What are typical
speech sound errors?
When could they
become a problem?
Sometimes it can feel like children may be speaking in a different code. But with the right information you can discover the key to crack the code, and work out if your little one needs some help to take the next steps with their sounds.
Here are a list of some common speech sound error and when we would expect them to be gone by (in years ; months):
|
DIFFICULTY |
EXAMPLE |
GONE BY APPROXIMATELY |
| /p/ to /b/ | pig = big | 3;0 |
| /g/ to /k/ | pig = pick | 3;0 |
| Dropping off sounds at the end of words | comb = coe | 3;3 |
| /k/ to /t/
/g/ to /d/ |
car = tar gum = dum |
3;6 |
| reducing consonant clusters | spoon = poon train = chain clean = keen |
4;0 |
| /r/ to /w/
/l/ to /w/ /l/ to /y/ |
run = one leg = weg leg = yeg |
5;0 |
| /f/ to /t/ | fish = tish | 3;0 |
| /s/ to /d/ | soap = dope | 3;0 |
| /v/ to /b/ | very = berry | 3;6 |
| /z/ to /d/ | zoo = doo | 3;6 |
| /sh/ to /d/ | shop = dop | 4;6 |
| /j/ to /d/ | jump = dump | 4;6 |
| /ch/ to /t/ | chair = tare | 4;6 |
Do any of these errors patterns seem familiar? They are appropriate errors to have up until the ages provided in the table.
If your child is having difficulty getting rid of one or more of these errors past the appropriate age, a Speech Pathology assessment can determine the best therapy goals for your child’s individual needs.
Early intervention is great, but it is never too late to begin therapy to work on sounds to help your child be understood by everyone in their day to day environments!
