Dear Life Coach,

I am concerned about the speech of my four-year-old son. When he just started learning to talk everything seemed fine. Now, the more I listen to him, the more I am convinced that something is wrong.{{more}} For example, when he is trying to say kite, he says ‘tite’ instead. Why does he not understand how he is supposed to speak? I can see that children at school will tease him if he does not get over this, and he will have a difficult life. I cannot keep him at home, because he needs to be in school to learn, and I have to go to work. What can I do to reverse this problem?{{more}}

Speechless Mom (SM)

Dear SM,

You are worried that your son’s speech impediment will cause him to have a difficult life and that there is nothing that you can do about it.

What’s Going On:

Here are some factors that contribute to your present situation: phonological disorder, medical evaluation, school evaluation, and speech-language pathology treatment. These I will address briefly.

Phonological Disorder

Phonological disorder is a condition in which a child lacks the ability to produce some or all of the sounds necessary for speech that is normal for his or her age. This disorder is also known by other names, including articulation disorder, developmental articulation disorder, speech sound production disorder, developmental phonological disorder, dysarthria and dyspraxia.

Causes of Phonological Disorder

Phonological disorder may be caused by structural problems (e.g. abnormalities in the areas necessary for speech sound production, such as the tongue or the roof of the mouth), neurological problems or abnormalities (e.g. problems with the muscles of the mouth that are involved in speech production), and other factors including slight brain abnormality, an immature neurological system, and environmental conditions.

Spontaneous Recovery with Age

With treatment, the prognosis for children with phonological disorder is usually good. In some children, the problem is resolved spontaneously before age six, especially when the condition is mild or moderate and is not due to a medical condition. In other cases the child will achieve close to normal speech with treatment, and still for others, the problem will persist mildly into adulthood, but others can fully understand them.

What to Do:

Medical Evaluation

Take your son to a medical doctor for an evaluation focused on the following:

Hearing Impairment: If your son is not able to hear well he will not be able to imitate and reproduce various sounds.

Cleft Palate: A cleft palate occurs if the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth (the palate) is not joined correctly. In some babies, both the front and back parts of the palate are open and in others, only part of the palate is open. If there is a cleft palate it creates a speech impediment and the structure of the plate needs to be repaired in order for your child to be able to make adequate speech sounds. It is therefore important to have your son evaluated for cleft palate.

Mental Retardation and other Developmental Delays: Since children with mental retardation and other developmental delays develop at a much slower rate generally, it means that their language development is also slowed. As a result their speech sound will not be appropriate for their age group. An assessment to rule out mental retardation and other developmental delays is therefore crucial.

Cerebral Palsy: This refers to a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions, arising from a defect or lesion of the motor control centres of the immature brain that cause physical disability in various body movements in human development. It affects muscle tone, posture and movement. Since cerebral palsy affects movement, it is understandable that speech production will be affected. It is therefore essential to know whether your son may be suffering from this condition also.

School Evaluation

Have your child assessed for reading comprehension and other language disorders.

Treatment by a Speech-Language Pathologist

Treatment by a speech-language pathologist generally involves practising sounds, showing how sounds are made, and repetitions of difficult sounds. Treatment is important since children will suffer academically and be teased by others unless they receive help. Children will also feel frustrated and be unwilling to cooperate when they perceive their sound as different from others.

Enriched Environment

Ensure that your son is being exposed to an enriched environment by introducing toys and communication that stimulate his pronunciation and language development. Also help him to pronounce words by gently correcting him.

SM, language is such an important part of our lives. It permeates everything. Without the ability to communicate well, we are at a distinct disadvantage. Hopefully your son will recover spontaneously or improve dramatically.

Life Coach

SVG Cancer Society,

P.O. Box 709, Kingstown.

Email: svgsocietycancer@gmail.com

Phone:526-7036