FAQ Friday: Articulation

Happy Friday everyone!  I’ve had a crazy busy first week of school.  I’m sure you know how that goes.     Gotta love figuring out schedules, finding transfer students, and attending meetings galore.  Ha.

It’s FAQ time!  Today’s question is one I get asked often.  It’s probably my most common question I get asked by friends and parents.

Sometimes, I admit, it’s cute when kids mispronounce words.  I had one little one that would always ask me to “peel” her muscles.  Lol.  However, it probably would not be so cute if a nine year old was asking me the same thing.

Parents often want to know if their child’s articulation skills are “normal” or developmentally appropriate.  You see, as SLPs it’s part of our job to know what sounds are typically mastered at what ages.  There have been extensive studies done to determine this.  Most of the studies show a range in which the sounds are developed.

This chart is from NONA Child Development center.  The beginning of the bars represent when children begin to say the sound, and the end of the bars represent when most children should have mastered the sound.

This one is by Mommy Speech Therapy and is broken down into initial, medial, and final positions and based on the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation – 2.  

Visit the Mommy Speech Therapy site to download a free copy of your own.

And THIS one includes a break down of boys vs girls sound development.

After researching quite a bit, it looks like several mastery charts show something different.  There seem to be several discrepancies in the studies that I’ve looked at, especially on the sounds /s, r, v, j, sh, ch/.  This goes to show that every child is so different, so these charts should be looked at more as guidelines than absolutes.

Anyway, I made my own cutesie chart to help give a general guideline to what sounds are mastered at what ages.  I hang this in my speech room for my own reference.

If you or others are having trouble understanding your child, it’d probably be a good idea to schedule a screening by your local SLP, especially if it isn’t clear which sounds he can produce and which he can’t.  They would most likely be able to tell you if your child’s speech is developing appropriately.  🙂