How can I help my 4 yr old's speech?

Question

Speech therapy waiting times are so long, I'm worried his speech problems are affecting his confidence and would appreciate any advice. He doesn't watch a lot of TV maybe 1-2 hrs per day, we read with him, sit around a table to eat and encourage him to talk about his day. Can anyone offer any (sensible) advice please

Answer 1

hey my daughter went to speech therapy although she is a lot younger but one of te things they recommended is what they call a feelie bag

you can use anyhting for this i used a pillow case i placed 5 everyday objects into this bag and placed my hand in it i then felt something for example a teddy i would tll her it is soft it has eyes and nose etc... i then let her have a go and got her to explain what she could feel this worked very well on my child and would recommend this method to people.
also when he sais something to you a sentence preferable trying adding one word into the sentence to extend it .
good luck and please don't stress your self out to much he will start talking when he is ready
good luck x

Answer 2

I would get him on the waiting list for the speech therapist - it's probably 3-6 months depending on where you are. What are his speech problems? Lots of kids find certain speech sounds difficult to say but they do come with time. There are many reasons why he has a problem so it may be worth a visit to to the doctor if you have any concerns. It can range anything from laszines e.g. an older sibling talking for them, to autism. The former - he will get it in time, the latter may need more direct help.

What I would suggest is taking a couple of a words a day and really trying hard to get them right. This was the advice of the speech therapist for the little boy I look after who is nearly 3 and doesn't talk at all. He is now just starting to say a few things although not very well yet. Apart from his delayed speech there is nothing wrong, but the speech therapist can give you advice on tecniques to use to speed his speech along.

I wish you all the best. It is really frustrating for the child and the parent it situations like this.

Answer 3

This is tricky to answer without knowing what's wrong with his speech. Is he slurring? Being muffled? Stuttering? Having trouble pronouncing sibillants? Or what?
There are several different things which may be happening so more info is needed.

Have a look under his tongue. Most people have a flap of skin connecting the bottom of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. It's usually flexible and not very big. On some people this flap is stiff or comes right to the front. This limits tongue movement and can give 'muffled' speech or poor sounding of sibilants. Hence the old saying "tongue tied" for someone who couldn't get their words out properly.
Professional speech therapists provide excersises to loosen and stretch (harmlessly) this flap so speech returns to normality after a few months. You have to stick rigorously to the regime for it work.
IF that is the trouble (and I'm not diagnosing for you) then patience will be really worth it.

Good luck.

Answer 4

I'm a nanny and i hear the same old worries about speech. You sound like your doing the right thing to help, so your on the right track.
I'd probably cut the TV down even more though just for a while. if you can cut it to half an hour. some days non if you can. Do you have the radio on in the house? If yes that might need to be turned off too. Take your son out on Trips and visits to the park and ask questions all along way. talk to him loads.and get him to tell you what he sees. along way. make it into a fun game. If he points to things encourage him to ask for it instead of pointing.
When reading to him get him to talk about things in the book.
Is he at nursery?

Answer 5

Have you had a consultation with a speech therapist yet? My son is 3 and also has a few speech problems which I am anxious to get cleared up before he starts school. We are on the waiting list for therapy sessions but have been given some games and excercises we can do with him. These involve helping him to form the right shapes with his mouth when speaking, and also increasing his 'verbal memory' with some simple but fun tasks for him. We have also been told to use a lot of gesture when talking to him, and encouraging him to mimic these gestures.

If you have seen a therapist and are on a waiting list then they should have given you some idea of how you can help your son in the meantime. Contact them ( again ) and enquire.

I know how stressful and upsetting it can be, I was fighting back tears at my boy's appointment. Good luck with everything!

Answer 6

My son was 6 when he first saw the speech therapist, he's 9 now. He saw her once every 2 weeks for a 20 minute appointment. He went for 4 months (8 sessions) and speaks perfectly now. Don't worry about it, other children don't seem to notice and if anyone asks you tell them he has speech problems and are waiting to see a therapist. There's no shame. Keep talking as you are and it'll all be fine. Honest.

Answer 7

I work in speech therapy at my school. It's great that you want to be on top of it so soon, most parents don't. Just continue to do what you are doing with him. Less tv and more reading. Get some phonic books that deal with sounds, don't worry they aren't expensive and can be bought anywhere. And maybe alittle oral motor skills...moving the tongue around in different directions, sucking water through a straws, blowing bubbles, or blow cotton balls around throw a straw. When they do kindergarten screenings they will have speech pathologists there, to run basic test. In our area if your child is even in head start you can request them to be tested to see if there are any concerns. There are different phonic or learning sites online that are free as well, one I use is Besmartkids.com, all sort of activities you can always google for newer or improved sites. I hope everything goes well for you. Don't fret you are on the right track. Sincerely Heather

Answer 8

Have you had your son's hearing checked? Sometimes a child's speech is poor because they don't hear speech patterns and sounds well. Hearing is a huge part of learning how to talk. Also, if you can get an appointment with a hearing specialist, and whether his hearing is part of the problem or not, THEY may be able to refer you to a speech pathologist, and get you in very quickly!

In the meantime, when you do talk to him, whether it's in everyday activities or play, make sure he looks at you, so that he can see your mouth when you speak. Also make sure that you're not speaking too fast.

You can play games with him too, where he'll have to name things. Make sure you're facing him...when he names something, repeat the name after he says it, especially if he pronounces it incorrectly. Have him repeat it again...give lots of praise and make sure you smile when you correct him, however, do NOT make a big deal about it. Your huge concern can actually make his problem (if it is a problem), become worse.

There is another problem that some children have. It has to do with a little piece of skin under the tongue. There are children who need to have it surgically clipped in order to free their tongue so that they can speak better. This is something that I would hope his regular pediatrician would be able to catch.

I repeat, though, don't make a huge deal out of this. It could actually make the problem worse.

Answer 9

Hi. Difficult question to answer without sounding preachy, and of course everyone's experience is different. However my experience for what its worth (and we have 4 children) is this. Our youngest 2 children who are 3 and nearly 6 both have excellent understanding of words and have a very large vocabulary, we put this down to the fact that they have always been surrounded by people talking to them. Whenever we have done things with them we talk through it, whether its doing your teeth, cooking, talking about the day, what they can see, everything we could think of, that way they were always included in everything that was going on, we found that they understood most of what we talked to them about, and their language was excellent. I would say (but then I would wouldnt I?!) that their grasp of language is better than most of their current peers. However we have been very lucky because we have not had any medical conditions that could affect them etc etc. Having said all that a very good freind of ours has a son who struggled for years to speak properly, now at age 6 his speech is very good. It just took a little longer than other children. We are all so keen to compare our children, but often they are developing faster in some areas than others. (Sorry this is a bit waffly hope it helps!)

Answer 10

My guess is that your son is going through what is called developmental dysfluency - in essence - developmental stuttering. Almost all preschoolers go through this phase and almost all grow out of it on their own as their language skills increase. Based upon what you said, your son's stuttering is typically first word and first syllable repetitions. This is typical of developmental stuttering. I would be more concerned if your child were exhibited blocks (where he can't get anything out) for > 2 seconds or prolongations (extending one sound in the word EX. mommmmmmmmmmy) The most important thing to remember is that drawing attention to the dysfluency will only make your son aware of it and can exacerbate it. I recommend NOT stopping your son to have him "try again." Give him the time he needs to finish his sentence. Encourage your son to talk slower - you can help him with this by modeling slow speech when you are talking with him. Also, monitor your son for any accessory behaviors - like facial grimaces when trying to get a sound out or avoiding communication due to frustration from the stuttering. If you start to notice these, you should have him evaluated by a speech - language therapist - through the school or otherwise.

Answer 11

I have two daughter a 5 year old and 7 year old, bets advice is to socialize them with other children and adults, my youngest have grown up with a lot of adults around and so had a conversation with adults using big words and is very confident, while my eldest spent a lot of time with children and so her speak is now on the same level as the youngest. Socialization seems the best idea and having conversations indirectly, children do have a fear factor if spoken directly at or down to. PS our eldest daughter had tongue as a baby (skin that hold the tongue down in the month) once cut all was OK, but the doctors, etc sent her to speak therapy, but I do not believe that this worked, it was a matter of her speaking to all sorts of people while out and about with us, the shop assistants, the bus driver, grand parents, our friends and her friends, etc. I wish you the best of luck, time while help and you should not worry to much, all children develop at their own rate. My sister did not speak until she was 6 years old, now at 45 years old she works in a call center and we cannot shut her up.