A family friend has trouble understanding my (14-year-old) nephew, and has for years brought up the idea that some kids just need to get the part under their tongue snipped by a doctor so they can talk right.
I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with my nephew’s anatomy, and I don’t tend to have any more trouble understanding him (now) than understanding other people. (Certainly he did have some speech problems much earlier in life.) There doesn’t seem to be any rationale for surgery of any sort when he’s capable of communicating well enough to be understood by most, if and when he cares to not mumble like a teenager XP
(That said, I think a lot of kids could benefit from being explicitly taught the phonemes (sound units) of English, separately from how it’s spelt. This isn’t the case in most other languages, but English spelling is bonkers, and having a strong mental anchor for the sounds (separately from the spelling) would likely improve communication in both directions — much as happens when people learning a second language properly learn the sound units before just throwing them into the deep end.)
Yup. Called tongue tied. It’s when the lingual frenulum develops much shorter than normal. It usually has other symptoms like difficulty breast feeding or swallowing in addition to speech issues. Some kids thought mute have had the surgery and turns out they can speak just fine.
I’ve always had a stupidly short frenulum and it never hurt anything except my ability to lick things more than a cm away from my face. I can stick the MIDDLE of my tongue out further than the tip. It’s bizarre. I’ve always worried getting it snipped would mess up my diction, and I do voiceover sometime so I don’t want any of that. now I’m not sure whether that might actually be a valid concern.
Unless it’s an actual physical impediment, there’s no real reason to do it. Most cases are severe difficulty eating or inability to speak. Otherwise, if it’s not bothering you then you really don’t need it.
I know it’s a thing that *can* happen, it just seems unlikely to be the case with my nephew. Seems like one of those “when all you have is a hammer, you self-diagnose everyone with the same ailment,” or however that saying goes.
the family friend is an idiot. unless the frenulum (the tendony bit holding the tongue to the lower jaw) is extremely short, that is entirely unnecessary. going by their being the only one having issues it’s probably a problem on their end, not the nephew’s.
I’m a little shocked that Todd did not have a thorough discussion with Selkie and let her sleep on it, before bringing it up — possibly in fronts of any kids who have comes to schools earlies?
Not yer best dadding, there, Todd.
Sorry Todd, but “Talk to you real quick before school,” about something that other kids ridicule her for, is not “discussing with.” “Talking to” is another thing entirely, and implies that Selkie’s input is not of import.
In my opinion, for instance, “what do you think about our two companies merging?” and “how do you feel about my company buying yours,?” don’t compare with each other. They are two different things.
That would be a good approach if Todd was, in fact, open to letting Selkie say no to speech therapy. It sounds like after his conversation with Pohl he has decided that for her own good she’s going to have to try it whether she likes it or not. She’s only eight, going on nine. She has her reasons for wanting to hang on to the esses, and they’re good ones, he does respect them, but they can’t be the only consideration. She is not in a position to appreciate the larger consequences, especially now that Sarnothi are publicly known to exist. As an adult, a parent, he has a duty to think about her future.
I expect he tried to handle the conversation that must have occurred between panels 3 and 4 as lightly as possible, to make it seem like not such a big deal… but for him I think it really has moved into the territory of, “Yes, you will do your homework. No, you can’t play video games after bedtime.”
If they want to go the school route, it could be that Selkie does have some say in it. Factors that impact qualifying for services include things like “does this speech difficulty bother you (the child),” as well as social level and class participation. (And test scores! Can’t forget those good old test scores!)
Fortunately, there are now enough Sarnoti in school with Selkie that setting up a special class for speech therapy would be a good idea. She wouldn’t be the only one having to deal with it.
that is actually a good idea, because getting bullied for a speaking problem is no fun, especially when its so deeply ingrained that its not easy/quick to get ridd off…..i used to have a terrible lisp as a kid, nothing seemed to help, it fixed itself when i lost my milk teeth, turned out they were slightly crooked and the cause of the problem
Speaking from experience, speech therapy isn’t ‘worked into the lesson plan’. It’s being sent to the office, where the speech therapist has a small room, and spending an hour or so on exercises intended to help with the speech issue in question. I wanna say it was on a weekly basis, but honestly my memory there is so sketchy that if I was told it was daily I’d shrug and move on. What I do remember is doing it a lot — until I finally stopped turning my ‘R’s into ‘W’s. (Alas, even today, something like thirty years later, I still slip up now and again, usually when I’m tired; speaking properly may be second nature, but if I’m tired/distracted enough to mumble, that’s one of the first mumbles I stumble into)
I agree. I have known a number of teachers and/or parents who have needed speech therapy for their kids, and it’s not something the teachers do themselves. It’s a job for a specialist.
Same here. I had two years of speech therapy in 1st/2nd grade to help me stop pronouncing my L’s as Y’s. It was after school for about an hour a couple times a week. It worked well for me but it took awhile. I think for me it was also a small office at a nearby school (ours didn’t have a speech therapist).
Speech therapy requires a dedicated speech therapist. It takes time and energy to fix speech patterns.
I’m also not looking forward to the whole storyline where Selkie proves she’s an echo and turns on her lights, causing Sarnothi Drama. You’d think she would be smart enough (?) to not do that knowing it could put her and her mother in danger.
I understand a little of this, I had to train myself out of my stutter and my sibling had to go through speech therapy as a child. she’s gonna have problems but it’s all worth it <3
Well, I guess it’s good that some view speech therapy as okay or not a big deal. My chest honestly tightened reading this strip; speech therapy led to me researching ways I could injure myself to make myself mute when I was in the 7th grade, and on top of that, it didn’t take. I still get asked where I’m from all the time, with people usually thinking I’m British. Which would probably be an okay thing if it weren’t for all the childhood/adolescent self-loathing wrapped up in it.
7th grade is WAY too late for most people to be getting speech therapy! Speech issues are typical handles in grade 1 to 3, and my own kids only 3 years old and already being assessed for speech development assistance classes and stuff due to slow development. I’d have to say you issues stem not from needing the therapy but the fact everyone that was superposed to take care of you basically ignored the issue till the “they will grow out of it’ mantra stopped working! Needing therapy is not a big deal having Guardians and teaches that don’t care or take the need for it with any amount of responsibility is almost certainly why you suffered!
I started speech therapy in 4th grade and continued receiving services until 9th grade. I agree that it’s later than it would normally begin, but please don’t explain to me why I suffered. People have different experiences, and your comment comes across incredibly patronizing.
A family friend has trouble understanding my (14-year-old) nephew, and has for years brought up the idea that some kids just need to get the part under their tongue snipped by a doctor so they can talk right.
I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with my nephew’s anatomy, and I don’t tend to have any more trouble understanding him (now) than understanding other people. (Certainly he did have some speech problems much earlier in life.) There doesn’t seem to be any rationale for surgery of any sort when he’s capable of communicating well enough to be understood by most, if and when he cares to not mumble like a teenager XP
(That said, I think a lot of kids could benefit from being explicitly taught the phonemes (sound units) of English, separately from how it’s spelt. This isn’t the case in most other languages, but English spelling is bonkers, and having a strong mental anchor for the sounds (separately from the spelling) would likely improve communication in both directions — much as happens when people learning a second language properly learn the sound units before just throwing them into the deep end.)
That’s an actual thing, had to have that done to myself.
Yup. Called tongue tied. It’s when the lingual frenulum develops much shorter than normal. It usually has other symptoms like difficulty breast feeding or swallowing in addition to speech issues. Some kids thought mute have had the surgery and turns out they can speak just fine.
I’ve always had a stupidly short frenulum and it never hurt anything except my ability to lick things more than a cm away from my face. I can stick the MIDDLE of my tongue out further than the tip. It’s bizarre. I’ve always worried getting it snipped would mess up my diction, and I do voiceover sometime so I don’t want any of that. now I’m not sure whether that might actually be a valid concern.
Unless it’s an actual physical impediment, there’s no real reason to do it. Most cases are severe difficulty eating or inability to speak. Otherwise, if it’s not bothering you then you really don’t need it.
I know it’s a thing that *can* happen, it just seems unlikely to be the case with my nephew. Seems like one of those “when all you have is a hammer, you self-diagnose everyone with the same ailment,” or however that saying goes.
the family friend is an idiot. unless the frenulum (the tendony bit holding the tongue to the lower jaw) is extremely short, that is entirely unnecessary. going by their being the only one having issues it’s probably a problem on their end, not the nephew’s.
When Selkie rules the world, everyone will have to speak like HER.
“For the last times, Johnny, it’s not Him And Me; it’s Hims And Mes! Can’t you’d speaks the Overlady’s English?”
I’m a little shocked that Todd did not have a thorough discussion with Selkie and let her sleep on it, before bringing it up — possibly in fronts of any kids who have comes to schools earlies?
Not yer best dadding, there, Todd.
Sorry Todd, but “Talk to you real quick before school,” about something that other kids ridicule her for, is not “discussing with.” “Talking to” is another thing entirely, and implies that Selkie’s input is not of import.
In my opinion, for instance, “what do you think about our two companies merging?” and “how do you feel about my company buying yours,?” don’t compare with each other. They are two different things.
That would be a good approach if Todd was, in fact, open to letting Selkie say no to speech therapy. It sounds like after his conversation with Pohl he has decided that for her own good she’s going to have to try it whether she likes it or not. She’s only eight, going on nine. She has her reasons for wanting to hang on to the esses, and they’re good ones, he does respect them, but they can’t be the only consideration. She is not in a position to appreciate the larger consequences, especially now that Sarnothi are publicly known to exist. As an adult, a parent, he has a duty to think about her future.
I expect he tried to handle the conversation that must have occurred between panels 3 and 4 as lightly as possible, to make it seem like not such a big deal… but for him I think it really has moved into the territory of, “Yes, you will do your homework. No, you can’t play video games after bedtime.”
If they want to go the school route, it could be that Selkie does have some say in it. Factors that impact qualifying for services include things like “does this speech difficulty bother you (the child),” as well as social level and class participation. (And test scores! Can’t forget those good old test scores!)
Fortunately, there are now enough Sarnoti in school with Selkie that setting up a special class for speech therapy would be a good idea. She wouldn’t be the only one having to deal with it.
that is actually a good idea, because getting bullied for a speaking problem is no fun, especially when its so deeply ingrained that its not easy/quick to get ridd off…..i used to have a terrible lisp as a kid, nothing seemed to help, it fixed itself when i lost my milk teeth, turned out they were slightly crooked and the cause of the problem
School should have been doing this already. Most public schools I have worked in have had a speech therapist as part of staff.
I did speech therapy as a kid as well. Funny thing though, I can’t remember what for.
Speaking from experience, speech therapy isn’t ‘worked into the lesson plan’. It’s being sent to the office, where the speech therapist has a small room, and spending an hour or so on exercises intended to help with the speech issue in question. I wanna say it was on a weekly basis, but honestly my memory there is so sketchy that if I was told it was daily I’d shrug and move on. What I do remember is doing it a lot — until I finally stopped turning my ‘R’s into ‘W’s. (Alas, even today, something like thirty years later, I still slip up now and again, usually when I’m tired; speaking properly may be second nature, but if I’m tired/distracted enough to mumble, that’s one of the first mumbles I stumble into)
I agree. I have known a number of teachers and/or parents who have needed speech therapy for their kids, and it’s not something the teachers do themselves. It’s a job for a specialist.
Same here. I had two years of speech therapy in 1st/2nd grade to help me stop pronouncing my L’s as Y’s. It was after school for about an hour a couple times a week. It worked well for me but it took awhile. I think for me it was also a small office at a nearby school (ours didn’t have a speech therapist).
…Did she do more plurals then usual just for the gag?
It’s Selkie. The snark queen. Of course she did! 😀
Speech therapy requires a dedicated speech therapist. It takes time and energy to fix speech patterns.
I’m also not looking forward to the whole storyline where Selkie proves she’s an echo and turns on her lights, causing Sarnothi Drama. You’d think she would be smart enough (?) to not do that knowing it could put her and her mother in danger.
I understand a little of this, I had to train myself out of my stutter and my sibling had to go through speech therapy as a child. she’s gonna have problems but it’s all worth it <3
A lot of kids see speech therapists, it’s not a big deal and the classes are usually designed to be fun and games.
Well, I guess it’s good that some view speech therapy as okay or not a big deal. My chest honestly tightened reading this strip; speech therapy led to me researching ways I could injure myself to make myself mute when I was in the 7th grade, and on top of that, it didn’t take. I still get asked where I’m from all the time, with people usually thinking I’m British. Which would probably be an okay thing if it weren’t for all the childhood/adolescent self-loathing wrapped up in it.
7th grade is WAY too late for most people to be getting speech therapy! Speech issues are typical handles in grade 1 to 3, and my own kids only 3 years old and already being assessed for speech development assistance classes and stuff due to slow development. I’d have to say you issues stem not from needing the therapy but the fact everyone that was superposed to take care of you basically ignored the issue till the “they will grow out of it’ mantra stopped working! Needing therapy is not a big deal having Guardians and teaches that don’t care or take the need for it with any amount of responsibility is almost certainly why you suffered!
I started speech therapy in 4th grade and continued receiving services until 9th grade. I agree that it’s later than it would normally begin, but please don’t explain to me why I suffered. People have different experiences, and your comment comes across incredibly patronizing.