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Expert Q&A
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| By Mindy Hudon Speech and Language Pathologist | ||
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My 3-year-old grandson does not pronounce S, C, SH, CH, L, R and G sounds clearly. He has a large vocabulary, loves to be read to and is quite a conversationalist but can be difficult to understand because of his incorrect pronunciation. Should we be concerned given his young age? Are there things we can do to help him speak more clearly so he does not get frustrated and give up trying to communicate?
Many of the sounds that you indicated as speech sound errors are developmental in nature, meaning that he may not be developmentally ready to say them as of yet. From your description, it sounds like he has some nice overall language development occurring!
If you are concerned about your grandson's speech, I think you should first discuss this with his parents and encourage them to discuss these concerns with their pediatrician to see if an evaluation is warranted. In the meantime, check out the book, Teach Me How To Say It Right by Dorothy P. Dougherty, M.A., CCC-SLP. In her book, she provides some fun, practical activities to use with your grandson to help enrich his speech sounds.
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