Speech Sound (Articulation) Disorders |
About the condition
Articulation Development
Generally, children learn to produce different speech sounds gradually. Below is a general guide of speech sound development (consonant sounds):
- At 2 years: p, m, h, n, b, w, y, d
- At 3 years: t, k, g, f, ng
- At 4-5 years: sh, s, j, ch, l, r, z
- At 6 years and above: v, th, st, sp, sl, and other groups of consonant blends.
All children make predictable pronunciation errors when they learn to talk like adults.
- Generally, by 18 months, a child’s speech is normally clear 25% of the time.
- By 24 months a child’s speech is normally clear 50-75% of the time. By 36 months a child’s speech is normally clear 75-100% of the time.
Speech Sound (Articulation) Disorders are conditions where a child’s articulation/pronunciation is delayed or deviant from normal speech sound development.
There are five speech sound disorders that children may encounter:
1) Organic Speech Sound Disorder
Articulation problems that are associated with structural abnormalities/known impairments such as cleft lip and ate, tongue-tie, hearing impairment, brain injury, etc.
2) Functional Speech Disorders
Difficulties in learning to make specific speech sounds
3) Developmental Phonological Disorders
Disorders that affect the child’s ability to develop easily understood speech patterns
4) Developmental Apraxia of Speech
Difficulties planning oral movements to produce speech sounds
5) Developmental Dysarthria
Motor speech disorder involving problems with strength and control of the speech musculature. Dysarthria is typically seen in cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, etc.
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What causes it
The precise causes for Functional Speech Disorders, Developmental Phonological Disorders and Developmental Apraxia of Speech are unknown.
Developmental Dysarthria is caused by impaired nerve and muscle function.
Some conditions such as cleft palate, hearing impairment, certain syndromes, tongue-tie, paediatric stroke, etc will affect children’s clarity of speech.
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Diagnosis and Treatment Options
A child with unclear speech needs to be carefully assessed by a speech therapist to find out what type of speech disorders he/she has.
Other medical/allied health professional might need to be involved in the assessment and management as well.
Each speech disorder receives a different type of treatment, and each treatment programme is individually tailored to the needs of the particular child.
Parents play an important role in the therapy process by doing follow up therapy/activities/work at home to ensure that the child will benefit from therapy.
Please obtain an appointment at the Child Development Unit for consultation with your developmental paediatrician.
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