Expert: Ettina - 1/23/2009

Question
Dear Sir/Madam,
                              My son is 5 years old. He is having problem in speaking the following words – R, K. He says L to R and T to K. you are requested to guide.


Answer
Those are fairly common mispronunciations for a young child, and most kids outgrow it. It's not as common for a five year old as it would be for a younger child, but it's possible he'll outgrow it soon anyway.
If you're really concerned, there are things you can do to help him pronounce r and k. One warning, however, is to make be careful that you don't make him feel bad for mispronouncing things. Probably the best way to do that is to make it a game. You can look on the Internet for activities to do to help him pronounce r and k, such as:
http://www.speechtx.com/articulation.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/nm2/speechtherapyideas/articgames.html
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/speechtherapy/a/speechgames_4.htm