A Guide To Your Child’s Speech Development

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A Guide To Your Child’s Speech Development

What to Know and What to Do

Speech Guide

As you read this guide write down any questions you have and feel free to ask us anything. Therapy 4 Kids contact information is on the last page of this guide.
Learning to speak can be a complex process. It is common for young children to make mistakes when learning to speak.
These mistakes or errors are known as articulation errors.
Most children will correct these mistakes and develop normal speech patterns.
If a child continues to make mistakes beyond the age when other children have mastered the sounds, he or she may need to see a speech pathologist.

What are some of the warning signs that a child may be delayed:

• You have trouble understanding your child when he/she speaks
• Friends and family members have trouble understanding your child when he/she speaks
• Your child gets easily frustrated when you do not understand his/her speech
• Your child substitutes, leaves out, distorts or adds sounds (ex. “dall” for “ball”; “ba” for “ball”; “balluh” for “ball”)
• Your child is not saying a sound close to their age requirement (see chart below)
• Your child is not saying a sound correctly
• Your child is not saying a sound that you want them to say

4 Types of Articulation Errors

Substitutions

• Replacing one sound with another
• Ex. “wed” for “red”; “dut” for “duck”

Omissions

• Leaving sounds out of words
• Ex. “all” for “ball”; “ba” for “ball”

Distortions

• The sound doesn’t sound quite right
• Ex. “sun”- sounds “slushy” “penguin” - air comes through the nose making the /p/ sound more like an /m/ “thpoon” for “spoon”

Additions

• Adding extra sounds
• Ex. “buhlack” for “black” “bookuh” for “book” “spagbetti” for “spaghetti”

Some of the Most Common Errors

• Substituting /th/ for /s/

o “thick” for “sick (sometimes called a lisp)

• Substituting /w/ for /r/

o “wed” for “red”

• Substituting /w/ for /l/

o “wake” for “lake”

• Substituting /d/ or /t/ for /k/ or /g/

o “dod” for “dog”
o “boot” for “book”

• Substituting /th/ for /s/

o “thick” for “sick (sometimes called a lisp)

• Substituting /w/ for /l/

o “wake” for “lake”

• Substituting /d/ or /t/ for /k/ or /g/

o “dod” for “dog”
o “boot” for “book”

Individual sounds are developed by different ages.

The chart below shows guidelines for sound mastery.

Sound Age
p, m, h, w, b, d, t, f, k, g 3
y, ng 4
  j, sh, v, ch, th, s, z, l 5-6
R 7

What Should I do if I am Concerned About My Child’s Speech Skills

If you have any concerns with your child’s speech development, you should discuss these concerns with your child’s PCP (primary care physician).

Your PCP can make a referral for a licensed and certified speech pathologist to perform an evaluation to determine your child’s current skill level.

What Should I do if I am Concerned About My Child’s Speech Skills

• The speech pathologist will ask questions about your child’s background and medical history
• The speech pathologist will look at your child’s face and mouth to see if there is any muscle weakness
• The speech pathologist will give 1-3 articulation tests that address speech intelligibility
• The speech pathologist may also give 1-3 language tests that address both receptive and expressive language skills
• The speech pathologist will consider the results from the tests given along with their informed clinical opinion to determine if your child qualifies for speech therapy services.
• The speech pathologist will write a detailed report including all of the above mentioned information. Both parents and the child’s primary care physician will receive a copy of this report.

What Should I Expect When I Enroll My Child in Speech Therapy Services?

• Play based interaction

o Children learn and develop cognitive, language and speech skills through play activities. Therefore, play-based activities are typically used in most therapy sessions.
o Children also learn through movement, so gross motor activities might also be used in therapy sessions (ex. swinging, jumping on the trampoline, throwing the ball).

• Modeling of appropriate speech

o The speech pathologist will talk about all of the activities that the child is doing during play and structured tasks, emphasizing correct production of the sounds that the child is working on. The technique of repeatedly exposing a child to the correct production of mispronounced sounds is called auditory bombardment.

• Imitation of sounds, words and phrases

o Imitation can be targeted during both play and structured activities. Structured activities that target articulation skills are often called drill exercises. Drill Exercises focus on repetition of sounds, words, phrases and sentences to help the child learn the correct production of targeted sounds.

• Use of tools to teach correct production of sounds

o Mirror: It is helpful to the child to be able to see his/her face to learn how to make some sounds correctly. While seated in front of a mirror, the child can see his/her own face as well as the speech pathologist’s face for visual cues.
o Suckers or Tongue Depressors : Small suckers or tongue depressors can be helpful to teach correct tongue placement within the mouth for certain sounds.

Speech Therapy is More Than Just Teaching Sounds!

After a child has learned to correctly say a sound, there is an order of progression that most speech pathologists follow to ensure that the child does not forget how to produce the sound and to ensure carry-over of the learned sound to conversational speech.

The Speech Therapist Will Begin by Teaching the Child how to Produce the Targeted Sound in Isolation and then Progress Down the List Below

• Isolation

o Teaching the child to say the sound correctly by itself

• Consonant-vowel combinations

o Ex. /b/- “ba”, “be”, “bi”, “bo”, “bu”

• Single words

o Ex. /b/- “ball”

• Phrases

o Ex. /b/- “Roll the ball”

• Sentences

o Ex. /b/- “Roll the ball to me, please.”

• Reading (if the child is able to)

• Conversation

o The child is able to correctly produce the sound in conversational speech across a variety of environments (home, school, ect…)

Along with the Different Levels of Progression, Sounds are Also Taught in 3-4 Different Positions

• Initial

o Ex. /b/- “ball”

• Medial

o Ex. /b/- “maybe”

• Final

o Ex. /b/- “tub”

• Blends

o Ex. /b/- “block”
The goal of speech therapy is to help your child develop the speech and language skills that they need while being fun and interactive at the same time.
It’s the best of both worlds- fun and learning in a child-friendly environment! This is what we strive for at Therapy 4 Kids!

What can I do at Home to Help my Child Develop Their Speech Skills?

While seeking professional help from a licensed and certified speech pathologist is an important step in the early intervention process, you can also increase your child’s development through simple activities at home.
The combination of both speech therapy services and a home-based program is the best way to help your child master the skills that they need to improve their speech intelligibility.

• Ask for homework from your child’s speech pathologist

o Your child’s speech pathologist can send home practice worksheets that have pictures , words, phrases and/or sentences containing the sounds that your child is working on in therapy.
o Your child’s speech pathologist might also be able to recommend educational games and/or apps that can help improve your child’s speech. However, be sure that you limit the amount of time that your child spends on electronic devices.

• The technique of auditory bombardment (repeatedly exposing a child to the correct production of mispronounced sounds) can be done at home as well as during speech therapy sessions.

o Read books to your child that contain the sounds that they are mispronouncing
o Play with toys that contain the sounds that they are mispronouncing

• Model correct speech for your child, BUT, be careful not to correct their speech too often

• Praise your child when they say a sound or word correctly that they have previously mispronounced. Positive reinforcement can help boost your child’s self esteem and help them feel more comfortable with their speech and language skills.

Your child’s development is very important. Combining speech therapy services along with home-based activities can help your child develop the speech and language skills that they need to express themselves clearly.

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