Rotacism
Did you know that the phoneme /r/, because of its delicate articulation mechanism, is the most difficult sound to pronounce in human language? The /r/ sound is acquired around the age of 3, and is one of the last phonemes the child learns to pronounce. It is for this reason that it is very common to find children who take longer to pronounce it. This difficulty of speech is given the name of rotacism and within its manifestations we can find the total omission of the sound, the substitution of the sound for another easier to pronounce or the distortion of it. Rotacism may become self-correcting and disappear as the child matures and develops more hearing and motor skills. But if the child reaches the age of 4 and shows no sign of having included this sound in his speech, we may think he has a difficulty with the artículation. It is important to correct this difficulty in order to avoid fluency problems (stuttering), complications in the reading and writing process as well as self-esteem and socialization problems because children with speech difficulties are more likely to be excluded by their peers or to be victims of teasing. If you would like to inquire about an evaluation, do so soon.