I also had to go to speech therapy when I was young, as I could not say the "r" sound. I still remember the worst words to try to pronounce: "squirrel" and "car", which sounded like "squawal" and "caaw" (I would over-pronounce other sounds to try to make-up for the "w" sound!).
I was never embarrassed attending speech therapy class. I think I was so young, it was just another class and I do not recall any of my friends knowing about it. I do not remember actively hiding it, either. I DO still remember by speech therapist teacher, who would create silly hairdos with my long braids while I practiced our lessons...I thought she was so cool! :-)
As an adult, I am able to say my "r's", but if I am in a stressful situation, that "r" is the first sound that I am most likely to stumble on! The worst was trying to pronounce our Realtor's company: "Roy Wheeler", and I would constantly say "Woy Wheeler" or over-compensate and say "Roy Reeler".
Oh, and to the dismay of my mother, my younger sister also picked up the "r" lisp, which was further proof that siblings really do learn more from each other, than from other friends...and even parents! I still think it's funny that of all the people in my sister's life that spoke the "r" sound well, she copied my wrong pronunciation of it. So, Susan, in case your son does need a speech therapist when he's older...you may as well assume that all three of your children may have the same lisp, and start saving up! :-) ha ha! (sorry---I'm just teasing you. I just found out my son inherited my awful teeth and extreme overbite problem, which means braces, headgear, etc...so we're starting to save now!)
I agree that the lisp in little kids is kinda cute. I think our son is actually saying his "r" sounds, but he may have trouble with other sounds in a few years (as miscortes said, when his front teeth fall out...and he just got them!.)
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I also had to go to speech therapy when I was young, as I could not say the "r" sound. I still remember the worst words to try to pronounce: "squirrel" and "car", which sounded like "squawal" and "caaw" (I would over-pronounce other sounds to try to make-up for the "w" sound!).
I was never embarrassed attending speech therapy class. I think I was so young, it was just another class and I do not recall any of my friends knowing about it. I do not remember actively hiding it, either. I DO still remember by speech therapist teacher, who would create silly hairdos with my long braids while I practiced our lessons...I thought she was so cool! :-)
As an adult, I am able to say my "r's", but if I am in a stressful situation, that "r" is the first sound that I am most likely to stumble on! The worst was trying to pronounce our Realtor's company: "Roy Wheeler", and I would constantly say "Woy Wheeler" or over-compensate and say "Roy Reeler".
Oh, and to the dismay of my mother, my younger sister also picked up the "r" lisp, which was further proof that siblings really do learn more from each other, than from other friends...and even parents! I still think it's funny that of all the people in my sister's life that spoke the "r" sound well, she copied my wrong pronunciation of it. So, Susan, in case your son does need a speech therapist when he's older...you may as well assume that all three of your children may have the same lisp, and start saving up! :-) ha ha! (sorry---I'm just teasing you. I just found out my son inherited my awful teeth and extreme overbite problem, which means braces, headgear, etc...so we're starting to save now!)
I agree that the lisp in little kids is kinda cute. I think our son is actually saying his "r" sounds, but he may have trouble with other sounds in a few years (as miscortes said, when his front teeth fall out...and he just got them!.)
December 14, 2008 - 8:30amThis Comment
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