When do speech problems become a problem?

[Jenkeylovesdazzy]

dd is going to be 3 in a couple of weeks - was not really quick to speak - probably about 15 or so words at age 2. Now at nearly 3, lovely talking, totally able to communicate in sentences and adds new words every day but her pronounciation is not right for certain letter sounds. - basically all 's' and 'f' and 'th' are said as a 'g' -
eg: sausage = gosage. fairy = gairy
one, two, gee, gor, give!
Also does use 'I' - so it's "me need a drink".

My mum has been pushing me to get her referred to SALT for ages but I see a lovely little bright girl who is full of confidence - my mum was hypercritical and me and my sisters all suffered from confidence issues as children. I feel dd is getting there and has made good progress but these pronounciation issues just aren't getting better.

What do you think? Do I make an issue out of it or if I don't am I doing my dd a diservice?

Any help or advice much appreciated.

Sorry you are worried. It is awful when someone else is making it all seem so much worse too!

Just wanted to let you know of my friends experiences. Her ds is 4 (5 in Nov) and his pre-school voiced concerns that he may be dyspraxic and that his speech was not right. His thing is replacing lots of consonants at the start of words with 'b'. So instead of 'turn the fan on' it is 'burn the ban on'. Weird example I know but I was there at the time and it took me ages to work out what he wanted.

The Health visitor did an initial test and was unconcerned but my friend pushed because of the schools concerns and was referred to SALT. The outcome, no concerns at all. Quite normal for his age and the mispronunciations will correct without further intervention. And he is almost 5!

I hope this helps. I know what my friend went through worrying about her ds so I hope that the replies on this thread will help allay your fears. However, if you still feel concerned then contacting the relevant people for their input and opinion will help put the matter to rest once and for all.

My dd had a similar problem and replaced most sounds at the begining of words with g. Lots of people including family mentioned they didn't understand her I thought it was them who had the problem as I understood her perfectly.

Anyway she was assessed privately and by an NHS SALT and I was told by both she needed urgent input. I have waited 16 months for NHS treatment she will be 5 in September and I am just thankful we could afford private therapy.

My advice would be if you have any concerns ask your Health visitor to refer her for assessment as it can't do any harm and the sooner the better.

My dd's problem apparently is partly habit and therefore the longer left the harder to rectify.

My son had s.t for several reasons problems with sounds like you describing, stuttering and selective mutism. Anyway can be a really long wait 4 referral and any problems have greater success the earlier they are treated. So I personally would speak 2 hv now as you may have a wait, if things resolve themselves u can always cancel. Alot of children do struggle with sounds and then it resolves itself but some need a little extra help. Salt was fantastic with my son and he doing really well now. But if you concerned think u should get 2 checked out

Jenkey When my little lad turned 3 that is when I started the ball rolling with the speech therapy thing. The 2 reasons behind this is that I wanted him to be able to speak a lot more when he started at playgroup/reception class ALSO because I read in the newspapers that if a child is still having trouble forming the words then muscles in their face have not become strong and are underdeveloped so they need help to build up their muscles to be able to form the words.

Just read your post with interest as I'm a passing SALT.

If your child were referred to me I would not be very worried at all. In general (there are exceptions) don't worry too much about sounds at age 3 unless the child has very few consonants and is very unintelligible. I would be looking for sentences and good understanding, as well as non-verbal communication skills - eye contact, attention, listening skills etc. The key is the age of the child. If there is no progress when she is nearer 4 I would look into a SALT referral. There are charts listing the order children usually acquire the different consonants and at roughly what age - I will try to find the link.

If a child is later to acquire words then often they will take longer to sort out the sounds as well.

It's not usually the muscles. It's just the brain sorting everything out. Really.

The best way to respond to her immature pronunciations is not to correct but to repeat back in a positive way, letting her hear the correct form without "correcting".

Obviously I can't comment specifically on your dd but I would say that if YOU (not your mum!) are concerned then you can have your dd referred for assessment. That's what the SALTs are there for.