My dh is worried, he was teased for speech problems when he was younger, that our 3 year old has a slight problem. Joe has a very large vocabulary & speaks very well, but his "sm" words come out sounding like they start with an "f". Is there any tricks that we can do to help him, is it normal or should I talk to someone about it.
TIA

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 10:38 pm:

I know there are some "experts" on here about this stuff, and that doesn't include me! My son has very severe speech problems. He is six and is in his second year of speech therapy.

It doesn't seem like your son has anything to worry about. Kids don't seem to be as harsh as they once were regarding speech problems. Seems more kids have them than don't.

But it seems like at age three, your son still has some time to mature and develop his sounds. Lots of kids have trouble with combination sounds at this age. I'm sure someone here can give you some tips, but I wouldn't stress too much about it, and I definitely wouldn't make an issue out of it with your son so he feels he is doing anything different or wrong. Kids are harder on themselves than others are on them.

By Tink on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 12:41 am:

My understanding is that the /s/ sound is one of the last to develop, usually around age 6 so your ds has plenty of time to correctly develop this sound. My dd is four years old and still doesn't pronounce her /s/ sounds correctly about 25% of the time. My ds is six years old and has just now gotten that sound down and that was with a speech pathologist once a week for three years. I really don't think your dh has anything to worry about.

By Emily7 on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 03:37 am:

Thank you both so much for thoughts & adivce.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 04:46 pm:

It's developmentally appropriate for 3 yr. olds to have problems with certain speech sounds. Some are more difficult than others. More info and when to be concerned here:
Speech and Language Development

My DD had severe articulation delays and was in speech therapy from age 3-6. Her immediate family members were the only ones who could understand her, and even then, we couldn't decipher everything she said. A lot of people told me not to worry but my mommy instincts told me otherwise. We had her speech evaluated and my concerns were confirmed. She got free speech therapy through the public school system starting at age 3. She went from a shy, quiet leg clinger to a chatty, social butterfly. LOL!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 12:12 am:

Sarah said "t" for hard "c" for a while. Tookie, Tar, that sort of thing. She was probably 2-3.

By Zoie on Monday, November 21, 2005 - 12:00 pm:

Hi, Emily, I'm a speech therapist -- it's very normal for a 3 year old to say "f" for an s-blend at this point. If that's the only sound error he has, tell your husband not to worry, he's doing better than most kids his age! :o)

You can drag out the s and m sounds, i.e., "ssssss-mmmmm-ile" on occasion and point to your lips to show him how you're making the sounds if you like to help him, but I wouldn't make a big deal of it, since it's NOT a big deal at this time. :o)

By Emily7 on Saturday, November 26, 2005 - 11:48 am:

Thank you so much Zoie & everyone else! He is a smart little boy with a huge vocabulary & I know this will make DH feel a lot better.

By Kym on Saturday, November 26, 2005 - 06:33 pm:

My ds is 5 and in Kindergarten and just completed and passed his second speech battery. I think what has made such a huge difference for him is the Phonics. He now can hear the sounds and make them fit in the words properly. I'm glad Zoie, the professional said to relax, this like so many other skills comes with time. For now just make sure he doesn't try to say SmuckersLOL

By Emily7 on Saturday, November 26, 2005 - 07:31 pm:

ROFL Kym, I better not mention that to dh or he might try to get him to say it.