| Do you ever wonder if your child's speech skills | | | | ten or twelve-year olds whose parents seem not |
| are normal? We don't expect a three year old to | | | | to notice that their children have difficulty with |
| have perfect speech, but we do expect | | | | some sounds even though everyone else does |
| near-perfect articulation from a ten year old. Here | | | | notice! It is very unlikely that a child over age nine |
| are a few questions to help you determine | | | | will self-correct or outgrow any articulation errors |
| whether your child is developing articulation skills at | | | | on his own. |
| a normal pace or whether you should be | | | | This is a list of the approximate ages at which |
| concerned. These are just general guidelines. If | | | | children should have mastered different sounds. |
| you have concerns, you may want to have your | | | | Of course all children develop differently and may |
| child evaluated by a speech pathologist, who might | | | | not master sounds in this exact order. There are |
| suggest therapy or assure you that your child is | | | | also other factors that a |
| developing normally. | | | | speech-language-pathologist would consider in |
| Can your three-year-old be understood by people | | | | determining whether a child's speech patterns are |
| outside the family? Three-year-olds have usually | | | | within normal limits or delayed. For example |
| not mastered all of the speech sounds yet, but | | | | substituting "th" for "s" at age 6 is normal, but |
| strangers should be able to understand much of | | | | omitting "s" entirely or substituting "t" for "s" |
| what they say. If a child has so many errors that | | | | would be a concern (and impacts intelligibility much |
| he is difficult to understand, this probably indicates | | | | more). |
| that his articulation skills are delayed and that he | | | | Articulation Age Norms Chart |
| would benefit from speech therapy. It can be | | | | Age 3 ------ p, b, n, h, w |
| very frustrating for a child when others cannot | | | | Age 3 1/2--- t, d, k, g, ng |
| understand his speech. | | | | Age 4------ f, v |
| Is your five-year old easy to understand? | | | | Age 5------ l |
| Five-year-olds may still have 3 or 4 "tough | | | | Age 6------ ch, sh, j, th |
| sounds," but these sound errors should not be | | | | Age 7 ------ s, z, r, blends |
| interfering significantly with their intelligibility. | | | | Although articulation errors are part of the normal |
| What do others say about your child's speech? | | | | maturational process for children, some children do |
| Often parents are so accustomed to their | | | | need additional help in learning to speak clearly. |
| children's speech patterns that they do not even | | | | Parents should be alert to possible problems in |
| notice that little Johnny says "th" instead of "s" or | | | | order to ensure that their children receive any |
| leaves "r" off the ends of his words. I have met | | | | needed help in a timely manner. |