How can i help with pronunciation

[lizziemun]

I have a 4.4yr old who is having difficulty in pronouncing the harder sounding words for example she will say 'bean' when meaning 'green', 'Pying' when saying 'trying'.

Her pre-school were talking about getting SALT involved at christmas, but wanted to wait a term to see if their was any improvment. They have since found out that she is not going onto foundation there(she going to a school much closer to home only 5mins not 30mins walk away) and all of sudden this morning when asking how she is getting on about her speach if they have seen any improvment i was told i needed to speak to my hv or doctor to get salt involved as they can't do anything to help.

Is there anyway i can help DD1 as she is now getting angry in trying to make herself understood.

Thanks

our SLT told i was expecting way too much to expect a four year old to be able to combine consonants at the beginning of words 'gr' 'tr' 'chr' etc... that said, no harm getting on a waiting list if you think it is likely to be a long term issue. is it just the combining she has a problem with? can she do 'gone' or 'tent' for example or does she confuse the first letter then as well?

can she pronounce the sounds singly? 'g' 'c' from the back of the mouth,'t' 'd' from the centre and 'm' 'p' from the front?

worth asking for referral to get checked in any case. we use nuffield dyspraxia programme to help, but DD has generally poor oromotor.

My DS had a problem with some combined consonants which was remarked on when she started school - she called her BF 'Fea', for example, because she couldn't manage th - but it suddenly clicked at about five and since then she's been fine.

Romy7's suggestions seem good to me.

My DC. Apologies for gender confusion.

Hi lizziemun, I'm an slt (although not working anymore). This is an appropriate age to refer your ds to slt, particularly if she is getting frustrated that some people are not understanding her. You can refer yourself without going through your gp or health visitor. Waiting lists still vary,I think, according to where you live. It is quite common for children to have difficulties with speech sounds and most are resolved (not many adults walking around talking with speech problems!)

Meanwhile, you can help your daughter by trying not to correct her when she says something wrong - tempting as it is. She probably doesn't realise that the word she uses is different from how you pronounce it. Just model the correct word for her e.g. ds: 'a bean ball', lizziemun: 'yes, it's a green ball'.

Activities that will help at the moment include listening games. Hide musical instruments behind a blanket and she has to tell you which one you are playing (you can do this with anything that makes a sound) and take turns being the teacher,
you can also buy sound lotto games - elc probably do them. You could also make a picture lotto using a bean and the colour green with matching cards. Ds has to listen to the word you say and put the correct card onto the picture - this helps her listen to the difference between the two words.

Out of interest, you could try with her saying them and you putting the cards on bean/green (by putting the card on bean, when she is actually meaning green will help her to realise she is saying it differently) but make sure this does not frustrate her if she can't say 'green'. You can make light of it i.e. 'oh you mean green, I thought you said bean'.

Have fun with it. Let me know how you get on.
xx

Romy7 and mbadtk, both combining consonants and the 'th' sound are later developing so your slt was correct romy (also depends where you live, some accents use 'f' instead!). My ds didn't pronounce 'th' correctly until gone 5yrs. Luckily these sounds don't really affect how the child's speech is understood by others.

dht - oo, no, we're dead posh here...

thanks for your reply's

desperatehousewifetoo I will try your ideas. I understand about not many adults having speach probelms it more trying to help her so she doesn't get angry when people don't understand her.

Yes, that is tricky lizziemun. You can understand why they get annoyed with us when they think they have said something pefectly clearly!

You could tell her that it is much easier to understand what she says when she doesn't shout/is calm, ask her to show you what she means i.e. take you to what she is talking about, or see if she can think of a different word to use that you can understand.

Anyone else tried other strategies?

here we do stop/ breathe/ swallow/ and use your lips, but slightly different issue... the calmer the better though, it's a nightmare when they get overwrought and you can't understand a word...