Speech development - unclear speech in 3 yr old

[mummydear]

My DS2 was three in the summer, although he has got a very good vocabulary his speech is not clear and does not always finish his words.i.e he will not say 'g' in pig.

I have asked his playgroup leader, ( before I contact the health visitor)and she says that his speech is not as clear as it could be.

Will be seeing health visitor next week.

My concern is that if there is any probelms it needs to be sorted sooner rather than later as he starts school next september and will be one of the youngest.

Any one else out there had a similar problem ?

[piffle]

my dd has a recognised delay she is just 3 and is only seen once every 6 mths and her speech is not great to anyone but me.
Ask and ask, but I would not hesitate to go private though as the wait is horrendous and I have been singularly unimpressed with them in our area tbh, hopefully you have better luck.
WE are awaiting a SENCO statement which will hopefully force them into doing something for dd without us having to go private.

[mummydear]

like you Piffle I acn understans him, but sometimes i hvae to translate for my husband !

I will keep on at them , although I will say they have been helpful in the past, he had a referral within two weeks for a dietican for reflux. I wonder whether his reflux has had anything to do with it, as he didn't chew for some time just threw up !!

[gigglinggoblin]

can he say c? my ds used to say d for g and t for c. its the back of the throat they use for these noises and some kids find them hard. we waited months for a speech therapist, then moved and got a new oone in weeks! couldnt believe there was such a difference, we only moved 5 miles! i wouldnt worry too much, speech therapy isnt that bad at all and lots of children go.

[piffle]

Often reflux and difficulty with chewing are linked with articulation problems and speech delay muumydear, so it all fits in.

[elastamum]

Our DS2 could not say j or l until very recently. A bit of a problem when your name starts with the letter! I did wonder about this but after talking to our GP chose not to do speech therapy as I didnt want him to think he had a problem. He has just started reception where they learn phonics and learning his letter sounds has sorted the problem out!

[mummydear]

His brother has just started reception and doing jolly phonics so we have it all at home. I know we should,'t do it but I compare with other children his age and younger and they are alot clearer.

I do think the reflux has something to do with it.

[bigdonna]

i took my dd to hv when she was 3 ,i was referrred straight away she had speach therapy in a group and now still sometimes i dont understand what she is going on about.She had her ears hoovered out that helped alot.She called herself Rebetta tatherine for along time,but we are getting there.None of her teachers have a problem with her speach only that she talks too quickly.

[QueenEagle]

mummydear - I haven't read any replies so I may repeat what you have already read!

My ds3 will be 3 in January and since he was 2ish I have been concerned about his lack of speech. Since ds2 was diagnosed with a significant delay and disorder, I knew what I was looking for.

ds3 has seen the SALT 3 times now to monitor his progress and has now been referred to a specialist language centre. This will mean they will assess him to see whether he will require additional support once he starts school in 18 months time. If he is deemed to be in need of extra support, they can initiate the statementing process for him so it is all in place before he starts.

I know a couple of parents with 9 year olds who didn't bring their kids' speech problem to the attention of the sencos until they were at school. Where I live it is notoriously difficult to get your child statemented once they have actually started at school.

So, I would strongly advise you to get the ball rolling NOW and get in touch with your HV to refer your ds to the SALT asap.

[mummydear]

Further to my orginal post- DS had his first session with the speech therapist this week. He was referred November of last year.

He does have a couple of sound problesm and the first one we are working on is 'S'. We have a work book.

It is early days yet and I have been trying to engage him in making the sound but he shows no interest at all.

The therapist also noticed that he didn't or couldn't lick his top lip ?.

Any suggestions to make the sounding of 'S' more interesting to engage him . I have though about making a snake puppet, as he likes puppets, also getting some rubber snakes etc etc.

I know I could turn it into a game with his older brother ( 5yr) .

Any experience out there with sound S and any books or stories that I could get.

I am so glad that we are in the system ..