What is the normal age for a child to outgrow a childish accent?
I am working on her pronunciation, but am concerned about the lack of improvement. Nobody is allowed to speak "baby" in our house, so this is not the issue.
Her teachers are not concerned at all. It's disturbing when you hear her classmates speaking so clearly in comparison. Other parents have also asked me if I am working with her on it. She is a smart, loving, fun child, and I don't want to harp all the time.
Soooo... again, is this normal, or should I be more proactive about her clarity of speaking? My husband and I have discussed going to a coach just in passing, but I am starting to think more seriously about it.
Answer:
just take her 2 a speech theripist....
my sister is 8 and she still talks a baby
Have her evaluated by a speech therapist. Tell the school that you want her evaluated or have her evaluated yourself. It can affect a lot of things especially if you are not seeing an improvement. Some children have a specific region of their tongue that they are unable to form sounds on. My friends son said no sounds that were formed with the back of the tongue. He sounded very babyish as well. But the speech therapist was able to tell them the problem and formulate a plan of action in a 30 minute session.
Don't worry about it. My daughter has a weird accent, she sounds like an old English lady. But apparently they will grow out of it.
She is getting the attention she wants. Ignore the speech pattern entirely and she will soon start talking like the other kids in school. The more pro-active you are, the longer she will hang on to this mannerism.
Third grade.. that is what they told me.. my daughter had some speech issues going on.. and I was told that by 3rd grade, if she still had those issues.. then we had a problem.. her speech problems stopped by end of 1st grade. But if she is 5 years old, and people are looking to you for interpretation, you need to consider a speech therapist. At 5, a child still might have problems with words, but it should not be where no one can understand her. I would certainly take her to a speech therapist and have her evaluated. Also, by you saying speak 'baby', did you speak 'baby' up until now? From the time my babies were born.. I never baby talked to them.. a bottle was a bottle.. not a 'ba ba'.. or what ever other terms I have heard.. that is an example. It is important that from day one, we pronounce words correctly. Even if you have done it for 2 years, if the first couple of years was her learning words incorrectly, it is going to take her longer to say them correctly now. On the other hand, if her teachers are not concerned, maybe there is not problem. But again, you could be in a poor public school district where they don't want any more work. bottom line is if your family and friends cannot understand her at the age of 5... go to the doctor.
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