4 Year Old Slurring Speech

My son was worried about his 4 year olds speach and he got a speach teacher to come to the house to teach him A. no hills

S.,

Any time you think that your child had a skill, and then looses it, you have cause for concern. I would consult your pediatrician about it and see what kind of referal you may need.

M.

Doctor, right now, to rule out brain injury.

yeah, that is strange. Could it be that he's talking so fast that he becomes slurred and hurried? I've noticed that my daughter does that sort of too recently, but it has more to do with she has so much to say and she can't get it out fast enough. I would look for patterns to see if he does it all the time or only at certain times of the day or when doing certain things...and if it still hangs around, I would consider a trip to the pediatrician as well.

absolutely worry. language skills should not diminish. pediatrician's stat!

I would have him seen by a speech language pathologist & perhaps a pediatric neurologist just to be safe.

Hi,

Same thing happened to my son...in a matter of a day, actually October 16th! I think I posted here completed stressed and worried!

His stuttering or speech difluencies turns out to be normal development; however, not every child develop this....and it comes and goes. The first bout lasted about 3 months, slowly disappeared and then reappeared again 4 months later but not as bad. Along with the stuttering, he was not completing his words and had difficulty making sounds with two constenants placed together like the word "pl-ease" "tr-uck" etc. His pedetrician wasn't concerned about it, so I had him evaluated by the school district due to his age. He wasn't "bad" enough to qualify for any therapy the district provides, but I thought he would benefit from speech therapy, so we found a great speech therapist on our own. She has captured his stuttering on tape and she isn't concerned with that but is keeping an ear out for possible triggers. She is cleaning up his sounds and "colorful" vowels and we are seeing results after a month.

Our therapist says he isnt' bad, and that he'll be out of her office in a year. She says it's better to do the therapy now to avoid forming bad habits hoping it will resolve itself.

My advise would not to rush him to speak or finish his sentences for him when he get's "stuck". Also, if he's having a problem with getting a word out, ask him to clap out the word, to break it up so he can hear and find the rhythm of the word....such as rol-ler-coast-er...clap out the syllables.

He loves going to see his therapist, he's actully there now! I feel so much better having him in professional hands. I feel confident and secure that eveything will be fine and that is priceless.

sorry for all the gramatical errors.....running late!

S.

You can definitely look into a speech therapist but I know for a fact that kids go through many stages with their speaking. You would think my son would have a life long lisp because he was a pretty dribbly kid...he's 14 and has no issues. I had a friend whose little boy said free insead of three. He said worry instead of sorry. He has no issues.
It's good to get your child screened, but it doesn't mean he won't work his way out of things naturally.
My daughter said lellow instead of yellow. She said Yuff you instead of love you.
My son would try to get speaking so fast that he couldn't spit out a sentence sometimes.
You can get him evaluated, but I personally, wouldn't worry to much.
That's just me and no offense to anyone.

Best wishes.

Not sure if this is any comfort, but my son is 4 too and has problems with sp, etc - so spoon is "sfoon" and school is "sool"...I have been told it would be this way for some until kindergarten. With your son, if you are pronouncing it right, you are saying his is slurred and slow as if trying hard to find the words. His case may need to be evaluated by a speech therapist as it sounds to be more than not pronouncing syllables properly.

stuttering is normal at this age dont bring attention to it. How is his hearing? Any colds or allergies that might be affecting his hearing? As he says his phrases or sentences with those words that you can pick out incorrectly, why dont you try and and say it slow and get him to say it after you and watch your mouth.

Not to be alarming, but these could be symptoms of neuromuscular disease. Some types of MD and SMA have exactly this kind of onset. Please get a referral to a neurologist, and then call the local Muscular Dystrophy Association for assistance.

I would take him to the Doctor... one of the symptoms of a 'stroke' for example, is slurred speech.
Not to scare you... but I would, take him to the Doctor.

My Uncle, did that. Granted he is old and had a history of health problems. But his kids didn't think anything of it... right away... and it was found that he had had a stroke. This was his only symptom.

If this came on suddenly... then I would even more so, take him to the Doctor.

But sometimes, yes, kids at about 3 years old, sometimes 4... may "stutter."
IS your son "stuttering" or SLURRING his speech?
Big difference.
My son for example, sometimes stutters. But not slurring his speech.
He is 3.5 years old.
all the best,
Susan

His mind is working so fast that his mouth is having a hard time keeping up. Encourage him to slow down when he speaks. If it progresses or does not improve then I would contact an expert.

I am a big advocate of speech therapy becuase both my niece and nephew went through it for 2 years and it helped them a lot. It does concern me a lot that he was speaking clearly and is now slurring words. I would get him to the doctor soon and get a referral to a speech pathologist. I believe CA provides these services free of charge. It won't hurt and it will only help. I would also have his bloodwork done just to check his baseline blood levels. Ask for a CBC-complete bood count, thyroid test and lead test. Ask for a hearing test too. It is very easy and doesn't hurt at all. Is it possible he has had some hearing loss recently due to ear infections or loud noise? Good luck and keep up the good work!