Speech therapy for almost 4 yr old?

google your state+ early childhood intervention. You'll find the contact info on the agency that can make an appointment to have your child evaluated to see if he is on track for his age or needs help. I think the service is free in most states.

You may be able to get a speech screening through his preschool; a screening by a pro is your best bet.

I am not a speech pathologist (nor do I play one on TV), but our SLP said that lisps are not cause for alarm unless they persist past the age of 6. But when my DS was 5, he started getting teased for his lisp, so off to the SLP we went. The lisp cleared remarkably quickly, so I suspect it may have cleared up without intervention; however, I was not willing to have him teased for another year by jerky kids at the park!

My daughter had trouble with th sounds. By age 8/9 is when improper sounds become an issue. At 4 I wouldn't seek speech if those are the only two sounds he misses and speaks fine otherwise.

You can also address it in Kindergarten with the disrict and see what they say. You could even ask for a school assessment now. After age 3 (typically) is when schools assess for speech delays

Screening should be provided by your school district--unless you are in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and have no speech therapist available.

I'm no expert, but I believe that some sounds are easier for kids to learn to say than others and they develop those harder sounds later. My DD is almost six and still has a little trouble with /th/ and /s/ sounds, and she seems pretty much at the same place as most of her peers. She has never needed speech therapy. We sent her to Pre-K through the ECFE program here (in the same school building where the grade school is located), and there were some kids in her class then who were being pulled out a couple times a week to work one on one with the speech therapist at the grade school.

All kids here have to go through a pre-school screening between ages 3 and 4 where they do a bunch of assessments, test the kid's vision and hearing, etc. If there are any major red flags, the parents and school district are aware before the kid gets to kindergarten so everyone can get a head start if a kid does need a little help.

Here's a link about speech sounds to check out.

Speech sound development

I'm a school-based SLP. Does he have any other errors besides /s/ and /z/? Absolutely feel free to call your school district and request a screening, but be aware that unless your child has multiple errors that impact intelligibility, it's unlikely that he would be eligible for services. I personally am not the least bit concerned about a lisp (which is the error that you are describing) in a child of this age. I'm not necessarily concerned about that until age 7 or 8. 

Our department used to do a mass screening of all kindergartners. We compiled some data afterward which showed that about 35% of kindergarten students had this same speech sound error. That's a pretty large percentage, and we obviously don't pick up all of those students for intervention. Speech sounds are still developing, and there's no need to do that, as many of those students will not need any future intervention. 





What State are you in? I have been working in the schools for many years and this is not my experience at all. There's no 'edge' to attempting to start seeking evaluation or assistance earlier-- from an eligibility standpoint. 

Back to the OP-- I hope this information is helpful. Again, do not hesitate to request a screening if you wish to do so. 

My grandson was started on speech therapy at 3 1/2 --their doctor set up the referral. My daughter was told that if he started at 3 then it would be state funded, but therapy starting at five meant she would have to pay for it. I have heard of this since then from others. This is in the state of Texas.

I also live in Texas.  My youngest son (he's 16 now) had delayed speech.  I contacted Early Childhood Intervention and they did extensive testing with him.  He was under the age of 3 when he began speech therapy and a speech therapist came to our home once a week.  

After he turned 3 I needed to take him to our local elementary school for speech therapy.  He received services for about 1 1/2 years and then didn't need them anymore.

Trust your instincts.  If you think that his speech isn't what it should be then you should look into it.  

When DS #2 was about 2 1/2 was when I became concerned.  When he was hungry he'd stand in front of the pantry and cry until I gave him something to eat.  When he was thirsty he'd get a plastic drinking glass out of a low cabinet and stand in front of the refrigerator and cry until I gave him something to drink.  

I discussed my concerns with his doctor and she told me that at his age he should have 50 words that I could understand.  He was able to say 50 words, but I still knew that his language skills weren't what they should be.  

My guess is that since it's so late in the school year they'll evaluate him and then have him begin speech therapy (if he qualifies) in the fall as a walk in to your local elementary school.  

In the meantime, you can work with him at home.  Read to him and make sure to pronounce and enunciate the words correctly.  Talk to him, sing songs, teach him rhymes.  All of this is programming his brain and teaching him to love language.  

My DS had problems with the word dinosaur.  Usually it's not a problem, but he liked playing with toy dinosaurs and needed a label for them.  He called them "dah dos."  When a preschooler calls something the wrong name like that simply use the correct name for the item.  He'll pick up on it and begin using the correct word.  Try to use the correct word frequently so he'll have something to model his speech after.  

I found some articles that might be helpful:

How to teach the s sound

How to teach the z sound






 

If you're concerned, I would have him tested. From there, you can make the decision whether or not to get services. My son has been in speech therapy since he was 3. The first year was with a private practice and then at age 4, I was able to start get services through the school district.

I am in Texas.

My nephew received a free evaluation from the school district at age 2 and has been in speech classes at the local elementary school since then. He's almost 4 now.

We started around age 3. Your pediatrician should be able to pick up and tell you if your child needs a speech evaluation. I seem to remember you will need a note or recommendation from your ped in order to get into the school district's program. Their first step will be a long (an hour so) evaluation. Space is usually very limited & it can be an ordeal to get in even for the evaul. As far as when you should start if there is a need you need to start ASAP! The sooner the better. My little boy is 7 and in 1st grade now and he's still getting speech help. When we started only me and his twin sister could understand 50% of what he said, there was a lot I didn't catch and if he were not looking you dead in the eye or if he were even a tad upset, you could forget it. His speech has greatly improved but we still have a while to go. 

even tiny towns are required to have services if someone needs them. They would probably have a central service provider that goes to multiple districts/schools.

Op, go to your local district webpage and go under special education and find preschool or child find or something similar. Or call the district office to see where you would get screened.

Other option that is usually cheaper than private would be a university with an slp program.