Re: Question for Teri - Speech Therapy

[Guest guest]

,

Christian just turned 3 and it says like him and Zoe speek the same. He

cannot prounce the 's' sound at all. Here's a short list of his speech:

swimming = wimming

(his bro's name) = Dehe

Stitch(his fav movie) = ditch

Christian = Didan

because (his fav word) = becuh

grocery = grohery

shopping = hopping

So as you can see, it takes some careful listening. But I've learned to hear

around it. For instance, what letter sounds can't he pronounce and what

letter sounds does he usually substitute for these. Or, better yet, what were

we

just talking about, what was he just playing with or watching, etc. that he

might be talking about.

His speech therapist, before she discharged him in Nov., told me that

his vocabulary was right on target. It's just the annunciation that is his

problem. But most of the letter sounds that he should be saying, he is. Most

of

the time, the letters 's' or letter sounds 'ks' or 'sh' come at a later age

anyway. (For example, six year old " non-challenged " kids who take longer to

pronounce the letter r correctly.)

Just our experience, hope it helps.

Chavez

(mom to ,6, non-RSS and Christian, 3, RSS, Zantac and Periactin

P.S.

It's good to hear that you all seem to be doing well.

[Guest guest]

,

I was in speech therapy for most of my k-12 career. I had several

issues, including a cleft palate, but in my early years the cleft

palate was complicated by lack of muscle tone in my oral area. I had

a speech session twice a week (eventually dropped down to once a week

after I entered second grade). One of those sessions was purely

comprised of excercises to help develop the muscle tone in and around

my mouth. I can remember being EXTREMELY frusted as a child by

people's lack of ability to understand me. My parents attempted to

solve this (or at least alleviate the frustration) by teaching me

individual signs from ASL (American Sign Language). I certainly

didn't have enough of a vocabulary in ASL to form full sentences, but

I could at least communicate what I needed/wanted in a hurry. I can't

remember all of the ones my parents chose to teach, but I do remember

a few of them were hot, cold, hungry, tired, thirsty, etc. (basic

needs and wants). Eventually, as my speech got better the speech

therapists made me stop using the signs because I needed the practice

actually speaking. However, it served its purpose for a year or two

and alleviated a lot of frustration during that time.

~Hillary

21, RSS

[Guest guest]

,

I got what you mean now. Sorry about that. But I don remember that

phase w/ Christian before you could talk. He would walk around pointing and I

would follow offering things to him. It was so frustrating. Fortunately,

Christian wouldn't throw such a fit, but I can't say the same for myself. LOL!

Good luck!

[Guest guest]

I also went through speech therapy when I was a kid, back in 1st and

2nd grade. I had problems with the sounds of S, Z, SH, CH, TR, DR

and J, as I recall. I said the S and Z sounds out of both sides of

my mouth (making them sound " spitty " ) and all the rest were said

just out of the right side out of my mouth. After 2 years the S and

Z sounds were fixed but the other sounds weren't...by that time

(going into 3rd grade), my orthodontist said the problem was because

my teeth and bite were so crooked and to not bother until my teeth

were straightened. Once the bite plates, braces and retainers came

off, my speech was still messed up, so I had speech therapy again in

my freshman year of college...I was motivated to finally be " fixed "

and old enough to fully understand what I needed to do....so within

6 months I could pronounce those SH, CH, TR and DR sounds like a

pro...unless I drank too much ...and then they all (temporarily)

came back .

BTW, the only person who couldn't understand me in early childhood

was my grandmother, who was born in Hungary . I don't recall

being frustrated by the fact that she couldn't understand me, as

much as being confused why SHE couldn't " get " what I was saying,

when *I* could understand myself perfectly well .

-Sharon-

Just an RSS kid who grew up

[Guest guest]

Hi . I don't think I had any trouble with speech, if I did I don't

remember. I'll have to ask my mom about it. I do know I never had any speech

therapy.

Teri