Speech difficulties

What is a Speech Sound Difficulty?

Some children have difficulties saying speech sounds, which can make them harder to understand. They may have a speech sound delay or Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). There are different types of SSD. A speech and Language Therapist will be able to diagnose a SSD and provide advice on how to support individual children.  Around 12 every 100 children will have a SSD.  

A speech sound difficulty is a problem saying sounds correctly in spoken words.

Children may do some or all of the following:

  • miss off sounds in words e.g. say “du” for duck or “ig” for pig
  • replace sounds in words e.g. say: “tar” for car, “dun” for sun, “bee” for pea
  • have a very limited amount of sounds they can say correctly in words. This can cause them to use one sound they can say in place of many other sounds, e.g. say ‘d’ in place of ‘f’ ‘s’ ‘k’ ‘j’.

Just over half of children with speech difficulties have a phonological delay or disorder. This means the child can say a sound on its own but not correctly in a word. They might replace the sound with a different sound or miss the sound off completely. For example, they might be able to say ‘s’ on its own but replace it with ‘t’ in a word so a word like sea would be said as “tea”.

Some children have difficulty making the correct movements with their lips or tongue for certain speech sounds. The child might not be able to say the sound at all, or they may say the sound inaccurately. For example, their ‘s’ sound might sound ‘slushy’. This is known as an articulation difficulty.

 

What causes a Speech Sound Difficulty?

The cause of speech difficulty is not always known but it can more likely occur in children who have:

  • A family history of speech, language, communication and literacy difficulties.
  • A delay or difficulties with listening, attention and/or language skills.
  •  Hearing difficulties.
  • Velopharyngeal dysfunction, including cleft palate or lip.
  • Difficulties with planning and coordinating th lips, tongue and jaw when speaking. This is known as ‘Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and is very rare, occurring in only 1 in every 1,000 children.
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Downs Syndrome
  • DiGeorge syndrome (22q11 deletion)

 

What can I do to help a child or young person with a Speech Sound Difficulty?

  • Provide a good model of speech by making sure you are not speaking too quickly.
  • Provide lots of opportunities for the child to see your face when you are talking. They will learn a lot from seeing how you say sounds and words.
  • Model accurate speech back to the child. Avoid asking them to correct themselves or ‘say it properly’ e.g. child: “dar”, adult: “yes it’s a car”.
  • Give praise for their attempts at speaking.  Respond to what they say, rather than how they say it.
  • If you do not understand what the child or young person is saying do not pretend to. Ask them to say it again.  If you still do not understand, tell the child that you really want to work out what they are saying. Ask if them if they can show you something to help. Encourage them to:
  • Use different words to get their meaning across.
  • Use gestures. The adult can support, model and encourage this e.g. ‘Is it big?’ – adult models a gesture for this.
  • Use objects, pictures and/or simple drawings.
  • Confirm what you think the child or young person has said, e.g. “did you say……?” or “I think you said…….am I right?” 
  • Model sounds during play e.g. “pop pop pop” (blowing bubbles), “b, b, b” (bouncing a ball), “ssss” (when you see a snake), “brum” (car), “choo choo” (train), “nee naw” (emergency vehicle), “mmmmmm” (when eating), animal noises (books), “woooo” (wind), “shhhhhh”(when putting teddies and dolls to bed), “bang bang” (drum, banging), “weeeeeee” (on a swing, slide).
  • Sing simple songs and read simple books together. 

 

If you have concerns about a child’s speech you can:

  • Attend a local drop-in advice session if the child is of preschool age.
  • Contact the child’s school and ask to speak with the school Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo) who can then seek advice from the Link Speech and Language Therapist attached to the school.
General advice and information