Update: Speech Therapy- Articulation

rosesandpeonies

curious if anyone might have any advice. Not sure if this is the right spot, but I thought you might have some guidance

 I have a language based learning disability, had speech for many years as a child, sensory processing issues as well.  I am also from NJ so I have an accent.

My older daughter just got a speech evaluation last week and they said that she needs further testing for articulation.

She seems fine to me, but I also know that I am her parent and used to her speech so I could totally be missing it. Therefore, I agreed to the further testing, because I am a huge advocate if it is needed.

So here are my questions.  I am concerned I may be causing the speech issue because of my background in speech issues and my accent from NJ.  I do tend to run my words together.  So I am not sure how to resolve that if it is coming from me?  Thoughts?

Also the speech pathologist asked if she had her hearing checked.  She was checked at birth and passed.  She said I could get that checked if I wanted.  Do you think that I should?

Also, I am curious. She is 3.5 and I was curious how they would measure articulation for her age group since of course they are still establishing speech, etc.

any other thoughts that you might have would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you so much. 

Update:  I really wanted to thank everyone for being so helpful.  She did fine on the assessment at our house, except for some age appropriate articulation errors. However, for some reason it seems more of an issue in public and in the classroom.  Which is interesting I guess.  I have noticed it also.  So the speech pathologist is just going to follow her for a little while at school and see how it goes.  I'm going to keep a diary, and we are going to touch base in two months.  Thanks again!  

preggersINschool25

I'm not much help, but I just wanted to say that I would have her hearing checked. It is the most basic thing to check when a speech issue is involved.Hearing loss can be gradual. We are testing my son's hearing because he has a speech delay. I don't think his hearing is a problem, but it is good to rule it out.

kcisthebombdotcom

Welcome! I have a similar history--I had apraxia as a kid and lots of speech therapy resulting, my remaining speech errors are covered up by a boston accent, and likely had some sensory processing issues thrown in the mix. My son is in speech therapy for an articulation delay.

To answer your questions, yes you should get her hearing checked to rule that being the underlying cause and yes you should do speech if the therapist says she needs it. Even if you have errors in your speech, a speech therapist can work so she doesn't have those errors.

They can test for articulation at her age. My son was tested prior to three and for a three and a half year old girl it would be even easier since they should have mastered more sounds at that age. It's pretty simple--they show your child lots of pictures, ask questions, and take notes on her pronounciation. After the test, they'll go over the results. They'll tell you what errors are consistent for a child her age, which are abnormal (if any) and make the recommendation whether she needs therapy or if you should wait it out for a while longer.

My son has made great gains in his artic therapy just from december.

I wish you luck!

rsd12

My oldest had been in speech therapy due to his cleft lip and palate specifically for articulation. We knew he was going to have speech issues. he phased out of speech in kindy. Hearing tests were still really important. He was tested every 6 months, but we knew he most likely would have fluid in his ears, no ear infections though. He asked for a hearing test and ear tubes in kindergarten since he was struggling with rhyming.

We decided to get our middle son tested, I was concerned about his speech aroun 2 and half years old. At three the town said yes he needed services for both articulation and phonology. While I tend to think his older brother set the example, my youngest boy speaks clear and was influenced by both of them!

I would get the hearing test done, we did it with my middle son to see if that was causing some of the speech issues. He passed his hearing test.

I can tell you, I had a very difficult time finding out my middle son needed the services, epsecially since he needed more services than my oldest and we did not have a birth defect to blame it on.

The good news is articulation is a pretty good speech problem to have, it can be corrected.

rosesandpeonies

-auntie-:

rosesandpeonies:

curious if anyone might have any advice. Not sure if this is the right spot, but I thought you might have some guidance

Welcome. We have quite a few speech moms here.

 I have a language based learning disability, had speech for many years as a child, sensory processing issues as well.  I am also from NJ so I have an accent.

My older daughter just got a speech evaluation last week and they said that she needs further testing for articulation.

How did this come about? We you referred by the school district? Your pedi? Is she in a preschool that screens all students?

She seems fine to me, but I also know that I am her parent and used to her speech so I could totally be missing it. Therefore, I agreed to the further testing, because I am a huge advocate if it is needed.

Seems prudent. Mommygoggles often interfere with seeing a child's differences as clearly as a teacher or other person might. This is especially true when it's an only or older child or if you don't see them often in the context of well developing kids.

So here are my questions.  I am concerned I may be causing the speech issue because of my background in speech issues and my accent from NJ.  I do tend to run my words together.  So I am not sure how to resolve that if it is coming from me?  Thoughts?

It's probably more a matter of genetics than the often maligned state of New Jersey. It's very common for kids with learning disabilities to come from families where this "runs in the family". If she's not "hearing" the sounds associated with the language, learning to read could be a problem going forward. Was your LD issue exacerbated by poor phonemic awareness/discrimination? What was your specific speech issue?

FWIW, I learned to speak with a Boston accent because I lived there until I was about 18 months old. My mother and all my aunts have thick accents. It was long gone by the time I was in kindie despite spending all my summers there. I'm told that's pretty typical.

Also the speech pathologist asked if she had her hearing checked.  She was checked at birth and passed.  She said I could get that checked if I wanted.  Do you think that I should?

Of course you should. The more information you have on your DD the better. She could have a hearing loss. Sometimes kids who have spent months recovering from OM have fluid that impacts hearing and speech development. You'd also want to R/O an auditory processing.

Also, I am curious. She is 3.5 and I was curious how they would measure articulation for her age group since of course they are still establishing speech, etc.

I'm sure they have assessment tools normed for her age. Her articulation would be judged against typical kids her age rather than adult.

 

Thanks so much everyone!

to answer some questions above

My daughter's preschool brings in a Speech Pathologist to test the children if you would like them too.  Since I am a big advocate of getting services if need be I said yes.  It was just a preliminary assessment, so she is getting the formal one this week.

My learning disability is auditory processing basically.  My speech issues ran the gamut.  I don't know specifically what they were but my Mom said I basically failed most of the things they test for. I am not quite sure about whether it was exacerbated or not by the poor phonemic awareness but I was given speech at young age (pre-school until about second grade) and given services for my LD starting in Kindergarten until I graduated High School.  

I will definitely get her hearing tested.  I am calling the pedi tomorrow to get all of the scripts and referrals.

Again, thanks so much for all of your advice.  So happy I came over here.  She is getting her evaluation on Thursday so I will know much more about what exactly is going on then. 

  

teacherjulie

My daughter is 3 and has articulation and is in a phonological class at her local school district. 

To cover ourselves we had her hearing tested last year. We went through Childrens, as that is what my pediatrician recommended. As far as articulation my daughter leaves off either beginning or ending sounds.   We have found speech to be spectacualr and if the school is offereing services I personally would take tem up on it.  As far as you worrying about your accent it can play oinot her speech. 

I have taught several student whose parents were from a different location or country and they do pick up some accents through speech the one in particular I am thiniking of was able to have no other articulation issues. 

robynlesley

Hi there!

I'm also from NJ--though no accent beyond regional--and my DS was in Early Intervention for an Expressive Language Delay (among other things) from age 2-3.   My school district did evaluate him for the special needs preschool, but he did not qualify--as his speech issues are currently only with articulation.

Mainly he drops the letter S in the beginning of words (like sneaky is neaky or square is gware).  And he does still have some issues with L's, substituting with W's.  Like Lion = Wion. He also has trouble with V. 

His former speech therapist (as well as the one from the district) was not overly concerned with this. She felt that much of it was age appropriate and should resolve by the time he is 4.  

After he aged/tested out of EI, I chose not to pursue private speech therapy but will have him re-evaluated this Summer when he turns 4--or at the very least by Kindergarten. But for now, I just model the appropriate sounds and he tries to mimic.