*SPEECH DEVT* - any *SALTs* out there who can help?

[mummyofboys]

My ds is 5.4 He had what was described as a 'moderate' speech delay at age 2.8. SALT said he had some 'immature' sounds that she did not expect to cause 'long term' problems. He was developing better speech/vocab etc on starting reception aged 4yrs (August baby). During the 1st year at school he came on leaps and bounds.

He's teacher said they have no concerns over his speech and language, but I'm not so sure. He still add 'ed' onto many words eg: I sawed instead of saw and eated instead of ate. Sometimes he also appears to talk very fast with 'lazy' pronunciation but if prompted can say it perfectly and slower. Am I paranoid because of his delay or is this normal for his development? Also, he just couldn't get the name Joseph in the nativity - called him Jovis ?

I listen to him and his expression and pronouncing does sound younger then some of his peers - although he has a great vocab and understanding of spoken language.

Talk to me when you've finished tea, bath and bed ... PLEASE

i would say a lot of the adding 'ed' on the end is normal for his age. past tenses are tricky to use correctly for little ones, english language seems to have one rule for some words and other rules for others so i lots of children get mixed up but in time it will sort itself out if he hears you talking correctly to him. in my opinion, not an expery but lazy pronounciation could just be his age aswell. i'd keep asking him to say it properly but i wouldn't worry too much. oh and my son is called joseph and one of my friend's 5 year old dd's calls him jopeth. just something kids stuggle to say apparently!

sounds normal to me (not a SALT)

Dd(7) still occasionally gets words mixed up. And does the -ed thing I think HTH

My DS does the same. He will say that he 'tooked' something instead of took or taken, for example, so it doesn't sound too worrying. And a chimney is still a chimley.

Hi, SALT here (!)

I wouldn't worry too much. He sounds very mildly delayed, but as if he is making good progress from a greater delay earlier.

As others have said, overusing the -ed ending is very common. Your DS will learn the past tense rules! Just keep saying the correct ending yourself, gently drawing his attention to it, but not making a big deal about it. Remember overall he is communicating a message successfully even if the grammatical details are not quite right.

As for the speaking fast thing, a lot of ex-speech therapy children seem to do it. Possibly because they are not so good at processing speech quickly, but can speak well more slowly. Much the same way as a sporty kid will do gym much better than an unco-ordinated kid. (Sorry, not a great example, not meant to be offensive to anyone!)

HTH x

I'm a slt too.

I agree that I would not be too worried by these residual immaturities at his age.

Teachers are pretty good at recognising when a child requires slt input so if she (the teacher) is saying she has no concerns, I would believe her.

As Beaky says overgeneralising the -ed rule is a normal phase. Children 'learn' the -ed rule i.e. add -ed to past tense words but then overgeneralise and add it to irregular past tense words too. This is why children can seem to regress after using irregular past tense correctly e.g. they use 'took' correctly and then start using 'tooked'.

I think speaking too quickley is also an age thing as all children expect to be understood as we are supposed to mind-read aren't we? So it is just that they are not old enough yet to be taking the listener into account and change the way they talk accordingly.

Perhaps you could give him a nudge to 'slow down so mummy can hear what you are saying' rather than pick him up on every mistake he makes.

Alternatively, pick 3-4 words that he needs to use frequently at home and at school and aim for him to be pronouncing them correctly. Ask the teacher/TA to prompt him gently at school. Sometimes it only takes 'a look' to get them to correct themselves when they know what is expected.

Finally, focus on his positives. It's fantastic that he has good understanding and vocabulary. These both could be much more difficult things to deal with and could have more impact on him educationally.

Hope this post makes some sense. Am knackered and off to bed shortly

Thank you all. I'll stop the paranoia and start to enjoy his healthy development and 'gently' guide him. Cheers!

DHWT Sod's law .... came out of school today and asked if "Josef" can come and play - it was as if he'd been reading my mumsnet thread (now that would be bloody clever!!). Just goes to show what a difference a day makes.

Made me smile

awww! my ds actually think his name is jopeth now

Brilliant. You'll have to arrange for that play-date now

It sounds as though things will continue to improve as he matures.