Strong speech and language skills are the foundation in a child's development in learning to read and write.

A speech sound disorder occurs when mistakes continue past a certain age. Every sound has a different range of ages when the child should make the sound correctly. Speech sound disorders include problems with articulation (making sounds) and phonological processes (sound patterns). Common sound errors that are seen in elementary school are /K/, /G/, /S/, /R/, /L/, /TH/, /SH/, and /CH/.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.

Adapted from American Speech-Language Hearing Association website, 2015.

Internet Links:

Articulation Worksheets for Home Practice

Articulation Practice in the Car