My son will be 4 in June and I am noticing that his speech is sometimes still hard to understand, especially when he's really excited about something. He kind of slurs the words and sometimes drools as he's trying to say something. Keep in mind this is only when he's trying really hard to tell a story or some other such thing. Other times, like when he's talking abuot what to eat for dinner or something equally mundane, he's perfectly intelligible. Is this normal? Thanks!
Normal, His mind is moving faster than his mouth. When it gets bad, tell him to slow down and think about what he is saying (which will help for about 2 sentences).
No, mom, it's not normal and you need to get him evaluated by a speech therapist ASAP. The drooling is a BIG indicator that he has weak oral musculator and a therapist can help with this. The faster you get him in speech therapy, the quicker she can help him. Don't wait for him to go to school. He'll be behind the 8 ball and they won't be able to spend as much time with him as he will need.
You need to do a home program with him that the speech therapist will give you. I HIGHLY recommend that you attend the therapy sessions and take notes on what she does so that you know exactly how to do it with him. Consistency is key here. You should do the home program every single day of the week. If he fights you over it? Withhold a very special privilege or banish him to his room until he's willing to comply. He has to know that there are no ifs, ands or buts when it comes to working on his speech.
And for the ones who say this is normal? You aren't paying attention to the telltale sign of muscle weakness with the child's DROOLING. Four year olds don't drool...
How do I know this? Because I went through it with my son.
What Doris Day said!
My little sister did that tell she was about 5, then she grew out of it. But you should always be safe and take him to a speech specialist , to make sure.
Yep normal. Mouth is trying to keep pace with his little brain.
Contact your local version of Child Find. In our district, an evaluation for your child's speech, sight, hearing and motor skills is free. They told me that my DD was developmentally normal for her age and her preschool has since said that while she doesn't yet use Ls or Vs, it's still within the range of normal for her age. At 3 she was less clear than she is at 4 and at 4.5 she is even more clear. There's no harm in getting an evaluation. It eased my mind and was free.
This sounds silly & I can't explain the reasoning behind it but my son had similar issues & saw a speech therapist through EI. She had him eat sour things & eat twizzlers to strengthen & make him more aware of the muscles around his mouth ( that's the best I can explain it , sure there's more to it but been awhile ).
Normal my daughter couldn't even talk till she was 4
I'd like to know this too. I have twin 4 year old boys. One talks more clearly than the other (and he did have about 6 months of speech when he was around 2.5), but there are still times I do not understand him, which sometimes makes him angry and he says "You are not saying the right thing."
The other one is a little harder to understand and sometimes slower to get his words out. I can't tell if he is just trying to be super clear so he goes slow or it is more work to articulate. I have been waffling on speech for him on and off but he doesn't ever seem to get mad about it and I try to be patient with him so he can get his story out. But again, there are words I do not understand well....more than when his brother speaks.
I'm thinking it's normal to not understand them completely and especially so if they are talking fast. If you ask your son to slow down, can he do it and does it get better?
Sometimes I have them try to break down the word for me in the same manner that I do when I am trying to teach them a word. That sometimes helps too. And if all else fails, I say "show me" if it's something in the house they can go point to.
