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An articulation disorder may be diagnosed when a child has trouble with articulation (saying words correctly).
Children should naturally use phonological (fuh-NOL-uh-jik-uhl) processes. Those are sound patterns that a child will use to make words. They might copy an adult’s word as close as they can but change a certain sound because they can’t say it yet.
It is normal for a child to use patterns like this. Most of the time, a child will outgrow the patterns they use when first learning to speak.
Doctors and speech pathologists (puh-THOL-uh-jists) use a timeline of development to measure your child’s speech. They can tell how far behind a child might be in their speech development.
Types of patterns that children use include:
Other speech problems might include slurring words or mumbling all the time. These problems may or may not be an articulation disorder.
Sometimes a child can only be understood by family. Sometimes even close family do not understand a child’s speech. Because it can be very hard on a child not to be understood, a speech problem can hurt their social life and school life.
In a child with an articulation disorder, their speech sounds different than it should.
They may add, leave off, or change some sounds. They might substitute the wrong sound (“wabbit” instead of “rabbit”). They might have trouble pronouncing words that start with two consonants, like “gr-” (“gass” instead of “grass”).
A doctor will use a timeline of development for a child’s speech that may look like this:
By age 8, they should be saying even these harder sounds correctly.
You should talk to your child’s doctor if your child is:
You should see your child’s doctor to decide if a speech therapist can help your child and to rule out other causes for the speech problem, such as apraxia [uh-PRAK-see-uh]. Apraxia is a disorder that happens because the brain doesn’t signal how to move the lips, tongue, and jaw correctly. This makes it difficult for children to form some sounds, syllables, and words.
What causes an articulation disorder in a child is often unknown. This type of disorder might run in families. Boys have the disorder more often than girls. Other risk factors might have to do with the size or income level of the child’s family.
Sometimes an articulation disorder can be caused by a physical problem, such as:
To diagnose an articulation disorder, a child will need to see a specialist such as a speech-language pathologist. The pathologist will talk with the child and ask them to say certain words or sentences. The child’s speech will be compared to what is expected at their age.
If a child makes more speech mistakes than is expected, they may need speech therapy.
Other tests might be given to rule out other problems or to find the cause of a child’s speech problem.
Tests that a specialist might use to diagnose an articulation disorder include:
Mild speech problems can go away with time. For severe speech problems that do not come from a physical problem, a child will need to begin speech therapy treatment.
A child’s speech therapist may start with a goal (such as learning to say “k” at the end of “book” or saying “r” at the beginning of “road”). That goal is determined by what sounds are hard for the child. The therapist will keep track of the child’s progress during therapy to know when that goal is met.
Therapy may help a child make the sound by showing them how to use their lips or tongue right. They will be given exercises to help pronounce letters and words.
Speech therapy can be done with just one child and the therapist or by a therapist with a group of kids. In group therapy, all children may do speech exercises together.
With treatment, it is possible to improve speech problems. Early treatment helps the most. Many children gain normal or close-to-normal speech with treatment.
An articulation [ahr-tik-yuh-LEY-shun] disorder may be diagnosed when a child has more trouble saying words correctly than they should for their age. It is normal for a child to use patterns when first learning to speak. These patterns are called phonological [fuh-NOL-uh-jik-uhl] processes. For instance, a child might have a pattern of using a “w” instead of an “r” at the start of words, and they would say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit.”
Most of the time, a child will outgrow the patterns they use. If a child keeps using the patterns they used when they were little to mimic adult speech, they may have an articulation disorder. Learn more about articulation disorders.