By the following ages, children should be able to say the corresponding sounds.
3 yrs
h
w
m
n
b
p
f
4 yrs
d
t
k
g
y
ng
6 yrs
At this age a child may still have errors on the r, s, z and th sounds, but they should be developing.
l
v
sh
ch
j
8-9 yrs
A child should be able to say ALL sounds correctly including:
r
s
z
th (thin
TH (that)
Adapted from:
ยนPena-Brooks, Adriana, & Hegde, M.N. (2000). Assessment
and treatment of articulation and
phonological disorders in children. Austin,
TX, U.S.A.: PRO-ED, Inc.
When air comes up from the lungs the mouth muscles move and the
articulators change positions. This interrupts normal airflow and makes
different sounds.
What Causes It?
The truth is, Speech-Language Pathologists don't know exactly what
causes articulation disorders.
We do know that some speech errors are caused by:
Hearing loss - children with frequent ear infections are at
higher risk.
Illness
Developmental disorders (ex. autism)
Neurological disorders (ex. cerebral palsy)
Genetic syndromes (ex. Down syndrome)
Additionally, physical differences in the mouth can but don't always have an affect
on how sounds are made, such as:
Tongue tie (known as ankyloglossia) - this is when the flap of
skin under your tongue is too short
If they were born with cleft lip and/or palate
If they are missing teeth,
or have an:
Over bite (top teeth
extend past bottom teeth)
Under bite (bottom teeth
extend past top teeth)
Open bite (teeth do not
fully close when mouth is at rest)
Crossbite (lower jaw is
to the right or left of upper jaw)
Each of the above mentioned are criteria that Speech Pathologists will
look at and consider during an evaluation.
Other signs of articulation disorders can be if you, relatives, or even
strangers understand a child less than 75% of the time.
SLPs use the term "unintelligible" to describe a child who is difficult
to understand.
Intelligible is a long word that means how well you can
understand someone else (if they speak your language, of course).
Some "misarticulations" can be due to a child's age. Every child learns
sounds at different ages but...
You can also look
here at options for providing speech therapy at home.
Keep in mind that articulation
differences are not the same as articulation disorders.
An articulation difference is when someone says a certain sound
differently than what is considered typical.
Only when the person says the sound with their tongue, teeth, and/or
lips in the wrong place, is this considered a disorder. People from
different states and countries have accents and use different dialects.
Accents are the way people pronounce words within a certain
group or region of people.
Dialects are specific types of words that are used within
a certain group or region of people.
Some examples of accents are...
In the Western U.S.
"I hiked up the moun-tain" might be
pronounced "I hiked up the mou-n."
In the Eastern U.S.
"I bought some coffee" might be
pronounced "I bought some quafee."
In England
"I need to park my car" might be
pronounced "I need to pock my cah."
Someone who speaks with African
American Vernacular English (AAVE) might pronounce
"I'm going to take a bath" as
"I'm gonna take a baf."
Some examples of dialect differences
are...
In the Western U.S. we
call carbonated drinks "pop".
In the Eastern U.S. they
call carbonated drinks "soda".
In the Southern U.S. people
might say:
"buggy" for "shopping cart"
"I'm fixin' to" for "I'm going to" or
"y'all" for "everyone" or "you guys"
People in England may
call the "bathroom" the "lieu" (loo)
OR
someone who seems untrustworthy may be called "dodgy"
The bottom line is accents and
dialects ARE differences, NOT articulation disorders.
When children are younger they have a higher chance of being made
fun of by their peers. This can affect academic confidence and overall
self-esteem.
Sadly, older children and even adults who pronounce sounds
incorrectly can be stereotyped as less intelligent or less capable than
others.
In adulthood someone with articulation errors may be limited in
career choices or be turned down for jobs and/or promotions.
In general adult articulation disorders distract the listener
from the speakers message which can cause communication breakdown's.
This can sometimes cause
frustration between both people and compromise relationships.
What Does an SLP Do to Help?
Speech-Language Pathologists teach children with articulation disorders
how to produce sounds correctly in their mouths.
This can be difficult for children because they literally have to
change the way the speak in most cases.
SLPs do more than just teach sounds for articulation though. After a
child learns how to say a sound correctly, there is a hierarchy the
child must follow to make sure they don't forget or lose how to make
the sound.
The hierarchy starts with the student learning to say the sound by
itself (isolation level) with 80% accuracy or 8 out of 10 times. Of
course SLPs have a child practice the sound more than 10 times.
From there, the SLP moves through the following levels:
As a rule my students must achieve 80% accuracy during two consecutive
therapy sessions to move on to another level.
Keep in mind, each of these levels are completed for 3-4 different
positions depending on the sound, so for the /s/ sound each position
would be as follows:
If you are concerned that your child has articulation errors and want to work with them before taking them to see an SLP consider trying home speech therapy.
If you know someone who can benefit from the Speech Development Chart,please share it by using the buttons at the top of this page. Thank you.
Join our mailing list for fresh therapy ideas, helpful handouts, special invites, deals & more.
Click the image below to download your free chart.
We are both MS CCC-SLPs and fell in love while studying for our degrees. Since then we have done everything together - graduated, worked, and started a family. We spend most of our time with our family and the rest making this site for you.