Berley Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 My DS6 has trouble saying the "R" sound. His pediatrician doesn't think he needs any type of extensive speech therapy and said for me to try to help him at home before we go that route. I have NO idea how to teach a kid to say a sound correctly except have him watch my mouth when I say it and let him mimic me. He can sometimes make the sound correctly, but has to work very hard at it. Anyone else have experience with this that can give me some things to do to help him? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Google "speech sounds by age" R is one of the last sounds a child is expected to master. According to the speech therapists that I have worked with at schools having trouble with the "r" sound is still acceptable at 6 yrs old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilma Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I recently talked with my speech therapist about my 7.5 y/o girl's /r/ sound. She said it's a-okay to still not have it at this point. If my kid gets to 8/8.5 and still has no /r/, I'll carry her in for some help with it. eta: by "my speech therapist" I meant "the speech therapist that helped my oldest two girls when they were little bitty" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 There are a number of different charts which cover age appropriate speech problems. I felt that waiting until it's a "problem" at age 8.5 was wasting time. A different chart said that kids typically get the r sound at 6. We did speech therapy when she was 6 and it took very little time to get the r sound. It was totally worthwhile. Her confidence increased and she was more intelligible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 My rule of thumb: when in doubt, ask your pediatrician. If the pediatrician thinks it isn't a problem, but your mommy instincts say it is, get an evaluation. It's worth it. Earlier is always better than later. You might post to the Special Needs board, too. Lots of people with experience there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeAndTheBoys Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Like others said--8 is the magic age. My DS2 had trouble with it until he was about 7. We worked on it at home--I found that he could say "grrrrrr" like a "scary animal", lol--but not "rabbit". Knowing that he HAD an "rrr" sound in his arsenal was great news for me--but it took about a year of practicing to get it to come out in words. At 10, no problems, no trace of a problem. A nephew had other issues like saying "w" for "l" and lisping--those needed speech therapy. From reading, talking to pediatrician, etc--"r" can just go away, and you might be able to find ways to work on it at home. We did a lot of growling :) B-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 There are a number of different charts which cover age appropriate speech problems. I felt that waiting until it's a "problem" at age 8.5 was wasting time. A different chart said that kids typically get the r sound at 6. We did speech therapy when she was 6 and it took very little time to get the r sound. It was totally worthwhile. Her confidence increased and she was more intelligible. It depends on the child, and in some cases it is a matter of jaw development. Ds9 has been in speech therapy for two years and has mastered everything except for r, thigh he has made some progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhsmom Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Right before school started, we had my almost 7yr old evaluated by a speech therapist. She wasn't concerned that my son didn't have the r sound yet. We are going to work on it at home this year and will see her before school next year if he hasn't made extensive progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 DS10 started speech therapy for R's in July, and he has made a ton of progress already. We were hoping he would get it eventually on his own, but he did not. I wish we hadn't waited so long, since it has made such a big difference in such a short time. At age 6, you could certainly wait and see, and maybe work on some things with him yourself at home before doing speech therapy. I don't sit in on his sessions, but the therapist sends home a couple of worksheets each week with word searches, R word lists, etc, so if you did some things like that on your own, it might help. She also suggests to have him read a page or paragraph and highlight all of the R's that he misses, then have him repeat the reading and focus on saying them correctly. She is also starting a list of words that she has heard him say incorrectly, so that he can practice those specifically. All of these things you could work on at home with him, as long as your son has the ability to say R but does not do it consistently. If he can't do it at all, you might need to have an SLP work with him to develop that skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berley Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Thank you all for your comments! I don't feel like it's a "problem" so much as something that if he CAN get it now, why shouldn't he? It's almost like he couldn't make the sound for so long, he just got lazy with it. Now that he can make the sound with some effort, he doesn't want to work to do it. Does that make sense? You all have given me some great resources to work with him at home to see if we can remedy it here. And thank you to those of you that said it isn't a "problem" until age 8. He's the first child to have any type of speech issue, so I have NO idea when he "should" get it. Thanks again for all of your responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2TheTeam Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 There are lots of ways you can do speech therapy at home. Start googling. ;) Most insurance companies won't pay for speech therapy unless there is a medical problem causing it....at least that is what we were told and what was the case for both of our children. But, you can affectively do it at home in many cases. My almost 9 year still struggles with L's especially. I wish I had worried about it sooner and worked on it with him. He did get an eval, but at the time was just barely in the normal range and she said he wouldn't qualify with the insurance even if he was below. She gave me exercises to do with him at home and I slacked and didn't. I really wish we had because now, even though I understand him fine, he can be hard to understand for other people. Now, we are going to start working on it because it bothers him. So, my advice...if you know there is a speech issue that could be worked on, I would go ahead. I often correct my younger children and show them the proper way to form letters with their tongues and lips and have them repeat. In my mind, it isn't really worth waiting. If you see an issue, work on it now rather than later. :) I wanted to add, I agree it isn't a problem yet. I would just work on it in a relaxed way so it doesn't become a problem like my son's did. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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