Any kids with unusual speech tone/rhythm

[sun]

So Bun is talking!

He does have unusual speech rhythm/tone though. He says each syllable as if it's a separate word and doesn't have any inflection or emphasis. I was just wondering if any of you had kiddos with similar speech patterns and if they started understanding inflection over time. I'm not complaining at all, as I am SO happy that he is starting to say things. But I am just wondering whether he actually hears/interprets the inflection or if he doesn't at all. Thanks! x

 

[Peanut78]

How wonderful he is talking

Can't help on the tone or rythm, as T is yet to speak

 

[sun]

Thanks peanut!

It is so great to hear him talking - even though OH and I are the only people who can really understand anything. There's lots and lots of sounds he can't make so it takes some good interpretation/guesses to get it lol. But it is interesting that because he has so much understanding of words, the things he is trying to say aren't typical "first words". He gets frustrated when we don't understand though (which is frequently) and it puts him off trying so we are really working on encouraging him.

 

[MilosMommy7]

congrats on the talking! no talking over here yet. but his jargon seems to always have a questioning tone to it. like it ends in a "huh?!" type tone (if that makes sense).

 

[MilosMommy7]

and i just noticed our children are exactly 2 weeks apart

 

[sun]

Yes Bun does this too. His words/sounds will all be one tone, then the last syllable will be much louder - almost like he's yelling. lol It doesn't have the questioning tone though. I am just so happy about the talking - he used to only echo the last few sounds of what we said and now suddenly he is saying things with meaning. It still sounds like babble to everyone else though

 

[MilosMommy7]

lol. that's was my son does too. everything is one tone, then the very last one has most emphasis. he has no control over his tone though. he's constantly yelling or shrieking. not sure if he knows how to not be loud we have a few babbles that mean words.

mamama= banana
yaya= yo gabba gabba
seh-seh= juice
ee-ee= kitty kitty

and that's all we have for now.

 

[JASMAK]

My daughter is 7 and does hav tone issues and. Very high pitched voice. Not really on our priorities list tho.

 

[sun]

Thanks Jasmak - Yes it's not high on our list either, but I'm always wondering about how he sees/interprets the world. So whether he hears the tones/inflection as a part of language or whether it doesn't register with him generally. I guess time will tell!

MilosMommy - Your LO sounds so similar to Bun! Especially in how vowel-based his words are. I read in the sticky above that he has weak mouth muscles - Bun also has this, but he also has hypotonia in general. So one of the issues they are dealing with in his speech is just being able to move his mouth appropriately to make sounds. x

 

[MilosMommy7]

that's how i've always described him. it looks like he doesn't know how to move his mouth correctly. but i wasn't sure if people understood when i described it that way atleast i'm not the only one who knows what i'm talking about is there anything special they do for it in therapy? the only thing they really suggested us was to try feeding him something that makes him work his tongue a lot. like peanut butter. but he doesn't care for PB. he doesn't like to eat anything squishy

 

[sun]

They do lots of things for it in therapy! Here's the ones we do regularly in addition to trying to make sounds:

Chewy Tube: This helps him build his mouth/jaw muscles. We are supposed to try and get him to chew a minimum number 20 times per side per day. Not so successful at getting him to do it when we want, but he will chew it on his own. https://chewytubes.com/

Flute: We have a recorder/flute thing that encourages him to put his lips together (he can't really do this well). It doesn't make noise unless he has his lips together when he blows.

Blowing Bubbles: We do it at night in the bath. He loves bubbles so this is the easiest! He's not good at it though - sometimes his exhale will accidentally blow a bubble, but he can't put his lips together to blow the air out. So it is great for him.

Flash Cards: We have flash cards we got that from our therapist that show different mouth positions (puff cheeks, purse lips, smile, frown, stick out tongue, move tongue side to side, etc). OH, Bun and I will pick a card and all do what the picture says. We do this at dinner because he is usually in a good enough mood to copy us. The cards are definitely hit or miss though - he's not always willing to do it and if he is, it's not for long.

I also try and get him to do things like blow raspberries and blow kisses, but he can't do these yet. I have to pick and choose times when we work on something because he isn't the most compliant toddler for this kind of thing But I try and make it short and into a game so he's interested for at least a few min!

But all these have definitely helped him! He still can't say most consonants, but is getting better with sounds. And I notice his mouth isn't open quite as much as it was - it used to just kind of hang open all the time, but now he moves it around more.

Hope that helps

 

[MilosMommy7]

we have a sophie giraffe teether. and we used to have the rubber wii remote cover that we would let him chew on. i should try the flute thing. my mom got him a toy instrument set for christmas that has a little recorder/flute. he knows you can blow into it. but he would always want someone else to do it for him.
and he loves bubbles! those are always the go-to item when he's melting down at playgroup. i've tried showing him to blow bubbles. and blowing on hot food. he just looks at me and watches me he doesn't try to copy me. i could ask his OT or ST if they have cards like that (or if they know where to buy them)