speech and reading

[blondeviolin]

My son had a full language evaluation in mid October last year. The SLP did agree that he had some articulation issues, but nothing that I couldn't work with him at home. So, we've been emphasizing proper pronunciation for the last nine months or so. He is a lot more intelligible to strangers, which is a good thing.

 

BUT...he has been begging to learn to read for a YEAR now. I finally started him in reading lessons and he does really well with it. Unfortunately, I think his mispronunciation of certain sounds (r, th, and l in particular) is impeding him being able to sound out words with beginning blends. If he can hear me say the sounds independently, he can blend the words, but it is frustrating him to no end that he can't do it on his own.

 

Should I have him evaluated again? My mom had a son in speech therapy and has given me a few hints on helping him place his tongue/teeth/mouth (for r she told me tell him to close his teeth and growl and that really does work!) and we look in a mirror frequently, but I feel so unequipped for beyond that. I'm okay doing things on my own if I need to (otherwise I wouldn't be homeschooling!), but I do wanna feel like I know what I'm doing somewhat.

Edited July 22, 2012 by blondeviolin

[blondeviolin]

It doesn't trip him up as much in

, but at least you can hear him speak so you know kinda what we're dealing with.

[Embassy]

Cute kid! Reading may actually help his speech along. I would continue to slowly practice the blends (assuming he can copy them correctly after you). If he is frustrated with the blends, I might slow down with the reading and get him more comfortable hearing the blends in words. Maybe try some games like this one; http://www.speakingofspeech.com/uploads/L_Blend_Bingo.pdf

 

He is 4, correct? Those sounds you listed are sounds that often develop later. If you wanted to target specific sounds I might start with the /l/ sound. I might consider a speech evaluation if he is very frustrated in his everyday speech or if he has difficulty with several other sounds.

 

- former SLP

[Lecka]

http://www.abcdrp.com/docs/ABCD_ErrorCorrectionPractice.pdf

 

 

These are error correction guides/videos from Abecedarian. I think they are good if you want to directly model... more than just saying "no" or "do it again."

 

Another thing you might like to to (or not) is have a pointer (like a pencil) that goes above the word.... you can pause right over the mistake. Or, use a card and slide the card over the word when you want him to blend again.

 

That is advice I got that turned out to be really helpful to me.

 

But I am probably the wrong person to watch your video! I think your son looks like he is doing great! He looks like he is blending very good, and able to make corrections, and looks so motivated!

 

Blends are harder. If you happened to want to hold off on blends -- you could look at I See Sam. I think the first two sets don't have blends. I ordered from 3rsplus.com but I hear they are downloadable on the Internet.

 

I also like letter tiles for blends -- if he says the word missing a consonant, you can show him the word he said, and the word with the consonant, by putting in a tile and taking it out. But that is really a harder skill for a lot of kids. It seems normal to me that he would take more practice for it.

 

It seems like he is substituting "d" for "th" but that he can say "th" if he thinks about it. If he could not -- I would say -- let him say "d" he knows what he means. That is what I was advised to do for some substitutions my son made. But now that his speech is better I want him to make the correction, too. I am a lot more likely to prompt my son by giving him the correct sound -- but his frustration level is a lot lower, too, compared to your son. Really -- I am impressed.

 

My son did start r and l when he was 4, but he was promptable on them and not promptable with some other sounds he was really in speech for, and it helped his intelligibility. He was having tantrums and stuff and losing out on social opportunities b/c he was not understandable. He started th when he was an older 5. I don't know all the ins and outs of how they decide what sounds to work on and who needs speech therapy and who doesn't.

.

Edited July 22, 2012 by Lecka

[MomatHWTK]

I co-read with my middle guy and say the sounds I know he's going to trip over. I try to keep the speech work separate from the reading work so he doesn't get frustrated.

[Lecka]

I agree -- I do that also. As he's getting better I count "one one thousand" and then prompt him with the sound.

 

It is really okay to teach him and model. He doesn't have to only perform in the early stages. He will have time for than when he has progressed and has an independent level to go and read at. (Not saying that you aren't, just a different mindset and it is something that did help me.)

[blondeviolin]

Thanks! He is SO motivated!

 

He does the /th/ properly individually, but replaces it for other sounds in certain words.

 

I will continue to prompt with proper sounds. He has made LEAPS in his articulation since learning just this bit. It seems to help him see the words and the sounds they are built from.

 

And typically I'm better about correction... :blush: This was his second lesson he had begged for and I had had a screaming babe at me too.

[PeterPan]

I co-read with my middle guy and say the sounds I know he's going to trip over. I try to keep the speech work separate from the reading work so he doesn't get frustrated.

 

:iagree: Our SLP told us not to do sounds and letters he can't hit. I would make him little booklets using words you know he can say. You want to reinforce the positive, not the negative. I say this gently, but there was a LOT of no and correcting going on in your video. That's a negative dynamic that can get defeating over time. I would work to change that and get it more positive. Structure the assignments so you know he can hit them, even if it means making it simpler than you think it ought to be. Sounding out is going rough right now, so maybe take a break and go a different way. Totally separate speech work and reading so both are do-able for him and upbeat.

 

I notice a lot of movement in your ds. I suggest you get him on a ball or put a bumpy cushion in his seat for some sensory. http://www.sensoryedge.com/movinsitjr.html Our SLP uses one like this with my ds, and it makes a DRAMATIC difference. Even our dentist uses it now, lol. Also get some kinesthetic methods going like letter tiles. You can form the words with letter tiles and practice reading them. He can build words as you sound them out together (gluing and ungluing words). I'm a little biased, because I prefer a spell your way into reading approach (SWR, WRTR).

 

There are standards for intelligibility for ages, and yes at this age he should be intelligible to strangers.

Edited July 23, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[MomatHWTK]

Ah yes, one of the books I used with first DS emphasized trying to characterize correcting as helping. So you want to subtly make the correction without drawing attention to it. For instance, sometimes rather than saying "No, it says..." I just re-read the sentence correctly. I do gently correct my 6 y.o. but just once and then I don't drill him on it. Once I know it's a problem area for him (i.e. confusing the "ck" and "ch" sounds) I try to anticipate the error and read that sound for him. When he gets it, he naturally takes over and doesn't wait for me to do the reading.

 

I will say though- this technique works best when we are totally alone with NO distractions. Otherwise I fall into old habits of trying to rush him or expecting him to know the answer.

 

 

ETA: I started using these cards with Aaron yesterday. The buttons show how many distinct sounds a word has and help him know what to sound out. He seemed to really take to the cards. We also use the loop cards to practice reading sentences. The full version of Starfall.com has some games where each letter is sounded out that Aaron and Liam both enjoy.

Edited July 23, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[SKL]

My daughter couldn't say those sounds either at that age. We practiced articulating "L" before she was really reading. The "TH" sound was something we focused on as she learned phonetic sight words containing "th." We are still working on "R," but this letter has not been a problem. In fact, one of the first words she read / recognized was "red." Even though she doesn't say "R" in the way I want to hear it, she still seems to recognize a difference between "r" and any other sound.

 

I did not delay reading for articulation, but I push the articulation issue a bit for separate reasons. My kids won't be homeschooled and I feel that a child entering 1st grade needs to be easily understood.

 

For "r," I find it is a bit easier to start with words like "church" which can be said without a lot of mouth movement. Once we're pretty good at getting the "R" sound to come out, we'll work on mixing it up with various vowels and positions (beginning/end of word).

[Lecka]

I have an impression that for l, at least, some kids have an easier time with different word positions (beginning, middle, end). My son could do middle first, but it is not apparently the usual developmental order. But they work on what he can start to do. He had multiple non-stimulable sounds and was not hearing the difference between sounds, with many words sounding the same to him. Things like fog/frog, sell/shell, cat/cap... but quite a few like this.

 

He was an older age and past the point where words could just be kept from him in reading (vs. giving him a word ro sound as he came across it).

 

I think maybe the advice is different for the age of the child and the severity.... I am thinking of things I was told with a 6-year-old vs. a 4-year-old, so I think advice I got for how to continue on with reading (which he needed to do, b/c blending and segmenting at all were extremely difficult for him to learn) would be different than for a child who was 4 and already sounding out the word "play."

 

I noticed the "nos" also but the little boy didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed very self-confident. And his attention span seemed long to me as well! I will mention -- asking kids to re-read a line when they have sounded out multiple words is something I should not do.... for my son it will lead to guessing b/c he is going to have to sound out words many times before he just remembers them. So that is asking him to recite words (if the purpose is to re-read the sentence fluently.... if he is not fluent he is not fluent, and I do way more supported fluency activities). But it does work for a lot of kids. I would watch for it in moving up levels, though.

 

But for myself -- my son would be wilted after just a small amount of "no" or any hint of impatience. I have to be extremely good about being patient and intentional, lots of modelling, very stair-stepped so challenges are not too great, etc. So I do agree with it, but also, this boy looks so self-confident it didn't seem to bother him at all. But maybe it could bother him at some point if he was struggling more or having a harder time.

 

I ended up reading a lot about avoidant behavior because my son had it.... there is a lot on childrenofthecode.com. But I do think there are little signs, I don't think a child turns avoidant in one day. I think a lot of parents are totally sensitive to this and would adjust what they did seeing the little signs. But with no little signs -- it is working.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Lecka

[blondeviolin]

Your assessment of my son is spot on! Emmett does have a lot of confidence. Typically I try to correct with the right sound, but this was a lesson that had been often interrupted and he wanted to finish it.

 

I've also had to change how I teach to a degree... With my oldest, I didn't say no very much. I'd just say the correct sound. She was very sensitive to correction. Still is... Emmett, though, gets annoyed if I give him "help.". Typically I say, "try again" or "you skipped this sound. What sound does that say?". If I just say the correct sound he says, "I KNOW!" or gets annoyed that he didn't get to try again. Lol

 

The moving around he does has me wondering too... I had just assumed he is a 4yo boy and that they don't sit we'll AND focus for 5 minutes. I'd rather have the 5 minutes rather than the sitting still.

 

I have an impression that for l, at least, some kids have an easier time with different word positions (beginning, middle, end). My son could do middle first, but it is not apparently the usual developmental order. But they work on what he can start to do. He had multiple non-stimulable sounds and was not hearing the difference between sounds, with many words sounding the same to him. Things like fog/frog, sell/shell, cat/cap... but quite a few like this.

 

He was an older age and past the point where words could just be kept from him in reading (vs. giving him a word ro sound as he came across it).

 

I think maybe the advice is different for the age of the child and the severity.... I am thinking of things I was told with a 6-year-old vs. a 4-year-old, so I think advice I got for how to continue on with reading (which he needed to do, b/c blending and segmenting at all were extremely difficult for him to learn) would be different than for a child who was 4 and already sounding out the word "play."

 

I noticed the "nos" also but the little boy didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed very self-confident. And his attention span seemed long to me as well! I will mention -- asking kids to re-read a line when they have sounded out multiple words is something I should not do.... for my son it will lead to guessing b/c he is going to have to sound out words many times before he just remembers them. So that is asking him to recite words (if the purpose is to re-read the sentence fluently.... if he is not fluent he is not fluent, and I do way more supported fluency activities). But it does work for a lot of kids. I would watch for it in moving up levels, though.

 

But for myself -- my son would be wilted after just a small amount of "no" or any hint of impatience. I have to be extremely good about being patient and intentional, lots of modelling, very stair-stepped so challenges are not too great, etc. So I do agree with it, but also, this boy looks so self-confident it didn't seem to bother him at all. But maybe it could bother him at some point if he was struggling more or having a harder time.

 

I ended up reading a lot about avoidant behavior because my son had it.... there is a lot on childrenofthecode.com. But I do think there are little signs, I don't think a child turns avoidant in one day. I think a lot of parents are totally sensitive to this and would adjust what they did seeing the little signs. But with no little signs -- it is working.

[Lecka]

I don't think all kids like the same thing or are even consistent.

 

Sometimes we have had discussions ahead of time about how he would like to be helped (corrected). It is like we have to. Otherwise, he is mad I give a hint, and equally mad if I don't give a hint as he gets frustrated.

 

He does often like a non-verbal cue instead of verbal, though. But also he likes to have a chance to go back and correct himself, and so he doesn't like to be corrected if he is working to figure it out, but not frustrated.

 

It has gotten a lot easier as he has gotten more independent with his reading. (He is at a late 1st grade/early 2nd grade level now and working on fluency.)

Edited July 24, 2012 by Lecka