Answering Questions about Your Child's Speech...

It's May! Which just happens to be Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM), so to help spread the word throughout this month, I will be addressing some of the most common questions I receive from parents.  Today, in our first installment, I'm answering questions many parents have about their child's articulation...

1. What sounds should my child be able to say?

Since the 1930s, Speech Language Pathologists have been continually researching what sounds children are typically able to produce at a given age. This research has given us a good idea of when to expect children to MASTER particular sounds on their own. If your child still has difficulty with any of these sounds past these age expectations, it would be a good idea to consult with a speech-language pathologist to determine if intervention may be warranted.​

** Adapted from Sanders J. Speech Hearing Dis., 1972; Smit, et al J. Speech Hearing Dis. 1990 and the Nebraska-Iowa Articulation Norms Project

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2. I can't really tell what sounds my child is able to say... it's seems so  inconsistent.

It's true... some children might be able to say certain sounds in some words and not others. For example, maybe your child can say the "s" sound in the word "sun" but not in the word "spider". In this case, an easier way to tell if your child is on target is by considering his or her intelligibility. This refers to how well he or she is understood by strangers. No matter what errors they make, people unfamiliar with their speech should still be able to understand them a certain percentage of the time.

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3. Is it really a big deal if my child still makes a few mistakes when they speak?

Well, it all depends... if you have a 4-year-old who is still having trouble with /r/ sounds, such as saying "wabbit" for rabbit", then NO... that is not a big deal.  Yet!  But, the above speech charts help parents and professionals determine when it might become something to be concerned about.  But WHY is it a big deal? Well, for one very important reason... research has found that children with speech sound disorders are at increased risk of having difficulties learning to READ (Bird et al., 1995, Snowling, 2004; Raitano et al., 2004).  I'll be writing a little more about that later this month, so stay tuned! 

Find a Speech Language Pathologist near you!

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Do you have any other questions about your child's speech?  Comment below... it might turn up in a future post this month! #BHSM