Question
I have a child in my school who is unable to produce the Spanish trilled "r". He speaks English as a second language, and speaks Spanish with parents. He is able to produce all variations of "r" and "l" in English conversation. He is bright and not academ
Answer
You did not mention the age of the child who cannot produce his trilled "r". It appears that this is the only sound that he cannot produce according to your question. Production of the trill requires vibration of the tongue. A number of causes could affect this production including developmental ability, motor articulation skills, dialect of Spanish spoken in the home, and whether his parents can or cannot produce this sound.
IDEA does state that the communication disorder (in this case, articulation) must impact on academic achievement. Professionally, I do not believe that it will impact his Spanish academics greatly. However, since you cannot provide services directly, then it may be possible to provide services indirectly (providing strategies for parents to work with him at home or for the teacher to use in the classroom). For example, have him produce the English "r", "l" and the Spanish tap "r" and then move to having him produce bilabial vibrants including his tongue (i.e., raspberries and then moving placement posteriorly). Another possibility would be for him to receive private SLP services.
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Dr. Alejandro Brice is an international presenter and nationally recognized expert in bilingual speech and language issues. He has 96 publications and has presented 128 papers in China, Finland, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and at numerous national and state conferences. His research has focused on issues of transference or interference between two languages in the areas of phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics related to speech-language pathology. His clinical expertise relates to the appropriate assessment and treatment of Spanish-English speaking students and clients.
