“Why can't my son pronounce certain letters?”
My 5 year old son has difficulty pronouncing the letter "L". If he points to something, he says "wook" not "look". Can a speech-language therapist help solve this?
11 Answers
PediatricianSpeechandCommunicationDisorders
Yes, a speech-language pathologist can work on speech sound errors that are not age-appropriate. If you are concerned with his speech I would recommend receiving an articulation evaluation.
Yes! A speech therapist will work with your child on strategies regarding tongue elevation to reduce the "gliding" error that your son is engaging in.
Yes, we can help! That is a common phonological process called gliding. Express your concerns to your son's pediatrician and request a Speech and Language Evaluation.
All sounds are developmentally acquired by age. That being said, this is a very age appropriate sound substitute all the way to the age of 6 or 7. If this is the only sound he isn't producing, he most likely will not qualify to receive extra support. Other later sounds are: s, th, r. I would suggest you keep modeling it correctly for him for now.
Yes
Many kids have issues with articulation if certain letters. Many resolve by 5. A speech therapist could help him. Many times in school they have a speech therapist who can help.
It sounds like Speech articulation disorder which is when a child has trouble pronouncing certain letters or words. A speech therapist can definitely help with this. Your child’s Pediatrician can typically facilitate the referral to the speech therapist
Terlenda Lassiter
Speech-Language Pathologist
There are common phonological processes that we see in developing children. /l/ is a sound that is still developing in a 5 year old. It is somewhat common to see a child substituting "wun" for run or "wook" for look. We call this process, gliding. You can smile and gloss the statement by saying the word correctly and exaggerating how you lift your tongue for him to see but do not cause him to become shy about speaking. It is a process that is usually eliminated by age 6. If he is still doing this at age 5 years and 9 months or 6 years old and 1 month, I would just have him screened by his school SLP or a local speech pathologist.
This is a common mispronunciation due to the way the tongue position is to way the sound. A speech therapist can usually help.
Yes, a speech language pathologist can certainly help. Typically, the /l/ sound doesn’t develop until around age 5 for boys, so no reason to be too concerned. I’d reach out to a local speech therapist and get an evaluation.
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
It is not of concern. It is part of normal development process. Do not pay much attention when you hear difficulty pronouncing. Just be patient and give love and time of one more year.
