My husband and I had a parent-teacher conference with my son's preschool teacher last week, and she indicated that he may need a speech therapist if his speech doesn't improve within the next 6 months. He doesn't pronoune some words correctly, like "Goggy" for "Doggy", has trouble with "S" sounds, and sometimes stutters when he gets excited trying to tell you something. I can understand him completely and even thought he was great at the language skills, so this really threw me. He's only just turned 4, and I really would like to know if this is normal and will usually improve on its own, or if I really need to be worrying about this? Do any of you know a great speech therapist in the Fort Worth area (we live near TCU)?
I also have a son that will probably need a speech therapists. At first he would not pronounce the s sound at the beginning of a word. I began to work with him more and now he is better at it, but he had difficulty pronouncing the ch and k sound. I don't know how to "show" him those sounds. If you get in touch with one please let me know, we live in Fort Worth area as well.
He can be tested through your school district like we are in the process of doing. We go to Cooks (off Precentline and Midcities) and they are great. You may also just want to give your child a little more time to correct it on his own if his speech isnt too bad. You can use flashcards and work with the sounds you know that he is having trouble with at home like we do...it takes awhile but it really helps by just repeating the words they have problems with and have them keep trying to say it correctly too. Just play games and such that encourage a lot of verbal communication forcing your child to talk alot that has seemed to help alot with my daughter. Good Luck!
I have 3 sons - ages 7, 6 and almost 4. The teachers told me that when my 6 year old was 4 that he needed speech therapy. They were WRONG. I gave him some time, worked with him myself and just had him repeating difficult words over and over....and praised him like crazy when he said them right. They have now said the same thing about my 3 year old. I have other issues with my 3 year old (mild OCD), so he has been to see a psychologist, however, when I asked her about it, she said that he will get it in time. Well, he will be 4 next week and he talks like CRAZY and clearly! Sometimes it takes work, sometimes it takes time. I have since changed preschools and my 3 year old is blossoming. I would suggest you using your own judgement and not taking the word of a preschool teacher. If your pediatrician hasn't suggested it yet, I wouldn't worry about it.
Check with the school district. They offer free speach therapy. My daughter started before she was old enough for Pre-K and is still attending as she is still having a hard time with s-blends. Anyway, just call the local elementary school and they should be able to help.
You might try the local elementary school. They may have a speech therapist that can test him and work with him...
The school system is fine, but not very aggressive. I would suggest Cook Children's - they have a great outpatient department and are capable of doing therapy more than once a week, which is what he will need. (The school therapist may only be available once or twice a month) The other option is the Miller Speech and Hearing clinic on the TCU campus. Your therapist may be a graduate student, but they are really nice, good with the kids and aware of the latest trends in speech therapy. If you have insurance, I would definately try one of these over the school system or ECI - I was not impressed with either.
I would also maybe check with your pediatrician. Mine gave me several resources. My duaghter had speech therapy at her school in k and 1st grade. It did wonders. We are in a private school now and I am calling on therapists.
My sister is in graduate school at TCU for speech language pathology. They have a wonderful program at TCU and actually have a clinic that they see clients while they are in grad school and are supervised by the best speech pathologist. The number for the clinic is ###-###-#### and the clinic is on the TCU campus. They are very good!!
