Quick speech question...

amykins1283

I have a four year old in my prek class who cannot form the /c/ or hard /g/ sound and instead replaces the sound with a /d/ sound. For example, the word "cow" becomes "dow" and the word "get" becomes "det", etc.

I have never encountered this particular substitution before. There will be a speech therapist coming to do evaluations soon and I am trying to decide which of my students may need the evaluation so I can talk to their parents beforehand.Is this substitution something I should be concerned about or is it something developmentally appropriate that he will most likely grow out of? Thanks!

annibes

The d/g is a common substitution, but usually kids grow out of it by about 3 years of age. The d/k is a little more concerning. Can't hurt to have it checked out- the SLP should be able to tell pretty quickly whether the student needs formal therapy.

Stillharbor

Having the therapist do an eval wouldn't hurt. But also check with the parents. Do they use baby talk when they speak with the child. I had a K, I thought might have a problem (folder became shoulder). Turns out they baby talked to her. Once I asked them to speak with her correctly, after a few months the lisp went away.

meldoo2002

d/k and g are typical substitutions for those sounds.  But usually by 4 they've out grown them.  I would want the SLP to take a quick look at him, but also not be surprised if she thinks it's typical development.