Speech

My girls turned 3 on the 11th of January. 'T' talks very clearly and annunciates very well. 'J' on the other hand always sounds garbled up when she talks.

For instance, when she says "doggy" it comes out "Goggy". She can not pronounce her "S" sound very well, so instead of saying "Sippy cup" it usually comes out "Tippy cup" and anything else with the "S" sound comes out with a "T" instead. When she sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star the "Star" sounds like "Car" instead...

You get the idea. It really sounds like she's talking under water if that makes sense. I'm wondering if that's how she hears us, so that's how she pronounces things. I've tried talking very slowly and over annunciating things for her, and she sounds like she's TRYING, but it just doesn't come out right.

Her pre-school teacher and my mother both noted that she doesn't talk as clearly as the rest of the kids, so I know it's not just me.

We still need to take them for their 3 year check-up, and I'm wondering if we should push to have her hearing checked? She's never had a problem with ear-aches, but then again, she's got a cousin who never had an ear ache in his life and he ended up needing tubes in his ears. The Dr's. for him said he had so much fluid retention that he only had about 10-15% hearing in his ears, and he used sign language to talk his speech was so messed up. Her Daddy (my DH) also had a really hard time with ear aches and fluid when he was a kid, and the Doc's suggeste he get ear tubes, though his mother refused... To this day he's still got issues with his ears.

I'm just curious if other just turned 3 year olds still sound all mucky when they speak, or if their speech is really starting to develop and be clear when they talk to you.

 

Yes, insist on getting hearing tested. My DS never had any ear infections but needed tubes due to high fluid level in his ears. His ped missed it because he did not develop infections.
His ENT said it was like he was hearing everything under water, which was the reason for his speech delay.
Hope this helps.
Tracy

 

I second the hearing test...I never had any ear infections either and by the time my mom and dad took me to an ENT when I was little I couldn't hear hardly at all. I don't know if a speech eval will include a hearing test, but whether it does or doesn't it sounds like that may be a good idea.

 

My boys are a year older than your girls, but I was having very similar concerns about one of them. I did start with a hearing test and he passed that. Then I contacted my school districts Speech Pathologist and inquired about testing. Since it was a parent referral, he had to be tested. He did qualify for Speech Therapy and we had a Child Study Team (CST) meeting and set up an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for my son. He receives speech therapy once a week. I started the process with the school district in November and last week is when he had his first session with his speech therapist. This is different than EI (although I'm not sure how because we never did that - it may just be an age thing).

It was really important to me to find out NOW if he really did have a problem verses just developing slower than his twin and other kids. If he had a problem, I wanted him to get help NOW rather than waiting until he started school (because no matter how hard everyone tries, the fact is, those kids are pulled from something and they will miss out - whether it's Reading, Recess, free play time, Music, etc they are missing out on something the rest of the class is doing). I'm hoping he can exit the program before he even begins Kindergarten in a year and a half. The part I am most happy about is that he receives his therapy on a non pre-school day, so he's not even missing out on any of his pre-school activities. He loved his testing time and his first session with his Speech Therapist. She is "his own teacher" and he doesn't have to share her with anyone and they do fun and creative things to work on those sounds.