"I don't geally know how a gainbow is made," my four-year-old daughter explained to her cat, who was apparently asking about the science of light in some language I could neither hear nor comprehend. My daughter went on, "I think that the light on the gain dgops makes a special gainbow cloud, or something." I'm glad that my daughter's cat could understand her speech, because most humans can't. Like many kids, my daughter struggles to pronounce "R" sounds correctly, and it makes her very difficult to understand. It's extremely common for young children to pronounce "R" sounds incorrectly, and many of them will replace "R" sounds with other letters (most often "W"), making their speech sound less mature and less intelligible.
My daughter has been receiving speech therapy for a few weeks and has made rapid progress in learning to pronounce "R" sounds correctly. Her speech therapist has sent us home with activities and suggestions to improve her pronunciation skills, and I've enjoyed watching my daughter's articulation improve. If your child mispronounces "R" sounds, here are some tips to help her overcome the problem.
1. Record it and play it back. My daughter's speech therapist explained that many children who pronounce "R" sounds incorrectly aren't aware of their own pronunciation problems; they simply can't hear their errors. When I played a recording of my daughter saying, "The cat is resting," her face lit up with recognition and she exclaimed, "I said 'The cat is guesting!' I didn't know I said it like that!" Within a few tries of repeating and re-recording the sentence, she was starting to pronounce "resting" with accuracy.
2. Use sound-card reminders. Our speech therapist gave us a card with a picture of a growling dog next to the letter "R" on it. When I'm trying to get her to pronounce an "R" word correctly, I hold up the card and point to the picture. She knows that this is her cue to slow down her speech and say "rrrrabbit" correctly. This is very useful for kids who pronounce "R" sounds as "W," as well.
3. Read, read, read. It's hard to teach the correct pronunciation of "R" to preliterate children, but kids who are old enough to read have an easier time with articulation. My daughter will sound out the word "rug" as "rrrr- uuuhhh- g" but then reads it all at once as "gug." The more she reads these words, however, the more I can see her catching on to correct pronunciation. Work with your child on literacy to improve her overall ability to articulate.
4. Get professional help. When home activities don't help your child overcome a speech problem, get in touch with her teacher or primary care provider. If either person believes that your child has a problem that needs to be addressed, your child will receive a referral for a consultation with a speech-language pathologist to determine the nature, extent, and treatability of the disorder. If necessary, speech therapy can dramatically improve your child's ability to enunciate clearly. Always defer to professional judgment when dealing with learning, speech, or physical delays in your child's development.
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