Speech Sound Therapy for children

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As children learn to speak, they generally make predictable patterns of sound ‘errors’. These patterns, called phonological processes, are typically gone by a certain expected timeline as children experiment with different sounds and become competent in pronouncing the specific sounds.

A "Speech Sound Disorder" or delay may be diagnosed when a child has difficulties producing different speech sounds clearly by an expected age and/or exhibits atypical patterns in speech errors (e.g., lisp). 

Signs and Symptoms that your child may need Speech Sound Therapy 

• Your child's speech is more difficult to understand as compared to his or her peers
• Your child’s teachers have commented that it is difficult to understand much of what your child is saying
• Your child has a limited sound repertoire or makes a number of pronunciation errors. Some examples include omitting of sounds (e.g., "cup" becomes "up") and syllables (e.g., "guitar" becomes "tar"), substitutions (e.g., "dog" sounds like "gog"), distortions (e.g., lateral lisp) and inconsistent errors (e.g., "cake’' sometimes sounds like "tate" or "take"). 
• Your child has difficulties with the articulation of certain sounds (e.g., 's')

If your child is having difficulties with articulation of sounds and words, consider seeking an in-depth speech evaluation from a speech therapist. The speech therapist can help to determine if your child's speech sound development is following an appropriate trajectory, advise on the type and severity of your child’s condition and recommend an individualized treatment plan accordingly. 

How do I know what kind of speech therapy program my child needs?

Following a speech sound assessment, your speech therapist would be able to recommend a suitable speech therapy program for your child. We emphasize on evidence-based treatments as a different diagnosis would require a specific speech therapy intervention. For example, your child may be recommended to go for "phonological therapy", "articulation therapy" or specific treatment programs for "childhood apraxia of speech". Your speech therapist would be able provide you with more information to guide you through the therapy process.