Articulation is the ability to make sounds clearly and develops gradually over the first 8 years of life. Children learn correct sound pronunciation by listening and imitating appropriate speech role models.

When should I be concerned about my child’s articulation?

Therapists are not typically concerned with a child’s articulation until they reach the age of 3.   Younger children are expected to make quite a few articulation errors and substitutions. By age 3 a child should have at least 200 spoken words, using 3-5 word phrases and be understood at least 80% of the time by parents. By age 4 a child should be 100% intelligible to parents and strangers even if they continue to have some articulation errors.   Speak to a licensed speech pathologist if you are concerned with your child’s articulation or intelligibility.

What sounds do children learn to produce first and in what order?

Most children are able to produce the bilabial sounds (made with the lips) of “b, p, m, w” first since these are sounds are visible on the lips. They may also produce sounds such as “d, n, t” early on as well. By the age of 8 all children should have a mastery of all speech sounds.

General Guideline for Sound Production

3-4 years: p, b, m, w, h and all vowels
5-6 years: d, t, n, g, k, f, y, ng
7-8 years: r, l, s, ch, sh, z, j, v, th, sh

How do you treat an articulation disorder?

Articulation treatment is provided by a licensed speech pathologist and may involve demonstrating how to produce a sound correctly, learning to recognize which sounds are correct and incorrect, and practicing sounds in different words.

Sources: ASHA, Hearing Speech & Deafness Center.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

• Create a sentence length of 4-5 words
• Use past tense correctly
• Have a spoken vocabulary of about 1,500 words
• Know all their colors: red, blue, yellow and green
• Identify shapes: triangles, circles, diamonds, stars and squares
• Can speak of imaginary conditions such as “I hope” or “I wish”
• Ask a lot of  “who?” and “why?”

Parenting Tips for Speech Skills

Suggested play to help a toddler between 4 and 5 years develop its speech skills:

• What does it feel like? Pet a dog, a turtle, a cotton ball and talk about how it feels.
• Go outside and look at the clouds.  What shapes do you have?
• End the day on a happy note. Every night when your tuck your toddler in bed, ask “What was the best part about today?” Ask questions to encourage your child to tell you more. Then tell him/her the best moment of your day.
• Have your child help you in the office.  Putting on address labels and stamps, or helping you organize some of your files.  They always want to help.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

• Can tell or make up a story
• Have an average sentence length of 4-5 words
• Have a spoken vocabulary of about 1,000 words
• Can name at least one color
• Understand the concept of “yesterday,” “summer”, “lunchtime”, “tonight”, “little-big”
• Can follow 2-step commands
• Know his/her middle and last name.  Also know the name of their home street.

Parenting Tips for Speech Skills

Suggested play to help a toddler between 3 and 4 years develop its speech skills:

• Ask inquisitive questions.  For example: Where do bunnies live?  When do owls sleep?
• Art work.  Have your child create birthday cards or holiday (Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, etc) cards for relatives and friends so they get an understanding of holidays but also exercising their artistic muscles.
• Become an editor.  Have your child tell a story, you write it down and make it into a book!
• Play Simon Says. See how long you can go!

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

• Have a vocabulary of 50+ words
• Answer questions
• Refer to self as “I” or “me”
• Combine nouns and verbs “mommy go”
• Answer “where” questions

In speech development, most 3-year-olds can:

• Pretend play with dolls or toys and add “speech”
• Ask “what’s that?” And “where’s my?”
• Use 2-word negative phrases such as “no want”
• Begin forming some plurals by adding “s”: book, books
• Have a vocabulary of 450 words
• Give first name and can hold up fingers to tell age
• Try to get adult attention: “watch me”
• Talk to other children
• Name common pictures and things
• Use short sentences like “me want cookie” or “I want juice”
• Be understood 80% of the time by strangers
• Repeat 5-word sentences

Parenting Tips for Speech Skills

Suggested play to help with toddler speech development between 2 and 3:

• Take field trips. Take a bus to a different part of town, walk by the big buildings, then sit on a bench and watch the buses and trucks drive by.
• Make a photo album. Fill this book with pictures of people and pets that your child knows. Ask him/her to tell you a little bit about the people or pets that he/she sees.
• Play the forgetful game.  On your way out of the house say, “Oh no, Where are my keys?” Your child will enjoy telling you. The sillier you are makes this even better!
• When reading a book, take the time to stop and ask questions. Ask your toddler what they think will happen next.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

• Can use 10-15 words
• Attempt to sing songs (ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, Row Your Boat)
• Say “No” with meaning
• Point to express needs
• Can name at least 1 or 2 familiar objects

In speech development, most 2-year-olds can:

• Understand “no” or “stop”
• Most can use 10 to 20 words, including names of familiar people
• Begin to combine two words such as “daddy bye-bye” (not phrases, but combos they come up with)
• Make the “sounds” of familiar animals (moo for cow, hoot for owls)  Some children may even replace the name of the animal with the animal sound.  Children usually grow out of it by age 3.
• Give a toy when asked
• Use words such as “more” or “juice”
• Point to his or her toes, eyes, and nose – Can at least name 5 body parts
• Bring objects from another room when asked
• Repeat up to 4 word phrases
• Will attempt to sing using words
• Refer to self by name
• Is intelligible about 50% of the time to strangers, and more for parents
• Identify pictures using words

Parenting Tips for Speech Skills

Suggested play to help a baby between 12 and 24 months develop its speech skills:

• Clap to the beat. Clap and move to the rhythm to help them identify rhythms to speech and music. Give him/her a variety of music to listen to
• Practice small sentences – “I want juice”.  “More, please”  “I love Mama”
• Fun play.  Pretend to be a farm animal and use the sounds so they can practice.  Even making animal sounds helps them practice using their facial muscles.
• What did we see? When you get home from the park or running errands, start talking about something you saw, it can be helpful to explain what you saw to another person. “Tell Grandma about the fire engine we saw.”
• Play the help me game. Asking your baby to help you throughout the day helps it connect more words. When you are getting dressed, point to your shoes and say, “Help Mommy, pick up her shoes”
• When you are giving your baby a bath, name all of the body parts as you wash them.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

• Recognize name (turns head towards your voice)
• Say “mama” and “dada” (nonspecifically) and 2-3 words besides “mama” and “dada” (mama and dada is typically the basic words that speech therapist look out for when performing evaluations)
• Recognize words as symbols for objects: car points to garage, cat meows
• Babble single consonants
• Waves hi and bye
• Demonstrate an understanding of some words by gesturing or pointing

Parenting Tips for Speech Skills:

Around eight months, you’ll notice your baby has a lot to say. He or she will play with sounds like “ba ba ba,” as well as know that “dada” means Dad.

• Explain your outings.  When your driving, point the trees or other cars.  Remember to talk to him/her about what he/she is seeing. “Look at the fire trucks.  Look at the kids waiting for the school bus.”
• Practice simple directions. Ask them to feed you food.  “Give mommy a Cheerio”  “Drink some more juice!”
• Walk in the room where Daddy or a familiar object or person is and ask “Where’s Daddy?”  “Where’s your Bear?”
• Eliminate background noise, like the TV.  These noises make it harder for them to hear sounds like birds chirping outside and your words.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Find Early Intervention Support contacts in your State.

My son started at 23 months of age and I’m slowly documenting what he’s learned or been taught at each speech therapy session.   I hope it’s helpful to parents.

First 5 Weeks:

• Learn simple sign language commands (i.e. please, want, more, help, again)
• Have child watch Baby Babble or Signing Times
• Have child eat chewier type foods or drink smoothies to increase muscle tone in jaw (i.e. small pieces of chicken or steak, raw carrots, etc.)
• After some practice and coaxing, get child to think of words on their own, instead of saying the word and having them repeat it after you
• Use apps to build vocabulary in a fun way, here’s a small list of speech therapy recommended iPad apps
• Brush your child’s tongue with a toothbrush to get them more self aware of their mouth and tongue sensations
• Work on getting your child to know their body parts – Try games like Simon Says for the whole family to play.  This worked for my son.  He learned all his body parts in 1 week!

Week 6:

• Encourage him to talk by waiting for him to ask for things.  Such as when he needs help, wait till he asks, or calls my name.
• Work on naming his clothes
• Work on him naming his animals by using repetition heavily.

Week 7 through 8:

• Work on Colors. Use M&Ms and packaging for him to ask for M&Ms. He can point to red for red m&ms, then get him to say “red”. Repeat for other colors.
• Work on combining 2 words, such as “eat rice” or “mommy more”
• Work on using the words “I”, “me”, “you”

Week 8 through 14:

• Work on words, such “inside”, “outside”, “on top”, “bottom”,
• Work on using his/her own name
• Pointing to family members in albums and naming them
• Work on the word “love”
• Reinforce colors – pink, blue, yellow, red, purple.  Have him/her recognize at least a couple before age 3
• Begin 2 word combos.  Aim for 3 word combos.  “Daddy loves Mommy”

Page maintained by Susan Suarez

	Monkey Lunchbox - The #1 preschool game in the app store. Learn and have fun by helping monkeys pack lunch! Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a collection of six exciting educational games for your preschooler (ages 2 to 5)
	Splingo Language - **Mentioned by the American Speech-Langugage-Hearing Association in their article 'Apps: An Emerging Tool for SLPs'**
	Preposition Builder - PrepositionBuilder™ is designed to help elementary aged children learn the correct use of prepositions and learn how prepositions can change the meaning of a sentence.
	Preposition Remix - Prepositions Remix was designed by a Speech Pathologist to help children learn prepositions while playing and having fun. Prepositions Remix provides practice with 20 of English most commons propositions.
	Fun & Functional - Fun & Functional is an application developed by author and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) Rosie Simms to improve language comprehension and expression in individuals of all age groups.
	Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flash Cards - Every letter is a unique, interactive toy. Play the xylophone on the 'X' card, make the 'Dinosaur roar, 'Zip the Zipper, etc! It is a hands-on, memorable learning experience for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers!
	Preschool Connect the Dots - For kids 2 to 6 years old - (Easy/Normal/Hard Mode) Children can "tap" or "draw" to connect sequential numbers (123), upper case letters (ABC), and lower case letters (abc). Joining all the dots forms the outline of the shape and reveals the beautifully illustrated image, a really fun sound effect, and the object name spoken by a speech therapist that specializes in early childhood development!
	Pre-K Letters and Numbers - Ranked Top 25 Educational Games iTunes App Store - New & Noteworthy
	iLuv Drawing Animals - Learn how to draw 40 animals - Letting you explore your artistic side and learning to draw animals has never been easier!
	Go Go Mongo! - A hilarious way to get your kids to focus on eating right
	Phonics Silly Sentences - Phonics Silly Sentences provides fun activities that introduce vowel sounds and their letter combinations. The activities will help kids identify short vowels. We also have advanced application for the long vowels. Through the flash cards, matching, games, and silly sentences, the kids will received a lots of practice distinguishing between the different vowel sounds.
	Word SlapPs - Word SlapPs is used to teach vocabulary words specific to your child’s world with images that you choose. Upload and save your images into customizable categories and pair them with your own recorded questions.
	Pirate Scribblebeard's Treasure with Oscar & Josephine - Join Oscar, Josephine and Pirate Scribblebeard in this groundbreaking interactive, animated, drawing app for kids that encourages creativity
	Toca Tea Party - Invite your friends to a tea party around your iPad! Set the table, choose your favorite cookies and cakes, serve the tea and you’re good to go! Simply eat and drink with your finger! With Toca Tea Party, you can play together with your kids in a way that stimulates their imagination.
	Toca Doctor - Let your kids be a doctor for a day! Examine a patient and solve fun puzzles and mini-games that take place in the human body. Beautiful artwork and fun sounds guides your kids through 21 different puzzles!
	Peekaboo Barn Lite - Work with your child to learn the names of animals and hear the sounds they make! Younger children will love opening the barn doors to find a new animal animation, as they learn about cause and effect and become familiar with animal names and sounds.
	Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flash Cards - Every letter is a unique, interactive toy! Play the xylophone on the 'X' card, make the 'D'inosaur roar, 'Z'ip the Zipper, etc! It is a hands-on, memorable learning experience for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers!
	Injini - Child Development - Developed by experts and endorsed by parents and teachers, Injini’s collection of learning games offers meaningful play to young children, especially toddlers and preschoolers with cognitive, language, and fine motor delays. The games contain an extraordinary wealth of content: 10 feature games with 90 puzzles, over 100 beautiful illustrations, 8 farm-themed mini-games and more. Injini is ideally suited for early intervention
	Letters A to Z for the iPad from True Learning - Letters A to Z is a captivating set of animated flashcards designed to help toddlers and preschoolers learn the letters of the English alphabet in a fun and engaging way.
	Wheels on the Bus HD - Created by parents, Wheels on the Bus is a fun, interactive musical book, based on the popular children's song. Come aboard the bus to spin the wheels, open and close the doors, swish the wipers, pop some bubbles, make a dog bark, and much more! 2010 Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner - Parents’ Choice Foundation
	Baa Baa Black Sheep - Created by parents, “Baa Baa Black Sheep – by Duck Duck Moose” is a modern take on two classic children’s songs: Baa Baa Black Sheep and Row Your Boat.
	Old MacDonald - Created by parents, “Old MacDonald – by Duck Duck Moose” is a musical book with 12 colorful pages of fully interactive, original illustrations. Delight your children while encouraging cognitive, language, and motor development
	Kids Song Machine HD + 10 songs - KIDS SONG MACHINE is specially designed for young children, where they can sing and learn the song lyrics, with interactive animations by simply touching the screen.
	Itsy Bitsy Spider HD - The app is like an interactive movie, panning to a different scene each time you poke the spider. A friendly tutor (a fly!) teaches your child about nature and the environment.
	Sesame Street: The Playground - Come with Elmo as he explores Sesame Street, meeting old friends, learning about the neighborhood, and looking for the little lost puppy.
	Toca Kitchen - Toca Kitchen is not a game - it's a toy where you and your kids get to explore cooking. What happens if you mix a carrot and then fry it? Will the cat like it? And what is the bull's favorite food? Toca Kitchen supports free play for all ages and is a great way to use your imagination.
	Grover's Farm - When Elmo sees a little black puppy on Sesame Street, he wants to find it a home – but first he has to catch it!. Come with Elmo as he explores Sesame Street, meeting old friends, learning about the neighborhood, and looking for the little lost puppy.
	ClickySticky - Your kids will have a blast using their imaginations with this fun new animated sticker book app. Watch your kids interact with fun characters while learning about fish, airplanes and many animals.
	Zanny - Born to Run - Award-winning writer Pamela Sloane-Bradbury and veteran cartoonist Allison Garwood created these fun, witty, picture books as a way of helping children with limitations understand their behavior better in a positive and engaging way while boosting their self-esteem.
	Magic Piano - Create your own music or enjoy the app’s 45 free classic and popular tunes. No practice or patience required!
	The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook - This fully-animated, interactive version of The Three Little Pigs fairy tale is unlike any printed picture book, or even any storybook app, and will dazzle children aged 3 and up
	Tiga Talk Speech Therapy - "Tiga Talk Speech Therapy Games", developed with licensed speech and language pathologists, is a fun way for children to develop speech sounds through playful voice-controlled games that can improve speech clarity, articulation, and instill confidence.
	Murky Reef - Murky Reef is unique in seamlessly blending reading, science, language arts, math and critical thinking skills with interactive and engaging game play ALL in one app!
	Speech with Milo - “Speech with Milo” apps were created by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, and have been downloaded over 50,000 times. "Speech with Milo: Verbs" was created as a versatile and entertaining speech therapy tool for children.
	Monkey and the Crocodile - Ranked #2 and #3 in Top Paid Education Apps in Indian App Store - Niyaa brings to you classic bilingual Indian folk tales that have been retold by generations and are packed with ancient wisdom
	Animal Train - This app is ideal for toddlers just beginning to recognize animal pictures. Children will love the ADORABLE ILLUSTRATIONS and REALISTIC SOUNDS!
	Splish Splash Inn - It's a great way to help toddlers and pre-schoolers on the pre-math skill of connecting numbers to actual quantities. Named one of "Top 10 iPhone Apps for Infants" by Geekasms & Named one of "Top 5 Educational Preschool Apps" by Modern Mom.
	Tallys Tots - The interactive counting game that turns numbers into action. And learning into a whole lot of fun. Whether they’re feeding chipmunks, picking apples or racing cars around the track, they’ll learn how to count from one to 20, with plenty of fun and laughter to keep you both entertained.
	Elmo's Monster Make - Choose a monster body and touch its face to give it eyes, nose and a hat—there are lots and lots and lots to choose from. 2010 Parents' Choice Silver Honors Award Winner

Speech Therapy Apps for Android

	Monkey Preschool Lunchbox - Short educational games appropriate for preschoolers (age 2 to 5) teach kids about colors, letters, counting, shapes, differences, and matching
	Five Little Monkeys - Musical counting game based on the popular rhyme. Designed for toddlers and preschoolers 1 year and older.

Page maintained by Susan Suarez

Other important health resource:
Best Kids Apps

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
1509 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 800-424-2460
Web: www.naeyc.org

Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)
4156 Library Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15234
Phone: 412-341-1515, 412-341-8011 or 888-300, 6710
Web: www.ldanatl.org

Girls and Boys Town
13603 Flanagan Boulevard
Omaha, NE 68010
Phone hot line: 800-448-3000
Web: www.girlsandboystown.org

More Information About Speech Therapy
Early Intervention Speech Therapy – Speech Therapy Pediatrics
Speech Therapy Evaluation

A speech therapy evaluation can be an anxious time for the parents but in realization, most of the time it’s not a difficult experience for the child.  When a child experiences difficulty understanding and using language, a speech language pathologist will attempt to diagnose the issue by playing with the child using a variety of toys or puzzles to encourage interaction between the therapist and child.

After receiving a recommendation or finding a therapy center to evaluate your child, you will need to set an appointment with the center so that forms can be sent to your house to prepare for your meeting.  The parent will need to answer questions about the child’s medical history, including your child’s birth, frequency of ear infections, milestones, etc.  A short telephone interview may be included prior to the evaluation.

The speech evaluation is held at the therapy center, or if you request it can be done at your home.  The Speech-Language Pathologist will then assess the child and complete a developmental checklist based on observations and parent interview.  If possible, the therapist will try to get a speech sample during these interactions to examine oral motor capabilities.

A former report will be drafted following the speech evaluation, including recommendations whether if the therapy is needed, how many days per week the child should attend therapy and how long each therapy session should last.  The report will also include some measurable goals and will be mailed to you in about a couple weeks for you to keep.

You will be able to consult with the therapist about the outlook on your child’s future, review goals carefully and discuss what you feel is important for your child to learn.  Your child may qualify for an early intervention program or you may request to have she or he placed in a different program but you may need to check with your insurance company, if the state does not cover that facility.

It’s important to note that early intervention speech therapy can make a big difference in the outcome of a child’s speech development.

Speech Skills by Age Group

• Speech Skills 8 to 12 Months
• Speech Skills 12 to 24 Months
• Speech Skills 24 to 36 Months
• Speech Skills 36 to 48 Months
• Speech Skills 48 to 60 Months
• Articulation FAQ

Page maintained by Susan Suarez