When children are young, many times they have trouble articulating certain sounds or words.  We may chuckle when our child says “wed” instead of “red” when they are five years old.  At that age, he or she may not be developmentally ready to produce the “r” sound yet.  This would be considered a developmental articulation error.  However, if the student is ten years old and still continues to say “wed” instead of “red” it would no longer be considered a developmental articulation error.

Not all children develop at the same rate . . . and the development of speech is no different.

Listed below is a general guide to when most children have mastered the following speech sounds:

What do I do if I don’t understand? There are lots of great ideas out there for speech development, and here are a few suggestions.

1.  AVOID criticizing or saying that your child is doing it wrong; a child needs confidence to become a habitual talker. As adults we don’t like to be criticized for our little quirks, and children feel the same way. They need to feel comfortable to explore and practice.

2.  WAIT for them to try again. Waiting can be agonizing! I usually wait for about 5 seconds to allow the child to process his or her thoughts.

3.  TRANSLATE Give your child a word or two for what you think he/she said. “Show me” also works well.

4.  PLAY WITH THE WORDS that are not clear. Consider rhyming games, matching, or even taking turns saying silly words. There is also a plethora of electronic word games.

5.  DON’T INSIST ON PERFECTION; just keep the conversation going. Remember the more your child talks, the more he/she is working with those sounds.

6. Be sure your child is getting a lot of   PRACTICE TALKING. Let them talk to you, siblings, the dog, whoever. Just encourage talking!

photo by Patrishe