[Amanda_JB]

My youngest son who was 3 in Decmember has great speech and can talk non stop but can not pronounce c or k at the beginning of a word. He can say ck sound like truck just not if its cat cot kite etc..

Is it something that will come? We always before bed go through books with c words as fun and we try and emphasise the c sound but we havent made any progress..

[lsolaBella]

I found these helpful when looking at articulation


http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ind...&Itemid=119

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ind...&Itemid=117

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ind...&Itemid=117

[2plusoops]

My DS turned 5 at the end of December and is in FYOS (Prep) in Victoria. At the recomendation of his kinder teacher last year we had his speech looked into - similar to your boy as well as a few other letters. For the last 4 months or so of last year he was having weekly speech therapy sessions - his therapist now puts him at the lower end of the scale for where he should be. He has improved considerably but still has a few issues.

Our first step was our local Maternal & Child Health Nurse, who ran some tests on our DS before giving a referal for a speech therapist.. These showed that while there were some issues these were not of major concern and he did not need intensive therapy etc. We also had his hearing checked to make sure there were no issues there.

We were advised to make sure he is exposed to lots of different sounds in speech - reading books, talking to different people etc. Also keep it fun and long key.

If you are at all concerned about your son's speech there is no harm in having the initial tests done to determine if there is anything to be concerned about.

[0zeKid]

Unless he has actually been diagnosed with speech delay or something similar, I wouldn't be concerned. Don't correct him, just make sure that you pronounce the words correctly when you are talking or reading to him.

Both of mine had lisps when they were 3-5 and said many words wrong (like croak roche instead of cockroach) or pronounced them differently. My husband had a bad lisp until he was in his late teens before fixing it and used to freak but the older one (now 8) speaks perfectly fine and the younger one, now 6 still has a slight one but I am hoping that will disappear soon.

[libbylu]

It's worth getting these things sorted out in time for school, but at just turned 3 it is quite normal for kids to struggle with the articulation of some sounds - so totally normal.
I would give it 12 months, and if you are still concerned get some speech therapy so he is sorted out well in time for school.
It's also worth bearing in mind that community speech pathology has long waiting lists and private is quite expensive, so if you think you won't be able to afford private then perhaps put him on the list in 6 months time if there is no improvement, just to be on the safe side.

[Amanda_JB]

Those links are interesting thanks.

Im not overly concerned but i guess in the back of my mind. He doesnt replace the letter with anythng he just leaves it empty.. like there is the at ( cat ) i want the ar ( car ) Im used to it and understand but others dont sometimes and he gets annoyed. ( he has a nice little temper anway )

I do want his hearing checked anyway because he often says what even when you repeat it 5 times and my middle son has had many ear issues so worth looking at i guess.

He doesn't watch any tv ( he wont watch it at all for more than 10 seconds, i wish he would ) but we could try more books. We talk all day it seems but im sure he has more in him!

I dont think he has ever seen the CYh nurse, maybe a little check up might be on the card in the next 6 months before he starts kindy anyway.

Thanks for the replies.. you would think by child 3 i'd be more experienced.

[Done]

from our experience, i would say his sound for c/k is OK and in the normal ranges. i think this a sound to have by age 4 perhaps.

my ds has trouble with this sound and the g sound. can yours say it by itself?

the problem was with the positioning of his tongue. we had to show him how to say the sound by getting him to hold his finger on the tongue so it would stay down whilst the sound was made.