Speech issue or normal 4 yo?

[infocrazy]

I've noticed recently that DS1 (4.5) will sometimes use the W sound for L for example, pwane instead of plane. If we press him, he can say it. The only other thing I've noticed is toisonous instead of poisonous (we were talking snakes :) ). He can say purple though with no issue.

He speaks very clearly otherwise, big vocab, and has no comprehension issues...except for the normal 4 yo not WANTING to listen.

So, normal or no?

[gordo]

I was concerned about my 4.5 year old because she has a number of sounds that are not correct. I talked with our school speech therapist who says that if it is only one or two sounds at this age and that they are intelligible to most people, that it really isn't a concern. Just to model the correct sound for them, show them how you place your tongue, etc.

[JBaxter]

its normal. Logan say ya for L's till he was about that age. We practiced La La La La then Logan he would say La La La La La --Yogan. He did the same thing for leg. It eventually just clicked

[sariana]

I believe the L sound is one of the last to develop for many children, and it is considered normal to mispronounce it until about age 7.

So I don't see any reason for concern at age 4.5.

[DrSally]

Some sounds take longer than others, L is one of them. The person who did DS's Kindy eval had a chart that showed which letters tend to develop when, and several were closer to 6-7 yo. I don't think ennunciation becomes an issue until at least Kindergarden. DS has a handful of letters that he doesn't say well.

[Indianamom2]

We've been in speech therapy forever, and I can tell you that you do not have a speech issue.

L is one of the last sounds to develop (along with R) and it is very common until 1st-2nd grade for children to struggle with it.

It is also totally normal to be able to say the sound fine in one word and not in another.

No need to worry!:applause:

[infocrazy]

Thanks for all the quick responses! I wasn't too worried but we have been working a lot on phonics lately so it keeps standing out to me. I had to have speech for the T sound as a kid, so I just wanted to doublecheck!

[mom2binsd]

Pretty normal, I'm an SLP...

Here's a chart for reference.

http://isd742.org/ecassessment/assets/SpeechSoundDevelopmentChart.pdf