Dd mumbles. How can I help her?

[Perry]

She doesn't like it when we ask her to enunciate, and usually says "oh, forget it" when we ask her to repeat. It's really hard to understand her, especially on the phone.

 

Have you been able to successfully fix a mumbling child? Is it worth taking her to a speech therapist? I can see this becoming a problem in her life, as people get very frustrated with her.

[Mrs Mungo]

Do you have McGuffey readers? Starting with book four, they have elocution lessons. I do those with my kids. My youngest is still doing them daily. I would try working with her myself before taking her to a speech therapist.

[mumto2]

We tried many things with my DS -- reading into a tape recorder and listening to it, then doing it again helped. He made a real effort and improved a great deal.

 

When he mumbles now we make him live with the consequences. He gets what I heard. At meal times he speaks very clearly now! This may sound mean but it needs to be corrected.

 

My brother does this and it drives everyone mad. The local hearing test people are probably making a fortune off of him -- his family are regulars with no problems just can't hear him! My poor mom gets tested frequently.

[kroe1]

Acting classes helped our kiddo.

[Kathleen in VA]

Acting classes helped our kiddo.

 

This reminded me of how I would often point out to my kids as we were watching certain movies that the actors would be over-pronouncing things just to be very clear. The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline is a good example of this. Kevin Kline enunciates very clearly - every vowel, every consonant. All the actors/actresses do, but I especially noticed it with him and the guy who played the head of the police.

 

I had trouble with a few of mine and I had them read poetry aloud or memorize a passage from a book, movie or famous speech. Ds15 memorized part of the "Modern Major General" song as a way of learning to pronounce words carefully. He also memorized and recited the speech at the end of the movie "Amazing Grace" - it's the one a member of Parliament gives about William Wilberforce contrasting him with Napoleon. Ds15 loves that movie so he was especially motivated to learn the speech. When Ds25 was about 8yo he was given the nursery rhyme "If All the Trees Were One Tree" to recite. I sat with him and made sure he pronounced each and every word clearly, being sure to separate it from the words before and after.

 

For example, for the tree poem I would have ds say, "If all the t-r-ees were one t-r-ee, what. a great. t-r-ee that. would. be." It would be easy to run some of those words together, but I stressed that he should separate them as he recited. Of course, he was not thrilled or overjoyed with the exercise, but we made it a game of sorts and often busted out laughing together over it.

 

We have also borrowed a line from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When anyone mumbles around here, we will say, "I do not have the pleasure of understanding you." The culprit then realizes his or her mistake and attempts to speak more clearly. Oh, and one more line we've borrowed is from the British TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" - one of Dr. Herriot's clients often says, "Would you please not mumble so much." We, of course, try very hard to say that with our finest Yorkshire accent and it usually gets the job done.

[happyhomemaker]

My brother used to mumble from time to time. Once in college he was pulled over for a tail light being out. The officer asked a question, and my brother mumbled a response. The officer said, "I don't speak mumble, son." :lol:

And that has been the line used on mumblers in our family ever since.

 

Seriously though, ds does this sometimes so we have been practicing facing the person to whom he is speaking, making eye contact, and speaking clearly. He does not get what he wants (if asking a question or something) until he can do those things. I also do not correct him about it in public.

[happi duck]

My brother used to mumble from time to time. Once in college he was pulled over for a tail light being out. The officer asked a question, and my brother mumbled a response. The officer said, "I don't speak mumble, son." :lol:

And that has been the line used on mumblers in our family ever since.

 

Seriously though, ds does this sometimes so we have been practicing facing the person to whom he is speaking, making eye contact, and speaking clearly. He does not get what he wants (if asking a question or something) until he can do those things. I also do not correct him about it in public.

 

:D