SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS

Disclaimer: I’ve incorporated and edited content pulled directly from the ASHA (American Speech-Hearing Association). My goal is to give parents a resource to use as a guide to determine if their child’s speech development is standard, or if they might need to consider hiring a Speech Therapist. Please visit this link for more detailed information.

child playing with learning toy

Articulation disorders focus on errors (e.g., distortions and substitutions) in production of individual speech sounds (For example: /w/ for /r/- wock vs rock)

  • By 3 years of age: Says m, n, h, w, p, b, t, d in words

Familiar people can understand the child's speech

  • 3-4 years: k, g, f can be produced during this age range

  • By 4 years: Says y and v in words

May still make mistakes on the s, sh, ch, j, ng, th, z, l, and r sounds

Most people can understand the child’s speech

  • By 5 years of age: m, n, h, w, p, b, t, d, y, v, k, g, f

  • By 6 years of age: l, s, z

  • By 7 years of age: sh, ch, j, th, r

SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS
include those resulting from motor/neurological disorders (e.g., childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria), structural abnormalities (e.g., cleft lip/palate and other structural deficits or anomalies), and sensory/perceptual disorders (e.g., hearing loss).

FUNCTIONAL SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS
include those related to the motor production of speech sounds and those related to the linguistic aspects of speech production. Historically, these disorders are referred to as articulation disorders and phonological disorders.

PHONOLOGICAL DISORDERS
focus on predictable, rule-based errors (e.g., fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion) that affect more than one sound.  (Example: A child is using /t/ for /s, z, f, v, k, g/- tea vs see, tour vs four, dot vs dog). 

*The articulation norms stated above do not pertain to phonological disorders. If your child has a phonological disorder, the sounds are typically targeted earlier than the age expectancies for articulation errors due to the sound affecting multiple sounds and possibility of affecting language production.

Disclaimer: The communication milestones included in ASHA's "How Does Your Child Hear and Talk" products are currently being revised and will be published in 2023. Changes include (a) shorter timeframes and (b) evidence regarding the percentage of children demonstrating specific milestones.