My second child is having problems with saying her "R"s. She has a great vocabulary and is very talkative, however the sound of an "R" is stumping her. I asked our preschool teacher AND pediatrician about it, and both said not to worry about it. They said it's a common problem with kids until age 5.
Here's the thing, why do I have to WAIT for it to be a problem. Can anyone recommend some books, exercises or activities that will help her to develop the "R" sound? I am not pressuring her, I don't expect her to be perfect, I just don't believe in waiting for someone else to determine my child has a problem to do something proactive.
Thanks for any supportive, encouraging advice. I would like to help her in any positive and encouraging ways that help her along.
Much thanks!
Thanks all for the wonderful advice and reassurances! It's nice to know we have such a knowledgeable community of people! I will wait awhile longer to see how she progresses. We still "ROAR" like lions, instead of stressing the "er" sound. I was told to focus on "ra" and roars for now. Thanks for being so positive and helpful.
Hi Sara, I have some concerns with my daughter and three or so her letter sounds. My cousin suggested for her to look at my mouth when I ask her to say certain words with those letter issues in them. Her daughter had speech problems and she had to do that and it worked. I have to admit it has helped with my daughter as well. She actually slows down and talks better from that now too. Don't worry, she will be fine. Good luck
I'm a speech pathologist and in the many school districts I've been in we never even started working on r directly until late 2nd early 3rd grade, it is not expected to be mastered by most children until about age 7 or 8...not sure how old your child is but the reason to wait is that the therapy activities and movements required to articulate the R sound are often cognitively and developmentally too advanced for younger children...depending on how old she is you could see a private therapist and get some advice... often r will resolve itself..but if by age 6 or so you're still noticing difficulty ask at school...how great you are so aware Sara!!!...I had so many kids in kindergarten who couldn't say so many sounds they should have mastered like k and g and the parents said "oh we just though it sounded cute!"
B.
Call your local school and get her in for a speech eval. It is free and if she qualifies she will get speech once a week there for free! and if not they will help you with things to work on or teach her. You could also call a place like Therapdedatrics or early intervention to find a speech therapist that your insurance covers and who will come to your home or you go to their work. Where do you live? ask the school for names and nunbers too. You will be happie and find the right help here!
Good job mom!
J.
Sara,
It's interesting that you were told that the 'r' sound is something they get around age 5. Our school district and speech pathologists we know have told us they do not intervene until 3rd grade. My daughter going into 2nd grade has issues with her 'r' sounds, too, but we'll have to wait one more year.
Good luck to you!
B.
I have a son who communicated verbally but I couldn't understand him - 3 & 1/2 years of speech and he speaks beautifully. The "R" sound and t/th/ch were the last sounds that he mastered. He has a sister, who is three years older who had wonderful communication skills. They were impressive! However, what my son lacked in communication skills, he mastered in "small and large motor skills". He rode a bicycle at 2 1/2 years without training wheels and he would take things apart, with dad's tools, and reassemble them at 3 years of age. Really - the sounds will come. I learned not to make a big deal of them because I never wanted him to stop trying to communicate - which is what could happen if you continually try to correct a consonant sound. I have always made sure that my pronunciation was correct and many times we would play word games, especially while driving ...."How many animals/foods/etc... do you know that begin with the .... sound?" (truly, there were sooooo many we worked on!" The consonant sound that was worked on in speech was the game that we played, sometimes for a few weeks. We played a lot of word games. I never wanted to stifle him. He communicates so wonderfully, now. He's a good story teller at 10 years old. If you do feel that your daughter should be tested, check with your local school district for preschool testing - my son was tested at 3 years old and qualified for their program. He attended speech class in our school district. Good luck to you.
My three year old son is the same way - he has a hard time with the r sound - especially tr. Tree is a really hard word to understand! My 5 year old daughter had the same issue. She's pronouncing most sounds very well, but sometimes the R sound still gets a bit lost. What we did/are doing was just practiced. No pressure, just modeling the words that he's not quite getting right. He's getting better, but even with my daughter, it didn't come together until she was 4 - almost 4.5. SO, I don't think that it's a problem, but practicing can't hurt!
Developmentally, some children are not physically/motorically "ready" to produce the /r/ accurately. It is a very complicated sound to make, requiring the correct tongue tension and position. That is probably more the reason they told you not to worry. In fact it is common not to develop the sound until after kindergarten. If you have ever visited a Kdg. classroom, probably more than 1/2 the kids are not producing their /r/s and /s/s correctly because they are later developing sounds. :o) In our district, we do not even pick kids up for /r/ until 1st or 2nd grade. The dr. and teacher were telling you to wait, not so much for it to become a problem, but because she will probably develop it on her own by that time without any intervention necessary.
Things you can do are to be a good speech model yourself and to talk about it being a "grrrowling" sound when doing letter/sound awareness activities. Keep the pressure low as she will probably pick up the sound just fine--80% of kids do without any help. Good luck! I hope you found this supportive, not discouraging--definitely not my intent! :o)
I am currently in graduate school to be a speech language pathologist. The /r/ sound is not developed until the age range of 5-7 years old. I don't know that you can acutally do anything at the age of 3 to "correct" it or make it develop faster. It's like maturity--it can't be forced on someone. I'm glad you are not pushing your daughter because that could cause stuttering. If she begins to feel like what she says isn't good enough or causes concern and she is always corrected, she could begin to hesitate shen speaking, thus leading to stuttering. Hope this helps.
You have been given good advice, Sara. There is no need to be "proactive" on this one. Time will take care of it. One of my daughters spoke in the same way. I had similar concerns to yours and asked a relative who was a speech pathologist about it. Her answer was the same advice you've received. And somewhere between ages 5 and 6, the 'r' started coming out the way we are used to hearing it. She's now a confident, capable young adult. Relax, this one will take care of itself in time.
J.
please contact Easter Seals for an evaluation. My sister did for her son and all the appts and help was free.
I was a teacher in special education before becomin a SAHM, and that is normal. My 5 yr. old came out of hers around 4 or so. If the child has a thriving vocab, there is nothing to worry about. If you are that worried see if your doc will recomend a screening by a speech language specialist and they could ease your mind. Also your local school district should have screenings for ages 3 and up. They will screen for problem areas and if your child qualifies they will put them in the pre-school program. Good Luck
Some of the districts in the area offer preschool screenings through a program called Preschool Intervention Progam. You'll have to wait until school starts again, but it is free and less complicated than a full evaluation. A speech teacher will listen to her and determine if she needs any extra help at this time. If that is the only sound throwing her off, if may very well turn out okay later. You could always call an early children program through your school district and talk to a speech pathologist.
