has your child ever had speech therapy......

[mum2samandalex]

ive been concerned about my ds speech for a while now but have been always told hes still young etc.However he is now 4 and still has problems with his pronounciation. He knows his words and can string sentences together etc but i find im always having to relay what he is saying to people. He is now being refered although it can take a while so is their anything i can do in the mean time to help him. Right now i just relay it back in the correct term. Im a bit worried as he starts school in september. Thanks

Try not to worry, a lot of children who start reception have trouble with their speech sounds. The fact that he knows his words and can form sentences means he has good comprehension which is the main thing, the rest will follow in time.

The main thing you can do is model how to say things correctly but don't make a big deal about it because you don't want him to worry.

i feel a little bit is there something i should of been doing with him or is it the way i speak, am i not interacting with him enough

I promise its nothing to do with you! I am a Teaching assistant in a reception class and there are quite a few children who start each year who have problems sounding their words correctly. It doesn't mean their parents have done anything wrong, its just that some children take a little longer to learn to pronounce sounds correctly

My own son had problems when he in reception, he is now in year 3 and is fine.

ah thankyou memoo feeling a little bit reassured now

There are previous threads on MN about helping children to speak more clearly. Tips include: Make eye contact when you speak together, speak in a slow stilted very clear way yourself so that the child hears all the sounds in your speech and is more likely to emulate and say all the sounds themselves (er, loads more, but baby attacks me when I type). See if you can search past threads.