My son does not pronounce well: what to do?

The acquisition of the sounds of language progresses as the child grows. The sounds are acquired according to the degree of difficulty, so the smaller the child is, the more unintelligible is what he "says".

As they get older, they have greater control of their language and where they position it, they know how to differentiate between phonemes and understand, for example, that "s" and "z" sound different.

However, after the age of 5, if the child still does not speak quite well, there is a problem. Parents start to worry and wonder "why doesn't my child pronounce correctly?" and what to do. Well, we are going to see it next.

• Related article: "The 6 main branches of Speech Therapy"

Why doesn't my son pronounce correctly?

A very characteristic feature of the youngest children is having a rag for a tongue. It is very difficult for them to imitate words, they do not pronounce phonemes well, they rotate or omit them.

Problems articulating phonemes and speaking correctly are perfectly normal in the first years of life. With less than 5 years they do not have efficient control of their tongue and the rest of the apparatus phonoarticulator, besides that they still have to learn to distinguish the phonemes that constitute their mother tongue.

Each child grows at their own pace and, while some may speak quite clearly at only 3 years of age, others still struggle a little at that same age. However, from the age of 4 or 5 there are enough reasons to worry if our son or daughter does not speak very well. It may not be anything serious, of course, but it never hurts to go to a speech therapist to evaluate what exactly is happening so that our offspring still does not articulate phonemes well.

dyslalia

The name by which it is known problems pronouncing the phonemes of the mother tongue correctly It's called dyslalia. There are three types of dyslalia, depending on when it occurs and what could explain it.

1. evolutionary dyslalia

As we mentioned, until the age of 4 it is normal for children not to be able to pronounce all the phonemes. This is called evolutionary dyslalia, that is, the difficulty in pronouncing sounds associated with the fact that the phono-articulatory organs have not developed properly.

Over time the child will have greater control over their tongue, soft and hard palate, lips and other parts involved in the pronunciation of phonemes. What can be expected is that by the age of 4 the child already knows how to pronounce correctly, or is very close to saying all the sounds correctly.

2. functional dyslalia

Functional dyslalia is one in which the child does not use the articulatory organs correctly when trying to pronounce a phoneme. It may be due to a problem with her mouth, or simply that she has not learned to pronounce the phonemes properly.

For example, she does not correctly place her tongue in the necessary position to make the sound or even lateralizes it. You can also omit, substitute, distort, or insert a phoneme.

3. audiogenic dyslalia

In audiogenic dyslalia, the infant does not articulate correctly, not because of problems with her mouth or because she doesn't know how to do it, but because she doesn't seem to perceive the nuances between two or more phonemes. This may be due to deafness or not properly perceiving and processing auditory stimuli.

• You may be interested in: "Dyslalia: types, symptoms, causes and treatment"

Types of errors

When we talk about dyslalias it is possible to find different types of errors depending on which phonemes are involved and how they are omitted, substituted or rotated. As we said, the main problem in dyslalia is that the infant is not able to speak her mother tongue correctly, however, it is necessary to make a note. When we talk about mother tongue We are not referring to the standard or the most widespread variety of the language, but to the one taught at home, with their specific vocabulary.

In the same language there are dialects and none of them should be seen as speaking the language badly. There may be a more extended dialect than the others and that speech may have served as a reference or pronunciation model. However, this does not mean that speakers of other dialects speak badly, they simply speak differently.

It may be the case that in these other languages ​​radically different linguistic phenomena occur than how the majority speaks but that should not be construed as errors in speech.

For example, in some Andalusian dialects a phenomenon called lisping occurs, which consists of substituting the "s" for "z". The lisp is also a typical error in dyslalias, however, this is very different from the natural lisp of Andalusian speech. An Andalusian child who speaks with a lisp in his house is not a child with dyslalia but rather he is a native speaker of Andalusian Spanish.

Clarified all this, let's see the main types of errors characteristic of children with dyslalia when using Spanish.

• Lisp: /s/ for /z/: “hunt” instead of “house”.
• Seseo: /z/ for /s/: “sapato” instead of “zapato”.
• Substitution of /f/ for /p/ or /z/: “marfo” instead of “marzo”
• Substitution of /k/ for /t/: “tizás” instead of “quizás”
• Rotacism: “gomper” for “break”.
• Nasalization: /d/ for /n/, “animina” for “guess”.
• Voicing voiceless consonants: eg, /g/ instead of /k/, “gauze” for “house”.
• Anticipation problems, say “títate” for “títate”.
• Duplication, “around” instead of “around”
• Substitution or assimilation of one phoneme by another. For example, /t/ for /s/.
• Alteration of the order of phonemes: “dentifrice” instead of “dentifrice”
• Alteration of the syllabic order, p. For example, "phone".

What causes my child to pronounce poorly?

There are several reasons behind a dyslalia.

1. evolutionary cause

It would be associated with evolutionary dyslalia. Simply, the child does not pronounce phonemes well because he has not yet fully developed his speech apparatusbut sooner or later it will be fully formed. His age is between 2 and 4 years, with which it is expected that he mispronounces a few phonemes. However, it will be necessary to go to a speech therapist if the pronunciation problems persist beyond 5 years.

2. auditory perception problems

There are cases in which the individual cannot pronounce correctly because he does not hear correctly, and this would cause audiological dyslalia. There may be an ear injury, a problem with the auditory nerve, or a brain injury that prevents the child from hearing one or more phonemes well., process them and can differentiate them from others. This causes him to confuse the phonemes and hear them the same.

3. Damaged speech-articulation apparatus and poor motor control

As the child grows, it is normal for him to acquire the motor skills to move his tongue and lips, emitting the phonemes he wants. The older, the greater the control and the better pronunciation. However, sometimes it happens that still has not developed the necessary musculature or has an injury to the lips, tongue, hard and/or soft palate, teeth, jaws or nostrils which makes your pronunciation look limited.

4. Lack of comprehension

Sometimes the problem is not in the mouth or in the perception of sounds, but in understanding. Children omit sounds, substitute or deform them even when they can make them correctly. In some cases speech may be unintelligible if many sounds are affected.

The problems behind this are more of a psychological type, such as a developmental disorder or personality characteristics such as shyness or disinterest. what the people around you are doing.

Likewise, they are aware that they do not speak well, they feel frustrated by it, they may show low school performance and be aggressive frustrated because adults repeat, over and over again, how they should say things.

What to do if a child over 5 years old still does not pronounce well?

We once again emphasize the importance of going to the professional in charge of this problem: the speech therapist. Through its evaluation, a diagnosis will be established in which the cause behind our son's pronunciation difficulties is specified. If the child is having trouble because she doesn't understand how to say things most likely it is the speech therapist himself who is in charge of teaching him to speak correctly.

On the other hand, if the problem is due to possible deafness, injuries to the mouth, or there is suspicion of a neurological injury, other professionals will be used, not without leaving aside the speech therapist. This professional will check the progress made by the child after the relevant surgical interventions, and will assess whether his dyslalia has improved or worsened.

However, It is very important that you also work from home. Parents and other family members should serve as role models for teaching children to speak. Even if you are not a speech therapist, there are many ways that can be used to correct our son's pronunciation problem.

The first thing that should be clear is that childish language should not be encouraged, that is, imitating or using the same words wrongly. pronounced For example, if he says "tetota" instead of ball, let's not use that same word, but the correct one, no matter how amusing it may be for us seem. The important thing is that he understands that this word must be said according to how we pronounce it and that, if he wants to make himself understood, he must learn to say it correctly.

It is very important that, When correcting these mistakes in pronunciation, do not pressure him or demand the appropriate way of speaking. That is to say, if he has told us “tetota” let's not say “Say ball, repeat after me: pe-lo-ta”. It is best to respond by saying the correct word, for example "I think I saw the ball over there, in your room." It is also very important to avoid using phrases such as "it is not said that way" or "it is wrong", since doing so could inhibit and discourage him, making him not want to speak.

At 4 years old, children no longer need a bottle or pacifiers. I should have stopped using it a long time ago, specifically from the age of 2. Using bottles and pacifiers beyond 2 years of life prevents the development of the organs of the phono-articulatory apparatus, being very counterproductive in the acquisition of a pronunciation correct.

Chewing is a very important aspect. Chewing is oral gymnastics, training the muscles that we will use to make phonemes. This is why it is essential that, when he already has teeth, we stop giving him soft foods. Let's avoid everything being purees, porridges, juices and go on a solid diet. Of course, it must be cut and soft enough so that he does not choke, but strong enough so that he can chew.

Bibliographic references:

• Aguilar-Valera, J.A. (2017). Communication disorders from the DSM-V. The need for differential diagnoses. Neuropsychology Notebooks (11) 1: 144-156.
• Bauman-Wangler, Jacqueline Ann. (2004). Articulatory and phonological impairments: a clinical focus (2 ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-40248-9. OCLC 493612551.