Speech Regression in 4 almost year old

Hi there,

I wasn't quite sure where this question fit best. My son is 4 in September and over the last month or so I have noticed a regression in his articulation when he speaks. This morning his kindy teacher said she noticed it too and was having trouble understanding him. She said that she used to be able to understand a lot more of what he said. I often have to ask him to repeat himself and there are some words that I just have no idea what he is saying.

I don't think that it is usual to have a regression in this area.

The only big things going on in the last month or so, was that 6 weeks ago he had his 4 year old immunizations (which they can have from 3.5 here in QLD and we were at the clinic anyway for DD). He had a mild chest infection, but nothing serious.

Just hoping for any insights into this and whether I should go to the GP or a speech pathologist.

Have you had his hearing tested? Is it vocab or articulation?

Are they new words or old words? As in has his vocab increased & its the new words he is finding hard to articulate? Or is it words he had no problems with before?

My 4 & half year old DS has a significant speech delay & while I see no improvement in his articulation even with weekly speech. It would seem its actually like a balancing act. He is getting better with words its just as he does his vocab increases & its a whole set of new words he is struggling with if that makes sense.

That said though, if you have noticed & DC has noticed I would speak with your GP & get a referral to a speechy anyway.

He's got a pretty good vocab I would say, it's more the articulation and pronunciation of words.

I've been trying to figure out if it is new words or words he used to be able to say clearly. I think is it more than just new words.

It used to be that family/friends would understand him 95% of the time, and now it is getting to the point where it's only me who can understand him that much and others struggle with what he is saying, probably only understanding 75%. He uses sentences etc, it's just that he is not making the sounds clearly. It is definitely a regression, rather than a developmental delay.

He hasn't had his hearing checked.

I am getting a little worried out that he may have some rare brain tumour or something (end freaked out mother rant).

Does he respond when you talk to him as he can't see your face? How's his hearing in noisy places? How's his balance?

If you're worried it might be a good idea to see your GP and get a referral for a hearing test so that can be ruled out.

I think since it's speech /articulation related, it's well worth getting him fully checked out. But in case this resonates at all, this is what happened for us at 3.5...

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...n-fade-187457/

Hmmm, haven't noticed any speech issues here, but Santosha's link perfectly describes DS at the moment!

I think a check up would ease your mind though...

Thanks for your input everyone! I spoke to a friend who is a speech pathologist and she suggested an articulation screening tool and sent me a link for one from a site called Mommy Speech Therapy.

Once I was actually sitting down quietly with DS one on one, he actually did quite well and scored in the range for a normal 4 year old. The sounds he has trouble with are the ones that they are meant to master by 4 or 5.

I think that perhaps it is partly tiredness/laziness on his part and partly because when I am generally talking to him there are two other little people around.

I am going to take a wait and see approach - maybe take note of the words he has trouble with over the next two weeks before I do anything.