Does Thumb Sucking Affect Speech?
Does Thumb Sucking Affect Speech?
For years now, parents have been trying to stop their children to stop thumb sucking for a variety of reasons – and most successful. The reasons why change from child to child. It could be because they have outgrown the need to do so, or it could be because the parents worry it could become a permanent habit. The biggest problem thumb sucking could cause is verbal communication. So, yes, thumb sucking affect speech!
Whatever the reasons for doing so are, it’s important that parents realize that thumb sucking can have more than just a few physical effects on the body.
For example, many people find that thumb sucking can affect speech. It’s for this reason that parents are always advised to find a thumb sucking protector like a thumb guard or the Glovey Huggey. This help to stop the problems from arising in the first place. However, to know if you need to worry about this problem you need to first understand how thumb sucking can limit speech.
The Problems with Thumb Sucking and how affect speech
Any child under the age of four who sucks their thumb has no problems to worry about. It’s a typical exercise and one that children use to feel secure and safe when they may not have felt that way otherwise. Aside from being a comical thing to see in a child, the longer they continue to thumb suck the quicker the problem can get worse.
By ages 5 and 6, children have more intensity and strength in their sucking motion. They are also developing and forming more than they were, and this is where you can find that these problems elevate from originally.
This is caused because a prolonged period of sucking thumbs can cause teeth to become falsely aligned. This creates a poor quality of teeth and can usually result in a child having to turn to the orthodontist to get some kind of relief from the problem. That isn’t all, though – thumb sucking can hamper speech at the same time as it forms a lisp.
How can you solve the thumb sucking problem?
This is because the thumb sucking motion forces the tongue to sit at a different angle, which over the years can be caused to worsen or permeate because of the thrusting of the thumb when the sucking motion takes place. This creates an inability to say letters such as T or D and can create a problem that is very hard to correct later on in life, causing your child social discomfort and anxiety.
For this reason, you can rely upon a thumb guard like the Glovey Huggey to offer an effective and easy counter to this problem. Finding a genuine solution to this issue can be tough, but most parents find that this is the best workaround possible that is non-invasive, has no potential drawbacks, and only takes time to work properly.
Whatever you decide, you will find that the general problems with thumb sucking start with speech. If you can help your child sort this out, they are more likely to avoid any of the other problems associated with thumb sucking in the future.