Speech and language: How to help with articulation

Articulation is the production of speech sounds in any language (i.e., how we shape and pronounce words). Articulation difficulties are common in young children and can be a part of normal development. However, there are instances where articulation difficulties are a sign that your child might need support from a speech-language pathologist (SLP).

The following are some factors to consider when determining if your child may benefit from a speech assessment for articulation.

1. Age of speech sound acquisition: Below are the ages children are expected to have near-perfect production of each sound. If your child is still having trouble with a sound past the ages listed below, or is not producing many sounds, it is a good idea to seek out an assessment with an SLP.
• Two to three years: p, b, m, d, n, h, t, k, g, w, ng, f, y
• Four years: l, j, ch, s, v, sh, z
• Five years: r, zh, th (voiced)
• Six years: th (voiceless)
2. Intelligibility: As a child’s vocabulary and language increase, they should be more easily understood by unfamiliar listeners (people who do not communicate with your child frequently). Below are the percentages of how much of your child’s speech should be understandable to an unfamiliar person. If your child is not meeting these milestones, it can be helpful to have an assessment with an SLP.
• One year: 25 per cent
• Two years: 50 per cent
• Three years: 75 per cent
• Four years: 100 per cent
3. Hearing: Hearing difficulty can impact a child’s ability to hear and produce speech sounds properly. If your child had frequent ear infections as a baby or toddler or they have been diagnosed with hearing loss, it is important to monitor their speech production.
4. Frustration: When your child is showing signs of frustration because they cannot be understood by others or cannot say what they want to say, a speech assessment is recommended.
5. Muscle tone: We use many different muscles in our face to speak. Children with low muscle tone might have more difficulty making speech sounds. Consult an SLP if your child appears to have muscle tone around the mouth, including the lips, tongue, cheeks, jaw (this may appear as drooling or open mouth posture even at rest), or has weak or slurred speech sounds.

How to encourage clear speech at home

1. Be face to face: Let your child see your mouth as you are speaking. Getting a visual model for how to say different sounds is one of the key ways children learn to produce new sounds.
2. Reflect and emphasize: When you notice your child making a speech error, reflect what they said back to them with added emphasis on the corrected sound. For example, if your child says “tat” when petting the pet cat, you can repeat with the corrected sound, “cat! Nice cat.” Adding a little stress to the sound in error will help your child to build their awareness of that sound.
3. Go slow: Model a slow, relaxed pace when speaking to your child. When we rush, we tend to make errors in our speech or trip up on sounds. When we speak more slowly, our sounds come out more clearly and accurately.
4. Read with sounds: If you notice your child struggling with a particular sound (e.g., lisping on ‘s’) or leaving off sounds at the ends of words (‘ba’ for ball), you can add extra stress to those sounds when reading together.
• For example, if you want to emphasize the sound ‘s’ while reading, make it a little louder and longer: “I see a ssstar!” “Wow, big star!”
• To emphasize the final sounds in words: “Oh no! It’s stuck!” “Hi, cat.”
• Point to the letters that make those sounds as you read, helping to highlight the letter-sound connection for your child.