Articulation and Speech Sound Disorders
As your child learns to speak, they must learn how their speech muscles work together to produce the sounds of their language.
Some children find this learning to be difficult. As a result, a child may:
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not use all of the speech sounds expected for their age (see below for typical norms)
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be more difficult to understand than their peers
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communicate with gestures and body language more than speaking
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become frustrated that people around them can't understand them
If any of those fit your child, they may have a speech sound disorder.
What sounds should my child be saying?
Ages that children typically have speech sounds mastered:
2-to-3 years: h, w, b, p, m, n, d, t, g, k, 'ng', f, y
4 years: v, z, s, j, sh, ch
5 years : r, 'zh' (as in measure), voiced th (as in those)
6 years: voiceless th (as in thing)
What does a speech sound disorder sound like?
Speech sound disorders generally involve one or more of the following speech patterns:
Substitutions — tat for cat
Deletions — how for house
Additions — dog-uh for dog
Distortions — lisps, nasal speech, vowel-like /r/.
Speech sound disorders can significantly impact your child's ability to be understood when talking, referred to as their intelligibility.
Intervention for speech sound disorders aims to build your child's ability to recognize the differences between sounds, teach them to accurately pronounce speech sounds when talking, and increase their intelligibility.
If you or your family have any questions or concerns about your child's speech, schedule a call today with Mr. Zak SLP today!
Mr. Zak Speech Therapy is out of network for all insurance providers at this time. Please contact Mr. Zak directly for more information regarding private pay rates of services and policies.