Anyones child have speech problems?

Eunis - posted on 05/10/2010

I have two kids with speech problems and it does gets frustrated the best thing to do is cut pictures out of a few things and make a book out of it let him go through it till he sees wat he wants these are the things they do in the school to find out they want try speaking to your doctor they can usually help with speeding the process for he can get the therapy he needs both my sons started getting their therapy at age 1 one is 6yrs old and the other is 3yrs old it does get easier

Danielle - posted on 05/03/2010

hi my son is attending speech therapy just finished a 6 week course and i can definitly see the improvement. he still has some difficultys like pronouncing his words such as ( i not do that) instead of i wont do that. when u attend the sppech therapy they will tell you each time they say something thats wrong dont tell them its wrong just say it the correct way and they will eventually pick this up. my son will be going back in a few months because he still needs to go and i hope myself that this improves because its not fare on them they try so hard. i found by taking pictures from books or magazines with stuff like animals, pieces of clothing, furniture around the house , cut them out and get an empthy box for him to put them in. then just take a picture get him to tell you what it is and he can then post it in the box my son loved doing this it may help x

Amanda - posted on 05/02/2010

Hi
My son has just turned three. When he was two and a half I contacted the local health visitor and had to push for an assesment with a seech therapist. Thomas had been very shy as a baby and hid behind his dummy and his big sister. He also would not let me sing to him - too embarassing - and recognised when I was trying to teech him to speak and would put his hands over his ears! He could say vowels and had the rhythm of speech, but could hardly say any consonants. He was getting very frustrated, as his understanding of English was very good, he just couldn't say what he wanted.

The main things is never to say "I don't understand you" instead say "it is very noisy here and I can't hear you, could you say that again". Make it your fault not his. That removes some of the frustration on his part. Also, don't get him to say a word - no pressure. You say it and he can if he wants.

He started speech therapy quickly, but the therapist only comes once a month. I was lucky that he was in a pre-school setting and his key worker there did the speech therapy for me, following the therapist's instructions. She plays games with him working on sounds. They pick 2 sounds a month and play all sorts of games. E.g. print off lots of pictures beginning with a sound he finds hard then post them in a post box (made out of a shoe box!). You say the name of each thing and he can if he wants. Never make him say it - he can join in if he wants to. Or play picture bingo. Or hide pictures round the room and play hide and seek. Thomas blows bubbles and sucks through a straw to help his ooooo sound. He also has a book called Mr Tongue where Mr Tongue does things like closes the curtains and you and him (if he wants to - never any pressure) run your tongue along your top teeth etc.
Since starting speech therapy we have noticed a huge change in Thomas. He is much more happy and confident. He still won't let me do anything to do with speech with him, but with the help of Jo his carer and Sarah the speech therapist other people can now understand what he is saying.

Hope this helps.

Nicole - posted on 04/30/2010

gwen just finished a year of speech therapy and i understand your frustations. with the tantrums.and the screaming. shes is doing a little better but she has a long way to go. ever need an ear im here.

Amy - posted on 04/29/2010

we have had speech therapy for our 3 year old, but we waited over 6 months for it, he will get there dont worry, my son was so behind but has caught up nerly with his peers now. Does your son hve a dummy, we got rid of ours and he came on so quickly, if he does and u r worried about getting rid of it, dont be, he will only ask for a few days then forget all about it. I hope this helped! good luck|! x

Natalie - posted on 04/29/2010

Constantly talking to them really helps, and of course reading to them. Spending that quality time. I think boys in general experience this but that doesnt mean they need speech therapy.
How old is he?

Emily - posted on 04/26/2010

My daughter just turned three in March, and has been in a speech class since last September. Her speech class only consisted of an hour and a half class, two days a week, and didn't really cause her to make much progress. In February she started going to a different school that she attends Monday through Thursday for full days ( I know that seems like a lot for a three year old!!). This school is really helping her talk a lot more though. My daughter is my first and only child, so I partly blame myself for her speech delay even though I am sure that I am not completely to blame. I have been told that all children start talking at different ages and the difference can be for no reason at all. Now that Joslyn is mimicking words, I have been stern with the rule that if she wants something (Ex: Juice) she has to say "Juice Please" before I will give it to her. I tell her to, "say Juice please." And she always does. It isn't always right away and sometimes takes me asking a few times, but now it is pretty consistent. It is very frustrating having a child that doesn't speak much, but it is the worst when she starts crying and I can't figure out why. I am pretty good at reading her, but there are times when I can't figure it out and it bothers me terribly because I don't know if she is hurt, scared, or just throwing a tantrum. Other than that, I am adapting and just trying to talk more to her, and to say the names of random things in her everyday life as much as possible. I have been reading to her much more lately, which she enjoys copying the words with me. Before she would never let me read to her because she was too impatient to let me get through a page, and just wanted to flip through all the pages quickly. Now she is more patient and enjoys her story time before bed. Also, in the bathtub we say our ABC's and count. The crazy thing is that she won't say very many words that mean anything, but she will count to twenty, say her full ABC's (besides skipping N since M and N are so comparable) and she has even started counting in Spanish with a few minor imperfections (Thank you Dora). I just wish that she would use the words that she does know for some good. She won't tell me what she wants to eat without pointing. Then I will pick her up so she can show me, then make her say "Cracker" or "Fruit Snack" or whatever it may be before I will give it to her. I was told to do that before she was really imitating words and quickly threw that out the window otherwise she would have starved. But now that I know she will try to copy me, it is something I stick by. I know she will talk when she is ready, but I finally feel like we are making progress. The hardest part is that I want to potty train, but I feel like it would be difficult to attempt without her being able to communicate to me. Also, I have been told that when kids are ready to potty train, they will let you know. Also, I have been told that when kids start letting you know when they are wet or dirty, that is a sign they are ready to train. My daughter has shown little or no interest in training. She used to sit on the potty every day before bath time ( I have had the potty chair since she was a year and a half) and now she won't even always do that. They sit her on the potty at school, so I just hope they aren't pushing it on her too much and causing her to think negatively about it. Anyway, I have strayed from the topic a bit, but I just want you to know that you are not the only one. Just keep talking to you child, that really helps. My step sister talked to her son like an adult (within reason of course) since she first adopted him (when he was a year old) and he has been talking for almost a year, and he is only four months younger than my three year old. I think it really does help a lot.

Melissa - posted on 04/26/2010

My oldest son is autistic, so there was a definite language delay there. Very frustrating not being able to figure out what your child wants or needs. We had people from Early Childhood Dept come and work with him for a couple of years, and he finally started talking when he was 4 and a half. You could try using a board with pictures of things like food, drink, toys, etc on it so he can maybe point at what he wants. That worked with my son a little bit. Have faith, it will get better! Good luck!

Jennifer - posted on 04/26/2010

hi yeah i have the same problem with my little boy meckenzie. He gets frustrated because he cant say what he wants. I also would love him to be able to say what he means and so everyone can understand him. We are also waiting for speech therapy, which i hope should be soon. He goes to pre-school which i hoped wud improve his speech but hasnt that much. His speech is linked with his hearing though as his ears keep getting blocked with fluid so he has trouble picking speech up, so he may have to have grommets put in. hope this is of help to you, i know its frustrating but it will improve! xx