I am realizing that my DD5 doesn't hear the beginning sounds of words correctly. For example she wrote pretend in kindergarten spelling but with a "b" at the beginning. She said the the betend and pretend sound the same. Also, she thought that tree started with a "ch" sound. There are several other examples that I can't think of right now.

She is EXTREMELY verbal and has always had a huge vocabulary. She is very articulate and adults often say that speaking to her is like speaking to a mini adult.

This first sound thing is strange in the context of her other abilities. Does anyone have any experience with this?

My DS2 has a problem leaving off the beginning sounds of many words. He started speech therapy and I was told to take him to a pediatric audiologist. That appointment is still two weeks away, but I may have information to share then. While we know he can hear us, we wonder whether he hears the sounds correctly. One speech therapist told us that it's unusual for a child to get beginning sounds incorrect in a word, because these sounds are often stressed. It's much more typical to get ending sounds incorrect.

When you daughter speaks, does she say the words correctly? My husband has hearing loss and there are some sounds he can't distinguish from eachother. Still, it seems that typically such hearing problems would show up in speech before something like spelling. If you are concerned at all, you should probably take her to an audiologist just to rule out any problems.

My DS7 has the same problem. He had to write "tree" on a spelling test and wrote "chree" instead. He passes the basic screening they gave him at his annual checkup, but I think I'll find a pediatric audiologist and have him tested.

Thanks for the tip Lauren.

Val

My DS5 is the same. He has also tested "normal" on the basic screening at his annual check-up. But he was referred for a speech evaluation and the findings of that were also within normal ranges. They had told us if there was an issue at age 7 to have him re-tested for both speech and hearing.

Ok, I probably shouldn't give out unsolicited clinical advice on a website, but I'm a speech therapist, and he's my two cents.

albs-how pervasive is this issue? Is it with just a few words or sounds or all beginning sounds? Is it usually with blends like /pr/ in "pretend"? Are you seeing this only with spelling but not with speech? If it was a hearing problem, my guess is you'd have noticed it with her speech. As for the /ch/ for /tr/, that is very typical. Think about it, it does sound like a /ch/! I wouldn't worry about that one at all.

Gifted mom-does your ds leave off sounds at the beginning of all words or in blends only? Just curious! : ) If it's with the blends, it can be developmental, but I'm sure your speech therapist is on top of that. Was it the speech therapist who recommended the audiology eval?

Thank you so much JenSNP! Yes, I believe that it is always with blends. I will listen and make sure this is true though. I appreciate your advice and find it very useful. Are there any learning tools to help her with this or should I just let it be?

albs, are you seeing this in her speech as well as writing?

Oh, thank goodness. I was starting to worry. DH is vegan, and we once had a conversation something like this:

DH (picking up a box in the grocery store): "Hey, what's this mac and chreese?"

Me: "Mac and trees???"

DH: "I guess it's fake cheese."

Me: "But why would they name it mac and trees? That makes NO sense."

DH: "I guess they just wanted something similar to cheese but different."

Me: "But 'trees' doesn't make me think of 'cheese.'"

DH: "'Chreese' is only one letter different from 'cheese.'"

Me: "No it isn't. 'Trees' rhymes with 'cheese' but otherwise it's totally different."

(Dyslexic) DH (wondering if he's way off on how 'cheese' is meant to be spelled): "Really???"

Me: "Um, yeah. And besides, why couldn't they pick something that sounds like 'cheese' but isn't already a word?"

DH (wondering what on earth I'm talking about, and handing me the box): "Oh well, let's try it anyway."

Me (looking at the box): "Ohhhh, it's mac and CHREESE."

DH: "...what were we just talking about?"

Sorry to be so OT, but when I saw the hearing problems associated with "chree" vs. "tree" I couldn't help think of this. When you say them out loud, they really do sound almost identical (or at least I hope they do). LOL.

no5no5-That is hilarious! Definitely funny to this speech therapist who happens to be very interested in linguistics! Haha!

JenSMP, DS2 leaves the beginnings of roughly half of his 150+ word vocabulary. While some of these are blends or later developing sounds, many are not. Bus is "us", dog is "ock", feet is "eat", hat is "at", poop is "oop", wash is "ash". I took him most recently for a second opinion from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. They said most troubling is his inconsistent use of sounds and deletions. There have been quite a few words where he starts out saying the beginning sound ("ju" for juice) then refines the ending sound and drops the beginning" (now "uice" for juice).

The group of therapists he saw recommended he see an ENT (which we did) and then Children's Hospital recommended the pediatric audiologist. I'm still waiting for the full report from Children's Hospital. They thought he may have a muscle tone issue too. He does a lot of mouth breathing (but doesn't suck his thumb or anything). I welcome any suggestions or opinions. Right now he's taking a break from therapy as we work out insurance issues.

My DS7 has an obvious lisp and his voice still sounds very little-kid-y. For exampe, his "r" sound is a mixture of w and r. If I had to guess, I'd say he's got his tongue slightly too far back in his mouth when he makes an "r: sound and he's positioning the muscles in his cheeks not-quite correctly.

Sometimes we have to ask him to repeat himself (even his sibs have to ask). He also has generalized difficulties enunciating words clearly.

There are times when he almost can't get the word out and it's very hard to understand him. This doesn't happen super-often, but it's not super-rare, either.

Val

Gifted Mom-It sounds like you got good info and good recommendations. Initial consonant deletion is not developmental, so therapy is definitely in order. I assume they are doing phonological process therapy? This just means that they are addressing this as a broad process rather than addressing each individual sound. It can certainly be remediated, but it's always good to rule out any underlying hearing impairment or auditory processing issues first. Any history of ear infections? 2 is still very young, but I think it's good that you are addressing it early. I'd say the most important first step for you would be helping him to consistently identify the difference when he hears you say it correctly and incorrectly before moving on to his own production. Begin at the sound or blend level, move to syllables and words, and then into sentences. There's nothing wrong with practicing his own production, but for now I'd focus on his own recognition in others, if that makes sense!

DS hasn't had any diagnosed ear infections, but the ENT noted negative pressure in his ears, perhaps from congestion. He's a young 2, just 25 months, in fact. I will have to ask about phonological process therapy. They do a lot with Kauffman cards trying to get him to mimic words. They also do a lot of play where they try to get him to mimic two word phrases. As for addressing the deletion issues, they mostly try to get him to segment the words between the beginnings and the ends.

Interestingly enough, the therapist he has had the best results with has a particular way of speaking. She over enunciates everything (more so than the others) and the sounds just seem to pop. When she says something, he repeats it very clearly and I'm always surprised. Unfortunately, he's only seen her a couple times. Once insurance is worked out, I'm hoping to schedule with her as often as possible. The group we go to doesn't always make it easy to see the same therapist each time.

That's interesting that you don't get to see the same therapist. I've actually never heard of a clinic or practice where a particular client isn't assigned to just one therapist. I think it makes a big difference when a child and his/her therapist have a good rapport. I'm glad you found one that works well with your ds.

I really like the Kauffman series, and I'm pretty sure they have phonological process cards. That's probably what they are using, but it can't ever hurt to ask.

Good luck with the insurance issues. It's not a bad thing to take a break from therapy every now and then anyway. I think the kids occasionally need a little break, and sometimes you'll see a change from just plain old maturation.

Keep me posted!
Jen

Good news - DS2's hearing check last week came out fine. He's back in speech therapy and I've been requesting his favorite therapist. After waiting two weeks to get on her schedule, they tried to switch us at the last minute (i.e. when we arrived) to someone brand new. When I complained, they said we could have the session with the original therapist after all. The problem? It turns out they have an independent contractor there who is guaranteed work. If she has openings, they shift kids from their regular therapists to her. I was really shocked about this and am so glad I complained.

Early intervention came out yesterday and tried to argue with me that initial consonant deletion is fine if children don't do it to all of their words (DS currently does it on about 45% of his words). They also tried to tell me he'd grow out of it. I asked them to show me any research that backs up either claim. They admitted they had none. Now I'm set to meet with a supervisor on Monday. Any advice is appreciated. They only offered him speech once a month to work on oral motor issues.