Webster Therapy Center
Webster Therapy Center
Putting the Pieces Together
Putting the Pieces Together
Did You Know?
Did You Know?
Children who experience frequent ear infections when they are young are at risk for speech sound disorders if the ear infections were accompanied by hearing loss.
What is Speech?
What is Speech?
Your child may have trouble making sounds. He may substitute another sound, leave sounds out, add sounds, or change the sound. It can be hard for others to understand him.
It is normal for young children to say the wrong sounds. For example, your child may make a "w" sound for an "r" and say "wabbit" for "rabbit." He/she may leave sounds out of words, such as "nana" for "banana." This is okay when he/she is young. It may be a problem if he/she keeps making these mistakes as he/she gets older.
Adults may have speech problems that started when they were children. They may start to have problems saying sounds as an adult. They also may substitute, add, leave off, or change sounds.
Not every speech error is a problem. You and your child may sound different because you have an accent or dialect. This is not a speech sound disorder.
The chart below shows the age range for each speech sound.
- By 3 months:
Makes cooing sounds
- By 5 months:
Laughs and makes playful noises
- By 6 months:
Babbles with sounds like "puh," "mi," and "da"
- By 1 year:
Babbles longer strings of sounds, like “mimi,” “bababa,” and “upup”
- By 2 years:
Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n in words.
- By 3 years:
Says m, h, w. p, b, t, d, k, g. and f in words
- By 4 years:
Says "y" and "v" in words
May still have trouble with s, sh, ch, j, th, z, l, and r sounds