Speech therapy?

[MildDrPepperAddiction]

DS is almost four and has always been very talkative and his speech is good compared to some of his peers that we know. He does take pride in being able to pronounce words properly.

His only issue is that we pronounces 'r' as 'w' (as in wite instead of right for example) and he has a slight lisp with his 's' sounds. Is this something that will rectify with time or should we look to bring him to speech therapy? We do work on sounds, enunciation etc with him but he can't yet grasp these sounds. We don't do it too much as we don't want to undermine his confidence.

Has anyone had any experience of this?

Thanks

I don't think you need to worry at all. It is quite normal to have not mastered these sounds at not yet 4 years of age. If he hasn't got his /s/ sound by age 6 you should be concerned; otherwise it is within normal development. Likewise for /r/ which can take even longer.

I work as a speech therapist and I wouldn't be concerned if these are his only speech errors.
I would wait another year and then if he has made no progress ask for an assessment. (Mainly because it can take 6 months or more to get one.)

Thank you! You have set my mind at ease.