Hello, My DS is 4.11 and has articulation disorder/phonological disorder. A bit of background. He is very bright and chatty but his speech is very unintelligible to anyone who doesn't know him. We flagged up his speech before he was two but were told that he was a boy, not to compare to his sister (early talker) and he was pretty much in line with where he should be. We also had two house/area moves which delayed SALT as we had to go back onto the waiting lists when moving. He was referred to SALT in September last year (3.10) and began group therapy in February this year. I didn't see much difference from that to be honest but after our second move he began individual therapy (a five week block but we are lucky and he is being kept on after half term for another block) in Sept this year and we have also started weekly private sessions of which he has had 4 now. We also do daily short bursts of activities at home to supplement. Both therapists are great.
Since starting this therapy and he has also just started reception I have been really pleased with him and both therapists have also said he is making good progress. Just in the last few weeks he has started saying words he has never said before e.g. time (was always pime), apple (was always a-i), jam (mam), and lots more. I guess though I just feel a little impatient at times because his spontaneous speech is still difficult to understand and I feel like he is doing so well and then he will speak to somebody outside of home and I can see the blank look on their faces and I just feel so bad for him. I think a lot of what I feel stems from his first day at school when the teacher had basically written him off before meeting him as she had read the info that I had written about what his speech was like. She assumed wrongly that when I said he got frustrated that meant that he had behaviour problems and he was going to be difficult. He is quite the opposite in fact and very well behaved (at school) and the frustration is with himself and not displayed in anger. I feel like I want her to notice his progression but instead she tends to see what he can't do.
So anyway I guess I was just wondering if anyone has any stories of children like this who have come through the other side and just reassure me that he will get there. Thanks in advance and sorry for such a long post!