By Laura Farmer
hen my son was a toddler, he
couldn’t pronounce the letter
“R.” Words like “river” were
“wivuh” and “crab” became
“cwab.” At the time, I thought
these speech errors only made his chubby-
cheeked baby-talk ramblings all the
more endearing.

As he entered kindergarten, he learned to
read and write, but not how to pronounce his
“R’s.” My husband and I grew concerned, but
his teacher assured us that the speech delay was
age appropriate. So we didn’t worry — until
he turned 7. When he was still saying “wun”
and “ice cweam,” we decided to meet with a speech-
language pathologist at his school.

A speech-language pathologist, or SLP, is a
communications expert who is trained to evaluate and create
solutions for speech and language disorders, as well as
for swallowing and other motor functions related to
communication. During my son’s assessment, the SLP’s
trained ear was able to hear him form “R’s” in
certain words. In other words, he was capable of
making the sound and was well on his way
to developing normal articulation without
further intervention.

30 Washington FAMILY JULY 2021
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HE R5
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ES US
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