Speech Sound Development and Disorders

Speech Sound Development and Speech Sound Disorders

What is Speech?

Speech is different from language, when we refer to speech we are talking about the sounds that we make when we are talking, for example the word ‘dog’ is made up of the speech sounds ‘d’ ‘o’ and ‘g’.

What should my child’s speech sound like?

All children learn speech sounds at different times and rates, however there is a typical pattern of development which most children follow when they are learning to speak.

When children are learning to speak they make common errors in their speech which are known as ‘phonological processes’ and include:

Fronting: Where the back sounds ‘k’ ‘g’ and ‘ŋ(ng)’ are substituted with the front sounds ‘t’ ‘d’ and ‘n’ (e.g., they may say “tat” for ‘cat’).
Cluster reduction: Where two consonants next to each other are substituted with a single consonant (e.g., they may say “cab” for ‘crab’).
Voicing: Where sounds that have no voice such as ‘k’ ‘t’ and ‘p’ are substituted with voiced sounds including ‘g’ ‘d’ and ‘b’ (e.g., they may say “big” for ‘pig’).
Final Consonant Deletion: Where children miss the end sounds from words (e.g., they may say “mou” for ‘mouse’).
Stopping: Where long sounds such as ‘s’ ‘z’ and ‘f’ are substituted with short sounds ‘t’ ‘d’ and ‘p’ (e.g., they may say “toe” for ‘so’).
Gliding: Where the sounds ‘r’ and ‘l’ are substituted with ‘w’ (e.g., they may say “wed” instead of ‘red’).
Weak syllable deletion: Where the syllable with less emphasis is not spoken (e.g., they may say “bot” for ‘bottle’.

Find your child’s age in the guide below to find out what sounds they typically will be able to say and the types of errors that are common at their age.

2-3 Years

Most children can say the sounds p, b, m, h, and w correctly at the beginning of words.
Children may show the following errors in their speech: gliding, stopping, cluster reduction, fronting, and weak syllable deletion.

3-4 Years

Most children can say the sounds p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, ŋ(ng), f, v, s, z, h, w, l, ʧ (ch), and j (y) correctly.
Children may have difficulty saying the sounds θ (thing), ð (the), ʃ (sh), ʒ (treasure) ʤ (jelly), and r.
Children may show the following errors in their speech: gliding, stopping, cluster reduction, fronting, and weak syllable deletion.

4-5 Years

Most children can say the sounds p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, ŋ(ng), f, v, s, z, h, w, l, ʧ (ch), ʒ (treasure), ʤ (jelly), and j (yellow).
Children may have difficulty saying the sounds θ (thing), ð (the), ʃ (sh), and r.
Can identify and produce rhyming words.
Can clap out syllables in multi-syllabic words e.g ‘ba-na-na’.
Children may show the following errors in their speech: gliding and cluster reduction for longer clusters with 3 consonants (e.g., spr, spl, str).

5-7 Years

Between the ages of 5 and 6 children may have difficulty with the ‘r’ and ‘l’ sounds and substitute them for a ‘w’ (gliding).
By 7 years will be able to pronounce all the speech sounds correctly in all word positions.
Can generate rhyming words and tell when words rhyme.

For more information on Speech and Language milestones in typical development click here.

My child is behind in their speech sound development, what does this mean?

Many children may have difficulty learning the sounds they need to speak or may continue to substitute sounds for longer when compared to their peers. These children may need support from a Speech and Language Therapist, we recommend that you see a Speech and Language Therapist for an assessment if you are concerned about your child’s speech, language or communication development. If you are local to us then you can enquire about an assessment here.

What are Speech Sound Disorders?

Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs) is a term used to cover difficulties that some children have with their speech, this includes both the sounds they produce (say) and the way in which they process sounds (phonological development).

A variety of other terms are also used to describe speech sound disorders including:

Speech sound difficulties
Speech delay
Speech impairment

Children may also be diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), previously known as Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, (DVD) or Dysarthria.

How are Speech Sound Disorders diagnosed?

Speech sound disorders can be diagnosed by a Speech and Language Therapist who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Speech and Language Therapists receive appropriate training in this area which makes them unique to diagnosing and treating speech sound disorders.

What will the assessment look like?

The assessment will include communication and developmental history, family history and a face to face assessment of your child’s speech skills. We may ask you to send in a video of your child talking prior to their assessment so we can have a look at their speech patterns before we meet them.

Assessment of your child’s speech skills will be done through play, conversation, and by using pictures to elicit specific sounds in different word positions. The therapist will transcribe your child’s responses and look for patterns in their speech which gives information about the underlying nature of the difficulty.

What are the different types of Speech Sound Disorders?

Assessment will provide some information on the nature of your child’s speech sound disorder. They may require a second assessment session or some therapy sessions before a conclusive diagnosis can be made by your Speech and Language Therapist.

Speech Sound Disorders are generally divided into different types:

Phonological Delay: Where your child is following a typical pattern of speech sound development but they are delayed when compared to their peers.
Inconsistent phonological disorder: Where your child produces the same word differently on separate occasions.
Consistent phonological disorder: Where your child produces the same word in the same way on separate occasions but is not following a typical pattern of development.
Articulation Disorder: Where your child has difficulty producing certain sounds in isolation which we would expect them to be able to say at their age.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): A motor planning difficulty where your child produces the same word differently on separate occasions, has breaks or pauses in their speech which may make it sound choppy, and has differences in pitch and tone. See New to Apraxia - Apraxia Kids (apraxia-kids.org) for more information.
Dysarthria: Where your child has difficulties with their speech resulting from neuromuscular weakness, paralysis or incoordination of the muscles needed to produce speech. This is common in Cerebral Palsy, for more information see Dysarthria - Apraxia Kids (apraxia-kids.org).
Speech disorder associated with structural differences such as cleft palate: Cleft palate is a gap or split in the upper lip and/or roof of the mouth (palate). It is present from birth, for more information see Cleft lip and palate - NHS (www.nhs.uk).

Don’t be overwhelmed by the list of technical terms, your Speech and Language Therapist will be able to support you in understanding your child’s specific type of speech difficulty and the recommended support.

What does therapy for Speech Sound Disorders look like?

The type of therapy used to treat Speech Sound Disorders depends on a variety of factors including the specific diagnosis, results from any previous therapy, your child’s interests and motivations and clinical decision making. There are many evidence-based therapy approaches that may be used to treat Speech Sound Disorders including:

Minimal pairs therapy: Your Speech and Language Therapist will support your child to listen to and say words which only differ in one sound such as ‘key’ and ‘tea’.
Articulation therapy: Your Speech and Language Therapist will support your child to learn how to say specific sounds that they are finding tricky. They will guide your child using specific cues, visuals and prompts to help them say the sounds.
Psycholinguistic Processing: Your Speech and Language Therapist will support your child with different levels of processing such as; listening to the difference between sounds and words, rhyming, syllable clapping, and identifying if sounds and words are the same or different.
Core Vocabulary Therapy: Your Speech and Language Therapist will work with you to produce a list of common words which they will then support your child to produce consistently. This therapy is commonly used to support children with Inconsistent Phonological Disorder.
Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC): Your Speech and Language Therapist will support your child to produce the mouth shapes required to produce a list of words chosen by you and your therapist. This therapy is commonly used to support children with severe Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).

Can a child have both Speech and Language difficulties?

Yes, it is common for children to have both speech and language difficulties which may or may not co-occur with other diagnoses including Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Sensory Impairment. A Speech and Language Therapist can assess your child’s profile of Speech, Language and Communication and provide you with an overall picture of their strengths and support needs.

There are some symbols on my Speech and Language report, what do these mean?

Speech and Language Therapists use phonetic transcription when recording children’s speech sounds, this is because there are more sounds than letters in English so specific symbols are needed to represent each sound. See the below guide on the phonetic symbols used in Southern English.

Consonants

/p/ (as in "pie")
/b/ (as in "bat")
/t/ (as in "top")
/d/ (as in "dog")
/k/ (as in "cat")
/ɡ/ (as in "go")
/m/ (as in "man")
/n/ (as in "no")
/ŋ/ (as in "sing")
/f/ (as in "fish")
/v/ (as in "van")
/θ/ (as in "think")
/ð/ (as in "this")
/s/ (as in "see")
/z/ (as in "zoo")
/ʃ/ (as in "she")
/ʒ/ (as in "measure")
/h/ (as in "hat")
/tʃ/ (as in "chip")
/dʒ/ (as in "judge")
/ɹ/ (as in "red")
/j/ (as in "yes")
/w/ (as in "wet")
/l/ (as in "love")

Vowels

/i/ (as in "fleece")
/ɪ/ (as in "kit")
/ɛ/ (as in "bed")
/æ/ (as in "trap")
/ə/ (as in "the")
/ɜ/ (as in "nurse")
/ʌ/ (as in "cup")
/u/ (as in "goose")
/ʊ/ (as in "foot")
/o/ (as in "cloth")
/ɔ/ (as in "thought")
/ɑ/ (as in "palm")
/eɪ/ (as in "face")
/aɪ/ (as in "price")
/ɔɪ/ (as in "choice")
/aʊ/ (as in "mouth")
/əʊ/ (as in "goat")
/ɪə/ (as in "near")
/eə/ (as in "square")
/ʊə/ (as in "cure")

References

Apraxia Kids (2024). Intro to Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Retrieved from: Intro to Apraxia – Apraxia Kids Parent Portal (apraxia-kids.org).

Apraxia Kids (2024). Dysarthria. Retrieved from: Dysarthria - Apraxia Kids (apraxia-kids.org)

Dodd, B., Holm, A., Hua, Z., and Crosbie, S., 2003, Phonological development: a normative study of British English‐speaking children. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 17, 617–643. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269920031000111348.

The International Phonetic Association (2018). IPA Chart. Retrieved from: The International Phonetic Alphabet and the IPA Chart | International Phonetic Association

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT, 2024). Speech Sound Disorders – Guidance. Retrieved from: https://www.rcslt.org/members/clinical-guidance/speech-sound-disorders/speech-sound-disorders-guidance/