26/05/2024
What is typical speech sound development?
As your child is learning to say their speech sounds, they may make some errors along the way (such as saying “wed” for “red” and “teef” for “teeth”). Some of these sound errors are completely normal and will be gone when they start school. However, sometimes these speech sound errors may persist and make it difficult for you and others to understand your child. Generally speaking, your child should be able to be completely understood by anyone listening around the age of four.
When should you be concerned?
Is your child over the age of four and still hard to understand? Are they making more speech errors than their same-aged peers and get frustrated when people cannot understand them?
If you answered yes, your child may benefit from seeing a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP) to identify the issues and get recommendations. It can be overwhelming to try to do the best thing for your child and find the right professional to help your child, but don’t worry – you are not alone. In Australia, approximately 13% of our children have communication difficulties. And yes, this includes speech sound difficulties.
Where do you go from here?
If you have concerns about your child’s speech sound development, reach out and speak to a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)! Speech pathologists can support your child’s communication development as well as parents, other family members and educators throughout the journey. Speech pathologists will assess your child’s communication skills and provide evidence-based intervention based on their assessment results, so you can trust that your child is in the right hands! If further support is needed, speech pathologists can refer you to other professionals such as paediatricians, occupational therapists and psychologists who can also support your child’s development in a holistic way.
Visit www.talk2connect.com.au for more information!
Written by Maja Popovic, 2nd Year Master of Speech Pathology Student at UQ
