Should we look for a speech consult?

Both of my daughters are hard to understand when they talk (to outsiders, not really to us). Neither can say the 'sss' sound, only one can say the 'sh' sound. Neither says 'f' or 'th' or 'l' or other tricky ones. This means that a lot of words sound the same or don't sound quite the way people expect.

Other than the missing sounds, they're fantastic speakers - way ahead of their age group. So I never worried. But recently a few people have mentioned that my girls might have problems forming sounds and getting them some speech assistance could help. Part of me thinks that people assume they should be able to make all the sounds because they speak like 6 year olds (not 3 year olds), but the rest of me worries that maybe there really is a problem that I'm ignoring.

What say all of you? If a three year old can form a complex sentence, should she also be able to make all of the consonant sounds? Should I try to get a speech evaluation? I've been told that the evaluation through our local school district could take up to 18 months (yeah - we live in an area with few services and the system is overloaded). So I'd probably have to find a private speech therapist and pay for the evaluations out of pocket. Should I do it?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't expect great articulation in a 3-yr-old. Especially with the letter sounds you mentioned. Here's a little chart I found and the link:

Age Sounds Mastered
3 years p, b, m, w, h and all vowels
4 years d, t, n, g, k, f, y
5 years r, l, s, ch, sh, z
6 years j, v, th, zh

Here's the link:

http://www.hsdc.org/News/Speech/childarticulate.htm

 

Your girls are a bit older than mine, but we just went through a speech evaluation and I was told all of the things you listed are age appropriate issues.

 

The doctor yesterday said that only up to 50% of their language at 3 years should be understandable to a stranger.
I like what Jori put up, good find! Makes me feel better about Royce.

 

I was going to say much the same as Jori, none of the sounds you listed are sounds I would be concerned about a 3 year old not saying correctly. I think you're right in thinking that because their vocabulary is advanced people expect their pronunciation to be advanced as well, even though they are different areas of speech development.

You could always ask for an evaluation through your district and see how you feel once the appointment comes round. If you still have slight concerns then have them seen and if not then cancel the appointment. I don't think you need to do that though, it would just be an extra peace of mind thing.

Edited to fix spelling

 

They sound advanced, not behind. If you want you can start to model where to place their tongue and how to form some of those sounds. But honestly they sound great from your descriptions!
We went through speech therapy with David and those sounds are just later to develop. Jori's chart is great! Hope it makes you feel better.

 

I *JUST* asked that question at my boys' 3 year well child visit yesterday. Aiden speaks like a 6 year old. Really, the only sound I haven't heard him master is TH & sometimes 'v' (sounds more 'b'). He speaks clear & crisp. And he speaks in long, complex sentences. No one has trouble understanding him, even on the phone, & most people comment on how well he talks (and that he, not kidding, talks from the moment he wakes until the moment he falls asleep...with a lot of singing in there, too).

Then there's Conner. Again, he uses nice, complex sentences & has a large vocabulary. However, his enunciation is NOT good. He has a LOT of trouble with 's', 'f', 'v', 'th', etc. We're used to him, so we understand about 95% of what he says. Sometimes we just smile & nod, other times Aiden translates (how does HE understand it?). Daycare said he can get his needs known, even if they have to ask him to slow down & try again, or to point at what he's talking about. He LOVES to talk (another ALL day talker), but is horrible to talk to on the phone (he's easier to understand if you can watch his mouth).

So, I asked the doc about a speech eval & he laughed. He said Conner is actually advanced & that he'd never qualify just for enunciation at 3. He said he's making all the correct sounds he should be at this age & that a lot should come clear within the next year or so (where I could potentially have him eval'd if he hadn't mastered them). Lucky for us, we have an extremely advanced Aiden that everyone, including us, compares Conner, too. The joys of twins!

I was worried, too, but now I will wait until 4 to see if he picks up in the next year. If I were you, I wouldn't worry either. Sounds like your girls are doing GREAT!

From one chatter box mom to another, I, too, look forward to the days of crisp, clear speech when I can fully understand everything my little man says...but it'll come...and then I'm sure I'll wish it away again !

 

I took my 3 year old for a speech evaulation & they said most of his "issues" were most likely due to his age. The speech therapist recommended that we wait until he is 4 to do another speech evaluation. Apparently by 4, they should be able to articulate better. We did get him evaluated again at 4 & it seems that he may have some speech issues due to a short frenulum (ie. "tongue tied").

 

I was going to post a chart similar to this. When I provided services in the school district, most of those sounds they have listed there for 5/6 yr. olds we didn't even consider an issue until more like 7 or 8 (especially "r"). It sounds like your kiddos are doing ok. Also, at this age and up until age 5 or so the average sentence length is roughly their age. So, if they are putting together 3 word sentences, they are doing well. I know that sounds like a small number to many people, but that is the avg.

 

I had my oldest DS evaluated through EI at 2.5 for articulation and he didn't qualify. He also had lots of language/vocab but not great pronunciation. They gave me some tips on what to do to help and said he'd probably grow out of it. By 4, he hadn't, and we had him privately evaluated. He qualified and our insurance covered it, so he went once/week for artic issues. He "graduated" in 4 months. My older DD was 2 when my DS was getting ST, and the therapist was very impressed with her speech... even said once that at least we wouldn't have to do speech with her when she was older. Fast forward 2 years and she was getting ST in pre-K and is still on an IEP for speech going into 1st grade! She never outgrew some of her artic issues that were typical at 2 but not by 4-5.

It's good you're aware and keeping an ear out for progress. I would request the eval through the school and see where you are when the date actually comes around. Can't hurt!