Speaking Clearly: Navigating Children’s Speech Sound Errors

For parents, it is natural to be concerned about your child’s speech development. A child’s first words are eagerly awaited, and parents listen intently as their babies navigate the sounds of their language. As children develop and experiment with their voice it is expected that they will produce frequent errors early on. General rule of thumb is that by age 3, most children should be understood by unfamiliar listeners 75% of the time. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), by the age of 8, children should typically master all speech sounds in their native language. We can decipher between a speech sound disorder and typical developmental errors by considering a few key indicators:

1.  Age-appropriate errors: If a child continues to make repeated speech sound errors beyond the expected age of mastery for a sound, this may warrant intervention by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). For example, it is generally expected that by 2 years old children can produce the following sounds: /w/, /h/, /k/, /g/, /t/, /d/, /p/, /b/, /m/. 

2.  Consistency of errors: Unless there are errors with a child’s motor planning abilities, children with speech sound disorders often demonstrate consistent patterns of errors. For example, they may consistently substitute one sound for another (e.g., “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”).

3.  Impact on intelligibility: Consider how easily others can understand the child’s speech. Persistent errors that impact understanding may be indicative that your child would benefit from working with an SLP.

4.  Parental Intuition: Parents and caregivers typically have a strong sense of whether their child’s speech is progressing as expected. If you have concerns, please reach out to your local SLP for an evaluation.

Ultimately, speech sound errors are typical during a child’s development and acquisition of language. However, if you do have concerns regarding your child’s speech sound development, I would recommend checking out ASHA’s website for their description of the speech sounds that are expected to be mastered by your child’s age. Additionally, I would recommend reaching out to a speech-language pathologist for an evaluation as early intervention can make a significant difference in breaking habits related to speech sound production errors.