Can't Pronounce C or G

[jcookie]

Hi,

Our 4 year old daughter has a tounge tie, she can't protrude the tip of her tounge much at all, however she speaks perfectly clearly with the exception of C/K and G. She pronounces C/K as T and G as D. We have both tried to teach her how to use the back of her throat and to keep her tounge down, but she just keeps saying that she can't (tan't) do it. I'm worried that when she starts school she will be different from the other children, also I'd like to know if it's a physical problem i.e. is her tounge tie causung the problem or will she simply pick it up in a few months time?

Thanks,

J

Hmm don't know about the tongue tie aspect but DS1 was like this until about the age of 4. Then one day he suddenly got it - I remember the exact moment - he was pretending to be a baby and suddenly said ga instead of da. And then he was off and fine.

But as I say, I have no experience of tongue tie.

My DS1 had this, "the tar went round the torner" - no speech therapy until he was at the end of reception as it's relatively common.

Don't know about tongue tie either as not an issue with DS AFAIK; but he had SALT at age 5yo and eventually got it.

No idea when! but he certainly says it right now. (He's 11 ).

A surprising number of FS2 children do have issues with this or similar bits of speech. Have you asked abotu SALT?

I have no experience with tongue tie, but my DS (4) has trouble with his C/K and G sounds. (Well, far more letters than that, but we are concentrating on those for the time being!) . His SALT did say that it is very common to have problems with those letter beyond starting school age, so I don't think your DD will unique.

I was given a few tips to practice at home. For example, we practice sounds in front of a mirror and have scrapbooks with lots of pictures of cars and castles, for example.

If she goes to nursery, have they picked up on it? If not, and you are still worry, get a referral to a ST. They will probably say everything is fine, but they can reassure you and give you exercises to try at home. DS nursery get funding for 1:1 time and he also works in small groups to improve his confidence.

I used to get my DD to lie on her back and practice C/K as the tongue naturally falls to the back of the throat and is easier to make the sounds. It really helped her to get the right position for her tongue.

Hi :)

I work in speech and language therapy and also have a tongue tie! Tongue tie only really affects speech if you cant prounounce sounds such as 't', 'd' and 's' as the tongue has to lift up behind the top teeth. As your daughter can prounounce these sounds it doesnt seem like the tongue tie is affecting her speech. Not being able to say 'c', 'k' and 'g' is fairly common, there are a few tricks to help children prounce these sounds such as asking them to hold the tip of their tongue down and then saying it. It may be worth contacting speech therapy in your area to get some tips and resources to help.

Hope this is helpful :)

That was meant to say pronounce!! :)

My daughter could not pronounce her 'c's or 'g's correctly either, she would say a 't' instead of a 'c' and a 'd' instead of a 'g' too eg. 'tat' and 'dod' (instead of 'cat' and 'dog'). I took her to a speech therapist who suggested that i could put my finger in her mouth, so that her tongue could not touch the roof of her mouth when saying the 'c' (like it does for a 't'). I found that when i was brushing her teeth, i could get her to say the 'c' properly by putting the toothbrush in the middle of her mouth so that the tongue couldn't reach the roof of the mouth. She was pleased when she said her first 'c', and it didn't take long before she could do it with no toothbrushes or fingers :) She can say both 'c' and g' now (the therapist told me that once you can say 'c', the 'g' will come too because it's the same principle) and she was right.
I still have to remind my daughter about some words, because she has got into the habit of saying words incorrectly, but she can do it properly when reminded. There are lots of other things she still can't say though like "th", "sh" and "ch" and "r" !! and i haven't found any methods for those...

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would share my own personal experience and this message will be seen by someone who IS in the position I WAS. My little girl couldn’t pronounce her C and G letters. She could refer to Car as ‘dar’ and dog as ‘dod’ and it was really difficult to try shake this speech as many children and family couldn’t understand her at all and I was constantly relaying what she had just said. Fast forward to 4 years old, nothing had changed the doctors said she would correct herself and the pressure of school coming it was time to try. The easiest way I found was pressing my finger in her mouth and holding down the tip of her tongue. As only the back of your tongue touches the roof of your mouth to produce the letter G. I felt mine to see and also put my little girls hand in my mouth to see if she could feel what I was doing and within a few short days she was pronouncing her letters. Nothing of this is online and I had to find out myself . The first word I asked her to pronounce was Car. Short and a snappy C at the beginning: there is light just persist and praise as you would. Good day I wish you all the best !