How Do I Know if my Child May Have a Speech/Sound Disorder?
- Your child cannot produce /p, b, m, n, h, w, t, d, k, g/ by 3-4 years of age.
- Your child cannot correctly say /f, v, r, l, s/ by 5-6 years of age.
- Your child isn’t 100% clear by 6.0 years of age or before entering Kindergarten.
- Your child confuses /t/ and /d/ for /k/ and /g/ past 3.0 years of age.
- Cannot produce /s/ and /l blends by 5.0 years of age (i.e., cool→school, boo→blue).
- Cannot say /sh/, /ch/, /j/, /zh/ by 5.0 years of age.
- Becomes very frustrated when others cannot understand him or her.
- Child has a history of chronic ear infections or hearing loss.
- Is unable to move his or her tongue in different positions with a model.
- Your child has difficulty saying multi syllabic words by 5.0 years (spaghetti, gymnastics)
You can help your child’s speech sound production by…
- When you’re in a store with your child, ask him or her to find as many products that include their target sound. For example, if your child is working on /s/ blends, he can find and say: “strawberries, spices, string cheese, snacks, and spaghetti.”
- Play iPad Apps with your child such as “Articulation Station.”
- Buy a child’s magazine and cut out all the pictures that contain the target sound. Make a collage of all the pictures and practice saying the sound.
- If your child is learning to read, highlight the target sound in your books at home. Have your child read outloud. This visual prompt will remind them to produce the sound correctly while reading.
- When you child is brushing her teeth, practice the sound in front of the mirror.
- Once your child is aware of the correct production of a target sound, try saying a word incorrectly to see if your child corrects you.
- Rather than saying comments such as: “What did you say?” or “Say that again” try repeating everything that you heard, omitting the word(s) that were unclear. (i.e., “It was who that came to the party?”)