Nancy Said:

I have a speech delay question?

We Answered:

I know how difficult this is for you and my heart goes out to you. I have a 7 yr old and he didn't speak very well at 4.5 either. He was very hard to understand and used hand gestures most of the time. He has been in speech therapy for several years. His speech is better and we can understand about 65% of what he says. We have done a lot of correcting his speech and really teaching him sounds. He has articulation errors also. I went through him not talking in public and what we did was focused on simple questions people would ask. Example"HI, whats your name? we would have him practice his name until he was comfortable saying it. Another would be simple yes and no questions. Instead of a head shake make her speak the words. When she says something that is spoken wrong try to correct her and practice saying that word or words. It has helped with my son tremendously. He still can be hard for others to understand but we know what he is saying. Hope this helps you. But also remember that no 2 children are the same. They learn at their own pace. Good luck and I am sure it will get better. Remember patience and understanding are 2 important factors to raising productive children.

Ricky Said:

Do you know any exercises or websites to help a child with articulation problems?

We Answered:

http://sb058.k12.sd.us/Articulation/clic…

Check out this web site. I would also talk to your child's therapist he should be able to give you some games and things you can do at home to reinforce what they are doing in their session.

Gregory Said:

At what age do speech impediments go away?

We Answered:

It doesn't just "go away".
Therapy is a two-way street. He will improve gradually depending on how severe or complex the case is, how much he works at it, how effective the speech pathologist is at teaching and motivating him, and the progress of his peers in the therapy group.
Discuss his case with the speech pathologist. He/she will be able to give you a thorough explanation about his progress and prognosis for improvement.

Marilyn Said:

Does my child need speech therapy?

We Answered:

Get a speech eval. You can do that by asking your pediatrician for one. That doesnt mean you'll have to go through with therapy, but the therapist can tell you what you can do to help your daughter. I don't feel I can give really accurate advice without more information. I would not worry very much about it, but getting the eval will give you the best information to make sure the problem does not go on too long. Again, I am a therapist in this field and would not expect this problem to be long term.
also dont take that suggestion of aspergers very seriously, thats the problem with posting on a site like this. People really want to help and I respect that, but they don't have any experience with this area. Your information did not give me any indication that aspergers should even be brought up.

Jeremy Said:

speech delay question?

We Answered:

My daughter was also called a "speech delay".

Only in her case, it proved to be speech dyspraxia---a form of articulation issue that doesn't respond to the usual methods.

Her speech therapist had never heard of it, so for five painful years, she kept insisting my daughter was no "trying" hard enough.

Today, her speech is still different...but she can articulate well enough to be understood if she is careful to speak more slowly.

To answer your question, there is no "typical" age for speech delays to right themselves, but the wrong therapy can make matters worse, not better.

Good luck.

Yolanda Said:

My kindergarten son needs speech therapy...?

We Answered:

How often will he get therapy? How long will the sessions be?

Can you keep me informed as to the sounds you are working on and what I can do to reinforce the work you have done on these sounds? Are you aware of any stories we can read aloud that will reinforce the sounds you work on in therapy?

Are you aware of any support in the local community that can be done outside school and reinforce the work you are doing with my son?

My son received support for an articulation delay in school. I did not feel like he was getting enough as he met with the speech therapist twice a week for approximately fifteen minutes. I checked around the local community and discovered that we had Scottish Rite Language clinic in our town. This is run through the Scottish Rite Masons. He received one full hour once a week there at no cost. He graduated from the school and Scottish Rite speech programs just as he started second grade.

Early reader books that focus on one sound are a wonderful resource when working through an articulation delay. Many of them are designed to teach a child to recognize one sound at a time. As your child will be working on one sound at a time, a book using the coordinating sound can go a long way to reinforcing the developing sound.

My sons school therapist would send home flash cards each week. It was only five pieces of card stock that had words containing his sound of the week, but it allowed me to help at home. I was also able to take the information and work in stories and games that used the sound.

Add: Just wanted to reinforce JustAsk's remark about reading. Children, in particular boys in my experience, with articulation delays often have difficulty understanding phonics and go on to have issues with both reading and spelling. While my son has overcome his reading issues in fourth grade, he still has serious spelling issues. The Scottish Rite Language Clinic works with him for one hour every week in order to over come this. He is among approximately one dozen children who are in need of this help at their clinic.

Agnes Said:

loss of memory, speech and articulation?

We Answered:

You need a full health assessment with your doctor. As a speech therapist, I can tell you that very often the first sign of a serious disorder such as Parkinson's or MS is some type of speech problem.

It is not normal for a healthy adult to have a decline in speech articulation skills.