Poor pronunciation of a 3.5 years old

[2010BEBES]

Is it a problem for a 3.5 years old that speaks a lot of words but definitely has a very bad pronunciation. He speaks spanish but on specific words he change letters. For those of you spanish speakers here are some examples:
instead of 'despues' he says 'cope'
instead of 'todavia ' he says 'javia'
insead of 'cuatro' he says 'jako'
he skips the final 's' sound in numers three and six (tre, sei)

Overall it seema he has problems with letters 'd',  't', 's'

Three yesar ago i came across a product that help with pronunciation issues. They were some whistles but i could not get to them again.
He will be having an evaluation by a therapist and maybe some classes and exercise, I will keep posting for those of you who are interested in this topic.

Anyone had someone with a similar problem or some advice?
Have you seen this products working (whistles) or others that may help?

[Marmee]

Hi

Have you had your child checked to see if they have a mild tongue tie?  My second daughter was born with a mild tongue tie and although it didn't affect her feeding she has trouble pronouncing 'k', 'd' and 't' sounds.  She is 4 1/2 so not that much older than your son.  We have been aware of the issue since she was younger and have been helping her to try and say the sounds she has trouble with.

We have been referred to a speech pathologist but in the meantime have been using the activities I found on this web site.

http://www.speechtx.com/articulation.htm

We have seen a huge improvement in her pronunciation and she loves doing her games each day.  I found the site by googling "speech pathology pronunciation" and there were a range of sites to choose from.

Hope that helps 

[PY]

Well  being in the special education field give me some experience with Phonology (is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this) and  Speech-Language Therapy.  Here are some easy tips for develop muscle's tongue flexibility;
-That's right, there are some good wistles for this but maybe you can try any wistle for now or any musical instruments.
-blow candles
-lollipos (I know ,not healtly at all ,but stimulates the tongue to exercise)
-Put some jello or maybe peanut butter(or something else, he likes) in the superior lip and ask him to take his tongue out and taste the peanut butter.
-blow bubbles
-fill up of air plastic or paper bags and ballons.
-Also you can give him little light wight ball and a straw, ask him to use the straw and blow the balls from one place to another.
-Maybe give him some straws made with shapes (you can find them in the party suppliers stores) some of them have the shape of a heart or stars..etc. use them for his drinks.
-Another unexpensive an fun tool is the lip wistle ,the kids use them in their mouth and when the blow  it makes sounds(they have a little ball inside this wistle that moves when they blow). You can google the name and have a better idea.
My daughter loves this one!! I have all this tools for work and she loves to go thru them and explore them.

...these are just ideas from my personal experience,  All kids are different! Good luck

[2010BEBES]

Thanks a lot to both of you. I found that information very usefull. I will start those exercises as soon as he comes. For independence July 28th he will be with his dad (my sons) so I will recomend them to him.
What is a 'mild tongue tie' and how do the detect this. I think they mention something about no having enough strengh in his mouth. My nephew told me that he was told that as soon as they start to eat, they should chew to have maxilar activity. Who knows, maybe he ate too much 'puree food'. They may be many reasons why he pronounces like that and as soon as we clarify what should have been done a different way or what helps him with this issue I am going to post it for other to avoid similar cases.
In general he is behind in physical activity for example jumping on one foot. We are working a lot on that. Jumping from one square to another without touching the lines etc etc. Maybe he needs more exercise in general and not only facial or maxilar.

Thanks again, your comments help me. I will keep posting his advance.

[2010BEBES]

Have you had your child checked to see if they have a mild tongue tie?  ....Hope that helps 

Hi Marmee,
My grandson got his evaluation and the results are comming tomorrow but the therapist told my son that he has "tongue tie" that is "frenillo" or "lengua anudada."
Besides the exercises you mention, I make some research and in this place (sorry it is in spanish) it got usefull information.

http://www.saludymedicinas.com.mx/nota.asp?id=1700
FRENILLO LINGUAL, DIFICULTAD PARA HABLAR Y COMER

Some say that it is not recommended to operate unless it is critical (which i think is not). Lets here another pediatrician or especialist opinion and the therapist results' tomorrow.

This weekend i 'll start with the exercises you direct me to because he is staying home.
You can not imagine how much i apprecciate having found this forum with all of you giving advise, help, ideas and sharing your experience.
Thank you all.

[Marmee]

So glad it was helpful.  I'm sorry I haven't been on the forum for a few days since things have been very hectic here with my sister visiting from overseas and my daughter's 1st birthday.

We were also told that there was no need to operate unless there were more severe problems.  I think tongue tie is fairly common in children and often is not detected.

Hope your grandson does not need an operation and the exercises help.

Take care

[2010BEBES]

Just to update. My grandson has been in therapy and his pronunciation is much better. There are still some letters he do not say clearly but he is improving.
Before he use to say Melli o Mei for Mary and now the 'R' is clearly said. An this is not the strong R like doble rr of PERRO but the soft sound of PERO.

We are very happy with the classes because he also learns other topics for his age that in other thread i will comment.
Thanks all for your answers and help..

[mirra]

2010BEBES, boys normally start to speak much later than girls. I think he will be fine soon. i know a few kids who still couldnt pronounce at 4 or so. after a few years all was fine. so dont worry.

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