Speech Sound Disorders

Speech is how we say sounds and words. For clear speech, our lip, tongue, jaw and vocal tract muscles need to move in a precise and coordinated way.

A child with speech problems may have trouble saying sounds clearly, have a hoarse voice, repeat sounds or pause when speaking (stuttering). As children learn to talk, they may say some sounds wrongly. Children learn certain sounds like p, m, or w earlier and other sounds like v, r, or th later. A child may substitute one sound for another, leave sounds out, add sounds, or change a sound. For example, a child may substitute a “w” sound for an “r” and say “wabbit” for “rabbit” or leave sounds out of words, such as “nana” for “banana.”

 

These errors can make the child hard to understand but are normal when a child is young. Most children can be fully understood by 4 years old. A child who does not say sounds by the expected ages may have a speech sound disorder.

• a developmental disorder, like autism
• a genetic syndrome, like Down syndrome
• hearing loss, from ear infections or other causes
• being born early or low birth weight
• brain damage, like cerebral palsy or a head injury; or
• unknown causes