ds and his 'Jonathan Ross' R

[PrettyCandles]

Ds 4y has just pointed out to me that he can't say Tigger's sound, 'worra-worra-worra', because when he says it it comes out as 'wowwa-wowwa-wowwa'.

Now, obviously I knew that he can't say his 'R's, but as long as it doesn't bother him it doesn't bother me. He was very articulate from a very early age, but his speech was incredibly unclear. I've always played tongue-twisters and rhyming games and so on with him, and gradually his speech improved.

All that remains is this 'R'. I can't think of a way to teach him how to say it properly. Can anyone give me any tips?

I think this is a really common problem - DS1 (3y5m) has it too. His speech is generally really clear, at least I think so.

So no tips here - but it is a good sign that your son can hear that he's saying his Rs wrong. Presumably this is a first step to sorting it.

I played eye spy with my DS (3.5) today and he said something beginning with w (as said in wire) so I came up with loads of things wardrobe, window, etc etc and then gave up. DS said no woad (road) Very cute and highly amusing. So can I nick some tips too?

Hi...I'm an SLT, thought I'd put in my tuppenceworth! Most (90%) children can produce the "r" sound accurately by the time they're 6 or 7 years...it's a tricky and late-developing sound so please don't panic at this age about it.

If you (and he) really want to "practise", you could try playing a game where you make a "grrrr" sound like a tiger/dog etc ,kind of emphasising the "rrr" sound when you do it yourself. This often helps get the tongue in the correct position, as does giving him a good "model" of the sound, ie letting him hear lots of "r" sounds, for example in stories, poems etc if possible. (maybe make up a story together with characters beginning with "r"?...if he likes that sort of thing.) And remember not to correct him if he says it wrongly, just say it "properly" for him so again he gets to hear the proper version.

But I would say that the best thing to do at this age is not to worry about it and not to make too big an issue of it. It'll resolve itself in due course. And if he does reach, say, 8 or 9 years without being able to do a "r" sound, which is pretty unlikely, there's always speech therapy!

HTH

Hi prettycandles, dd2 (aged 6.5) has only nicely managed to say her "r's" in the last few months. As jammy dodger has suggested, we didn't correct her, just mirrored it back correctly. She is currently working on "th" for "f" (ie. Fursday!), but we are not worried because, like your ds, she can tell when she gets it wrong. I think you've got the right attitude - if it doesn't bother him, don't let it bother you - it's a long way from being a problem as yet.

Thanks, Jammydodger and Miaou. If it's a common development then I'm not worried. Ds still lisps and says F for TH, but they're easier to relearn, and also perfectly common. Strangely enough, I'm certain that dd used to say S fairly clearly, but she's obviously lisping now - I wonder whether she's 'learnt' that from her brother?