Questions & Answers
There are many good reasons not to wait. Many children are embarrassed about the way they talk. They know they sound different. Many children are teased because of their speech problems. Some children have trouble spelling because they spell a word the way they incorrectly say it. Also, the older a child gets the more they resent having to take the time to go to speech therapy. They resent the embarrassment of being pulled out of class for speech if they receive therapy in school. Private therapy, after school, may interfere with after-school activities the child loves. As a rule, waiting is not usually in the best interests of the child.
Yes. The process of correcting the “s”, “l”, and “r” is the same for children and adults. The progression of the lessons and what is taught are the same for both. However, keep in mind that the pictures and stories used in the worksheets are geared for children.
No. Learning a new sound is a progression of steps that ultimately lead to using the sound in conversation. The fact that the child does not use the sound means that he is not yet ready. First, he must learn to use the sound at more basic levels. He moves to levels of increasing difficulty until he is ready to use the sound in conversation, the final level. The Help Me Talk Right books help the child proceed from one level to the next.
Yes. However, in the book vocalic /r/ is termed as final “r”.
Yes and no. A child who has multiple articulation errors should be seen by a speech pathologist. The speech pathologist will know which sound to work on first and how to proceed to help the child attain normal speech. Speech therapy to correct any one sound is a simple process. The child succeeds at step one and from there moves on to step two, three, and so on. This process does not change no matter what the targeted sound. The Help Me Talk Right books allow anyone to proceed, just as a speech pathologist would.
Some speech pathologists feel that children younger than eight or nine are not developmentally ready to learn to say these sounds. The fact is that about 75% of all five year old children use the “s” and “r” sounds in conversation. This is clear proof that children far younger than eight are developmentally ready to use those sounds.