Speech pathology support for speech Sound difficulties
What are speech sound difficulties?
Speech refers to our ability to produce sounds with our lips, tongue, jaw, and other parts of our mouth, and to combine these sounds in sequences to build words and sentences to communicate.
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It’s important to be able to produce sounds in a way that makes us easily understood by other people. Children who have difficulty producing speech sounds may become frustrated when others can’t understand them, it can impact on their ability to clearly express their needs and wants, talk about their thoughts and feelings, interact with children their own age and form friendships. Speech sound difficulties can also have an impact on language development and on literacy skills as children start learning to read and spell.
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Speech sound difficulties are different from a language delay Children who are having trouble with speech sounds should still be able to understand other people and form sentences that are age appropriate.
How are speech sound difficulties diagnosed?
While children’s speech sounds are still developing in the early years it is typical to hear some errors, but by the time a child is 5 years old they should be able to produce most sounds accurately in conversation and be understood by unfamiliar people.
Most children are able to produce the following sounds at the following ages:
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Around 2-3 years: p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, h, w, y, f, ng (like sing)
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4 years: l, s, z, j, ch, sh, v
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5 years: r, zh (like treasure), voiced th (like this)
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6 years: voiceless th (like thing)
Speech sound difficulties can occur for a range of reasons, for example as a result of a physical problem that makes it difficult to produce sounds, such as a cleft palate. Speech sound difficulties can also occur secondary to a hearing impairment. For most children, there is no identifiable reason for their speech sound difficulties.
Treatment​
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It is important to start therapy early if you are concerned about your child’s production of speech sounds, as intervention is most effective when provided at a younger age. There are a range of benefits in starting therapy where a speech sound difficulty is identified, including:
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Improving your child’s ability to produce sounds clearly
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Improving your child’s ability to be understood by other people
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Improving your child’s ability to engage in positive social interactions and form friendships
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Improving your child’s ability to develop literacy skills, such as spelling and reading
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Reducing frustration for a child who is having trouble getting their message across
What should you do?
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If you are concerned about your child’s speech sound development, it’s a good idea to start by talking to your GP or Maternal Child Health Nurse, and to book in for a hearing assessment with an Audiologist prior to your initial Speech Pathology appointment.
At your first Speech Pathology session we can assess how your child is producing sounds and let you know if therapy is recommended for your child.
Additional resources​​
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