What are speech sound disorders and when should you be concerned about your child's speech?
Speech sound disorders include articulation problems (errors with pronouncing) as well as phonological problems (using immature sound patterns which affect groups of sounds). Causes of speech sound disorders include developmental delays, neurologic problems, and hearing loss. Sometimes speech sounds disorders are idiopathic (no cause is known). See the American Speech and Hearing Association for additional information.
Here is a general guideline for how intelligible (understandable) a child's speech should be:
Do adults ever have speech sound disorders?
Adults can have speech impairments due to persistent errors from childhood as well as acquired problems due to stroke, head injury or other neurologic conditions. In any of these cases, speech therapy can often be helpful in establishing improved speech skills.
Here is a general guideline for how intelligible (understandable) a child's speech should be:
- Age 2: 50% intelligible
- Age 3: 75% intelligible
- Age 4: 100% intelligible
Do adults ever have speech sound disorders?
Adults can have speech impairments due to persistent errors from childhood as well as acquired problems due to stroke, head injury or other neurologic conditions. In any of these cases, speech therapy can often be helpful in establishing improved speech skills.
