This month we are thinking about speech sound difficulties.
I often work with children who experience "speech sound difficulties". This is a very broad term and is used to describe when a child has difficulty producing sounds. The degree to which a child can be affected can vary from mild difficulties affecting maybe one sound, to severe difficulties meaning the child has a high level of unintelligibility.
Typically, children learn sounds by hearing them being used around them. Young babies will experiment with making different sounds and begin to string sounds together - we call this 'babble'. A child's speech sound system develops gradually, with most children following a similar pattern of speech sound acquisition. They begin by learning easier sounds first, e.g. "p, b, t, d", followed by more complex sounds such as "sh, ch, j, th, r". Along the way they will also master the art of producing two or more sounds together - we call these clusters or blends (tr, sl, str).
Children gradually learn numerous sounds and how to organise them into words. Most children will make some mistakes as they learn to produce new words. Every sound has a different range of ages by which it should be used correctly. A child would be considered to have speech sound difficulties if they continue to have a problem producing sounds, which continues after the typical age of acquisition.
Signs of difficulty
There are common signs, which indicate a child may have speech sound difficulties. They may:
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Use a fewer number of sounds than we would expect for their age
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Swap sounds or make a pattern of sound errors, for example sounds usually produced at the back of the throat are pushed forward and produced at the front of the mouth, e.g. "k" becomes "t" as in "tat" (cat).
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They may miss the end sound off words, e.g. "fi" (fish)
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Their production of sounds may look effortful
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They may experience difficulty with longer (multi-syllabic) words, e.g. "nana" (banana)
As already mentioned, all children are likely to experience some errors as they acquire new sounds. Speech sound difficulties are difficulties which persist.
Whilst the cause of speech sound difficulties is not always known, research suggests there are some associated risk factors we should be aware of. Often, there is a positive family history for speech and language difficulties. Children who experience frequent colds and/or ear infections (glue ear) resulting in hearing loss are more likely to be affected. There are also a number of developmental and neurological disorders which have associated difficulties with speech sound production.
Strategies to support your child
Here are a few ways you can support the development of your child's speech:
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Children learn by listening to our voices, so read books aloud and sing nursery rhymes.
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Draw attention to sounds within words by syllable clapping, e.g. "mon - key" (two claps).
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Have fun pulling faces in the mirror and talking through what you are doing to make particular sounds.
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When your child makes a speech sound error, model back to them how the word should sound, e.g. if they say "deddy" you say back "Yes, the teddy".
