Does your child have a speech disorder?

Does your child have a speech disorder? It's important to be aware of the early signs says Pascal Van Lieshout, U of T professor and chair of the Speech Language Pathology department.

http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2015/11/23/how-to-determine-if-your-child-has-a-speech-disorder.html

The Process of Articulation therapy

The process of articulation therapy is systematic and based on the the speech language pathologist's assessment of a child's speech. See how Heidi Hanks, SLP clearly outlines the process in her blog: http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=687. Heidi's blog also provides free worksheets for speech practice at home!

4 Myths About Speech Problems In Children

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4 Myths About Speech Problems In Children: 

 1. Children grow out of speech problems  

      2. Speech problems are caused by tongue tie 

    3. Children who don't speak clearly are lazy

      4. Therapy for speech problems doesn't work

"My child's speech is hard to understand"

Intelligibility refers to the clarity of speech - how well it can be understood by others.  Typically, children in senior kindergarten are 100% intelligible. They can be understood almost all of the time by familiar and unfamiliar listeners.

Speech sound Development

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This chart presents data from Sander's article "When are speech sounds learned?" published in 1972 in the Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders.  The left side of the bar indicates when 50% of children have acquired a sound.  The right side of the bar indicates 90% of children have mastered the sound.