Elocution lessons

beardybrewer

If your son was having trouble expressing himself and articulating his words what would you do?

There doesn't seem to be elocution lessons any more where a dozen kids repeat tongue twisters and the teacher makes sure they pronounce their words properly. My son can speak properly if you hound him, but during his normal speech he typically mumbles and slurs quite a bit. We have some flash cards and have a few apps, but feel like we could use some profession direction.

Any advice appreciated (even other good apps with elocution style exercises).

bisset

What age is your child. Do others such as teachers find his speech difficult to understand. You could request a speech and language assessment from your local health centre. This would let you know if he needs specific help. There are private speech and language therapists you can pay to attend if you don't want to be placed on a waiting list.

Lisha

I second the referral to speech therapist from local health nurse. Schools can also refer the child on .

Is there a speech and drama class near you?

beardybrewer

Hi, thanks for your kind responses. My son is 7.5 and yes it has been pointed out by 2 teachers. He is at the point of getting frustrated for not being understood. We're also seeing the first signs of him being picked on which we fear might be related to his troubles expressing himself.

We had him assessed last year and she put us off saying it would sort itself. We pushed the issue again 2 months ago and he just came back from a full assessment today. However, she ruled he wasn't qualified to receive any public help. We can see her point, the public system seems to be there for more serious issues whereas he can speak properly when pushed. We are trying things at home but wish we had input and think he would benefit from a regular weekly class. It seems the kind of thing that could be improved greatly upon in a couple months.

So... down the private route we go. She did recommend a speech and drama class, but I wonder how much specific help he would get on his pronunciation in this setting? He doesn't have a big attention span for that sort of thing and likes to play the class clown. To us all he needs is simple elocution lessons in a class setting where he would get the attention and focus he needs. However they don't seem to exist any more.

We are investigating speech therapists but some of these charge €150 evaluation fees which seems ridiculous.