Boy with speech disorder

[foreveris]

Hi mummies,

anyone knows of a good speech therapist? or know of anyway that I can help him? my p4 nephew who started to speak when he was 3 year old is unable to speak properly. his pronounciation of words is so poor that ppl do not understand what he is speaking. he needs to speak very slowly in order to pronounce the word reasonably well.
pretty worried for him (though his parents and my in laws are not) as he is already 10 and not able to speak properly. I do not want him to grow up into a low self esteem teen as his peers are teasing him for that..

[Ashbaby]

Originally Posted by foreveris Hi mummies, anyone knows of a good speech therapist? or know of anyway that I can help him? my p4 nephew who started to speak when he was 3 year old is unable to speak properly. his pronounciation of words is so poor that ppl do not understand what he is speaking. he needs to speak very slowly in order to pronounce the word reasonably well. pretty worried for him (though his parents and my in laws are not) as he is already 10 and not able to speak properly. I do not want him to grow up into a low self esteem teen as his peers are teasing him for that..

Most hospital have speech therapist, probably you can go to polyclinic ask for a refer letter to hospital to speak the the speech therapist. If $$$ is not a problem then go see a pediatrician and ask them to recommend a speech therapist.

This is actually quite a common problem.

[stonston]

Since he's already in Pri School, the school should have picked it up and referred him to Kandang Kerbau Hospital directly.

[ping26]

Originally Posted by foreveris Hi mummies, anyone knows of a good speech therapist? or know of anyway that I can help him? my p4 nephew who started to speak when he was 3 year old is unable to speak properly. his pronounciation of words is so poor that ppl do not understand what he is speaking. he needs to speak very slowly in order to pronounce the word reasonably well. pretty worried for him (though his parents and my in laws are not) as he is already 10 and not able to speak properly. I do not want him to grow up into a low self esteem teen as his peers are teasing him for that..

Getting the referral to Kandang Kerbau Hospital hospital is 1st step. Someone will need to bring him for regular speech therapy and pay for it.
Subsidised speech therapy cost about $40-60/session, while private speech therapy will cost btw $100-170 per hr. (indiv)

In my experience, parents who dont't think there is a problem, are unlikely to seek help.

If you r able to teach him, teach basic phonics concepts (blending, segmenting, rhyme & alliteration) & borrow/buy beginning reader books (sentence pattern) & oral books for P1-2.

You're a very good auntie. PM me if you need more info.

best wishes,
Ping

[foreveris]

thanks to all for your reply.
maybe i will try to speak to his mum to bring him to a polyclinic to get a referral letter..
anyone knows if the school nurse is able to give a referral letter? if yes, it will save his mummy or my mother in law (main caregiver) a trip..

my hubby and I have always been correcting him (since he started to speak)whenever he does not pronounce the word properly.. but my mother in law (main caregiver) and his mummy (bo chap) seems to think its ok and always dismiss us whenever we do so..
managed to speak to my mother in law last night and she seemed to get the point when I told her that it will probably affect his chances of finding a job in the society when he goes for interview.. so she is slightly more receptive to this issue now..

[Ashbaby]

Originally Posted by ping26 Getting the referral to Kandang Kerbau Hospital hospital is 1st step. Someone will need to bring him for regular speech therapy and pay for it. Subsidised speech therapy cost about $40-60/session, while private speech therapy will cost btw $100-170 per hr. (indiv) In my experience, parents who dont't think there is a problem, are unlikely to seek help. If you are able to teach him, teach basic phonics concepts (blending, segmenting, rhyme & alliteration) & borrow/buy beginning reader books (sentence pattern) & oral books for P1-2. You're a very good auntie. PM me if you need more info. best wishes, Ping

I think the subsidized rates at NUH is cheaper. But anyway its a good to send him to a speech therapist for a consultation first.

[E-mum]

Hi, I'm not sure if you are still reading replies, but what you can do is encourage your nephew to do 3 things to help him. Oral motor work will help him a lot.

Ideally, do 3 sessions a day, but very hard to achieve. I've learnt this from a speech therapist. When doing oral motor work, the child must place his feet down on solid ground, and his back against the back of the chair, hands on the laps. dont't "borrow" strength by putting arms against chair.

1) Blowing bubbles - say about 25 times each time

2) Horns blowing - Here are a list of horns which you can get in Singapore:
Horns

Start with the easy ones, then go on to the harder ones. Each one practise blowing 25 times.

3) Straws sucking - These set of straws will help him with breath control.
Straws

On top of that, if he can do hanging exercises, such as monkey bars in playgrounds, that will help to strength muscles. The more exercises done, the more it will help the mouth muscles as well.

Try it, and you will see him improve a lot :-)

[foreveris]

hi Emum,
thanks alot
are these exercises helpful for 10 year old?

[E-mum]

Foreveris,

These are what I've learnt from several speech therapists. Normally the lack of clarity of speech is due to jaw sliding and weak mouth muscles, so no harm trying.

I strongly believe that it will help a lot. Do try it.

[foreveris]

thANKS eMUM
An update to all the nice mummies here.. they brought him to the polyclinic fr referral