 for PT, thurdsays from 8:15-8:45 for speech and 8:45-9:15 for OT. I live very close to the school and can walk there in a matter of mins. My older son is old enough to stay home and do schoolwork while I am gone. I think he appreciates the quiet. It would be very different if I had younger children to entertain and keep quiet in the hallway while my son is receiving therapy. So far, every therapist and school official has been nothing but friendly and happy to help. I don't take it for granted, trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitofthewomb Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I am a speech pathologist and would recommend you have your child evaluated. Some kids will get it on their own, some won't. A speech evaluation is quick and painless and can give you peace of mind. Each SLP is different in how they approach /r/. Some like to give it time, some will treat. It is the last sound you work on with any child but if it were me doing the evaluation-if parent and/or child was concerned or if it was intereferring with phonics/reading or any other school work-I would treat. Some SLPs will only go by scores on test. Some SLPs have to make difficult choices because of their caseload (you can only see so many kids in a day). Any which way, you should leave knowing where your child stands developmentally and with suggestions for ways to help them at home. To have a speech evaluation done through the school system you would contact the special education department and ask to speak to the speech pathologist. I never dealt with home schoolers while at the public school so I am not sure what the rules and regs are on this. If you aren't satisfied with the way you are being treated, call the superintendent then call the state special education department. Be sure to tell the school district that you are calling the state dept before you do it. It can make them tow the line pretty quickly! Private speech therapists are expensive but good insurance may cover it. You might check around with friends for recommended therapists. I have been known to give complimentary evals to fellow home schoolers. I can't do weekly therapy sessions due to time constraints but I am always happy to pass along recommendations and suggestions for home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 You might try Speechercise. It is a CD /cd rom with fun songs and activities. I used it with my guy that was having issues with speech. And now is fine. And yes I agree R is a later sound. I had wondered about Speechercise but thought it looked a little more geared to younger kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I had this same problem! I feel for him; my name actually has two "r's"... Carrie... and came out more like "Cawwie" bummer for me :) One thing that I had to do was do a certain number of times... "R"... "R" ... etc... I had speech in maybe 4th grade?? I loved it!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diaperjoys Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Thank you, all of you for your very helpful replies. I called our local Speech Therapy office, and they said insurance criteria is to treat if the problem persists past age 6. Since he's 7, we'll go ahead & get an evaluation and take it from there. Again, thank you so much - very helpful input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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