What Sounds Will We Work on in Speech Therapy?

If your child has multiple speech sound errors, how do you decide what to work on first?

1. The child’s age
2. The types of errors
3. The frequency of the sounds in the child’s language
4. Stimulability (e.g., whether the child can imitate the sounds)
5. Personal factors
6. Can’t we just work on all of them at the same time?

 

ANSWER: #1-5 and MORE

Learning to produce new speech sounds is hard work! Trying to work on too many things at once will make it more difficult for a child to master these new skills. Speech-language pathologists assess speech skills to understand the nature and severity of the child’s difficulties then prioritize what to work on first in therapy. The child’s age is a starting point, but it is also important to consider what will have the biggest impact on the child’s overall clarity. Some speech sounds occur more frequently than others (e.g., “r” is more common in English than “th”). Personal factors (like the sounds in the child’s name) should also be considered.

If you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills, call for a free phone consultation.