Almost 4 Yo and Speech

Sounds just like what we went thru with our son. I could always understand him but others could not. Our doctor suggested speech therapy. Thru the public school he started attending a half-day pre-school specifically for speech therapy just before turning five. He loved it!!! They gave us suggestions on how to help, monitored his progress and it was a great experience as we all worked together. In all, I think he had four years of speech therapy thru his schools.

It was hard for me sending him to school since he was my first baby but I knew it was for his own good. Now I look back on family videos and wonder how on earth I understood him. It was like he had his own language.

I would check with the school you intend to send him to and see if they have some kind of program. It was a great help financially doing it this way rather than go out on our own and have to pay for a therapist.

Good luck!!!!

Sounds like he might have a muscle tone issue in his tongue or mouth that needs to be strengthened by a professional. My son had speech thereapy starting at 2 because he was not talking enough. Today he is almost 4 and anyone can understand everything he says. It is normal at this age to not be able to say certain sounds like the th, r, or l, especially if they are at the beginning of a word. I would get a speech evaluation done asap.

Whatever the dr. says, still find a speech therapist -- one who specializes in preschool age kids -- and have him evaluated. Also have his hearing checked, as others note. You are smart to deal with this now, before he begins school. It'll be easier to fix if he's younger!

My daughter is very verbal and always has been, but when she was your son's age, a speech therapist who worked at her preschool noticed one little problem (she would use the V sound in place of TH -- saying "muvver" instead of "mother" etc.) and my daughter did about four months of once-a-week therapy and was fine after that. It may not take a lot to correct your son's speech. But you need a good evaluation plus a physical check to be sure of what's going on first.

One important thing our speech therapist said was that even small problems like my daughter's very often do not "correct themselves" or kids do not "grow out of it" as many parents think. So it's worth dealing with now. Your son may also love speech therapy -- my daughter adored her sessions with the therapist because it was pretty much like exclusive play time with a very attentive adult!

Good morning! I would say to talk to the pediatrician again and if the ped. doesn't think it is an issue try to find a speech therapist for an evaluation. It does sound like maybe there is a speech-motor issue that needs to be evaluated. Best of luck to you and your son!

Have you had his ears or adnoids checked? My nephew was like that (drooler, hard to understand - plus some speech delay). He ended up with his tonsils and adnoids removed and tubes in his ears. He's much better now at almost 6.

My daughter is 4 and has been in speech therapy for over a year. She has apraxia and is extremely difficult to understand. I would talk to your doctor and see if he/she can refer you to Help Me Grow or an organization like that in your area. They can help you on the right path.

Has he been checked to see if he is tonuge-tied or lip-tied? I believe excessive drooling is one of the symptoms. Hereis a great 2-part blog post about how to spot it and get the appropriate treatment here. Best of luck!
Part 1 - http://www.mommypotamus.com/why-our-mothers-shouldnt-have...
Part 2 - http://www.mommypotamus.com/how-to-diagnose-tongue-and-li...

In FL, they have a program called Child Find for kids older than 3 (it's called Early Intervention if they are younger). It's free to get them screened for their hearing and speech. If he fails the screening, he'll get referred for an evaluation. I'm doing this now with my son. It took 5 months to get an appointment so I would call as soon as possible if you're concerned. My 3 year old has an age appropriate vocab, but his articulation is terrible so most people have trouble understanding him. He has a severe phonological disorder. I didn't want to wait 5 months so I got him privately evaluated and already started speech therapy with him. Here is the link if you are interested in finding a place that does screenings near you:

http://www.paec.org/fdlrsweb/childfind.htm

When my daughter was 4, 100% of everything she said was understandable by anyone. I'm not sure what the norm is for 4 since she was always a pretty good talker early on. Child Find seems to be a long process, so I would make an appointment with them and then talk to your ped to find out if you should keep it.