DS3 started speaking unclearly

amother

OP ↓

Sat, Apr 20 2024, 11:25 pm

Help me figure out what's my best recourse here. He had a paci until he turned 2 when I noticed it changed his teeth/mouth shape, top teeth potruding, same as my 7 y.o. thumbsucker. I was told it'll go away with time, unlike hte 7 yo who needs to see an orthodontist. OK, took the 7 yo to an orthodontist for a palate expander. The 2 yo, though who is now 3.5 is the one I'm concerned about.

He used to speak clearly. At 2 and 9 months he was able to enunciate all sounds clearly, despite his misshapen teeth shape. Then he started playgroup and a few months in I suddenly noticed that he isn't saying the s, z, tz sounds clearly anymore. He's not quite lisping but not saying them clearly anymore. I figured he's imitating the other kids in playgroup and give it time, he'll outgrow it.

Well now I noticed he doesn't say the b, m sounds clearly either. I looked carefully to see what's happening when he speaks and basically he puts his bottom lip under his top teeth. Try doing it, almost like biting onto his bottom lip, and that's how he speaks. He was talking about pesach and the word matzah he said all wrong. The m sound his lips aren't closed and the tz sound his tongue comes out somewhere, I don't see it but I hear it. I asked him to seal his lips and say ma, ma, ma ten times. He started off saying it correctly but by number five, six his bottom lip crept automatically into his mouth and by the last time he was saying it wrong.

Do I take him to an orthodontist? Speech therapist? Any other specialist? Give it time maybe till his adult teeth grow in? On the one hand I'm afraid of letting him keep talking wrong that he'll get used to it and it'll be harder to train him to speak properly, on the other hand, I wonder it seems like he's quite used to it now. I know he's capable of speaking clearly and properly because he did it back in September, but how do I get him back there? I got so frustrated just trying to get him to enunciate the m sound correctly.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sat, Apr 20 2024, 11:41 pm

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

Start with speech therapy

Can you explain? Do you have experience with any of your kids? Are you in the field?

I'm a bit hesitant about ST cuz I spent a year and half ferrying my 11 yo to speech therapy once a week back and forth and it helped NOTHING. The kid learned how to enunciate a sound she hadn't been able to do up until then, but she's so used to speaking the way she did that she just reverts back to the default. After a year and half there, the therapist and I mutually discontinued the therapy because there's only so much we can do when the kid wasn't pushing herself to use the skills the rest of the week.

It's really not easy to get a kid to and from the therapist and in that once a week 20 minutes, how much will really stick with him? Unless, I'm thinking out loud here, maybe the therapy can be done at his cheder? So at least it doesn't involve all that effort on my part.

↑ mushkamothers

Sun, Apr 21 2024, 12:10 am

amother OP wrote:

What is that? How can I find someone near where I live? There's also the issue that we're yiddish speaking, so while my older kids can communicate in english too, my 3 yo can't yet.

It's function of the mouth. Not just speech therapy but how lips and tongue work together (or don't). You can see her site or Instagram brooklynmyo to see what she does.

Idk where you live...?

Brit in Israel

Sun, Apr 21 2024, 1:09 am

For this age speech therapy. It could be they will say to wait until he is 4/5.
I went as a kid for similar (or the same)letters and sounds and it helped. Later on I did have braces to fix my palate but the speaking was sorted.
Your experience with your older child in SP was it when they were that age or older? It's extremely difficult to help an older child with SP the nature of where the tongue goes is way to strong.
You will probably have to find recommendations of a Yiddish so.

Hatzlocha

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Apr 21 2024, 9:49 am

Brit in Israel wrote:

Speech therapy with my older child started when she was 10.5. I had taken her for an evaluation at age 7 and was told at that age it's still the upper range of the age to master saying that sound, so I should give it some more time. By age 9 when she still couldn't enunciate it, she had another evaluation and was approved for therapy and it took another year and half to find a slot for her that didn't involve missing school.

amother

Skyblue

Sun, Apr 21 2024, 10:34 am

I don't know much about speech so I may be totally off, but I do know about child development. I find it concerning that a child had some skills and then lost them. If a child learned to walk and then reverted to crawling, it would be concerning. Do things work differently with speech? I don't want to scare you and I may be totally off, since like I said, I don't know much about speech, but food for thought.. I'm thinking I personally would go to pediatrician and make sure to present that he had the ability to do these things and then lost it.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Apr 21 2024, 11:19 am

amother Skyblue wrote:

Yeah its part of the worrisome picture. Developmentally though he hasnt regressed with anything else, he actually made nice progress since starting playgroup