Articulation and Phonology Disorders

At Arbor Psychology Group, we understand how important clear and effective communication is for your child’s development and confidence. Articulation and phonology delays and disorders can make it difficult for children to say words clearly and understand sound patterns within their language, impacting their ability to express themselves and be understood by others. Our dedicated team of pediatric speech therapists is here to provide expert support and personalized care for children facing these challenges.

What are Articulation and Phonology Disorders?

• Articulation Disorders: These involve difficulties in physically producing specific sounds. A child may substitute, omit, add, or distort specific speech sounds, making their speech unclear.
• Phonology Disorders: These relate to patterns of sound errors, such as simplifying more complex sounds combinations or substituting sounds incorrectly. These errors can affect entire classes of sounds, rather than individual sounds. For example, a child may leave the last sound off of most words (eg. “ba” for “ball”), or simplify a consonant cluster (eg. “tar” for “star”).

How can I tell if my child needs help with this?

Understanding typical milestones for articulation and phonology can help parents and caregivers identify if a child might need support in their speech intelligibility and development. Here are some key milestones for different age groups:

Birth to 1 Year

• Babies begin cooing around 2 months and babbling around 6 months, experimenting and babbling with different sounds.
• By their first birthday, many babies say their first word, often simple words like “mama” or “dada.”

1 to 2 Years

• Toddlers begin to produce a variety of consonant sounds in their words and babbling, including p, b, m, n, d, and h.
• Speech may not always be clear, and it is common for words to be simplified – for example, they may say “da” for “dog” or “ba” for “ball”.

2 to 3 Years

• Children should start using sounds they started saying between 1-2 years in more words and short phrases or sentences.
• Speech becomes more intelligible, with familiar listeners understanding about 50-75% of what they say.

3 to 4 Years

• Children typically master sounds like k, g, f, t, d, and n and can say them in many different words.
• Speech should be understood by unfamiliar listeners most of the time (80-90%).
• Children begin understanding and producing rhyming words.

4 to 5 Years

• Children improve in producing tougher sounds like s, z, v, sh, ch, and j. They tend to master sound blends at this time as well (ie. “cl-” “st-”)
• They begin to recognize and play with sounds within words, an early literacy skill. For example, they can recognize that “cat” and “car” both start with the same sound, and would know that switching the first sounds of those words to “b” would make “bat” and “bar”.

5 to 6 Years

• Most children can correctly produce the majority of sounds in all word positions, including th, r, and l.
• They continue refining their ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in words, aiding reading and spelling skills.
• Speech is fully intelligible to both familiar and unfamiliar listeners.

6 to 7 Years

• Children fine-tune their articulation, with minimal errors, typically mastering sounds such as s, l, and r in complex blends (eg. “str-” in “strength”).
• They can segment and blend sounds within words, a critical skill for reading and writing.

Note: While it is important to understand milestones and use them as a general guideline, it is essential to know that every child develops at their own pace. Through a formal evaluation, our SLPs can help you determine if they would benefit from a therapy program.