Speech Mistakes Can Be Cute…But Does My Child Need Support?

When children learn how to talk, speech errors are not only normal, but expected! Most children simplify tricky sounds or patterns as their speech develops. A toddler may say “tat” for cat or “poon” for spoon. These often adorable mistakes are typical in development and usually disappear as children grow.

But sometimes, children’s speech development does not follow the typical timeline or there are SO many errors that children are difficult to understand. In those cases, your child may have a phonological delay or disorder.

What is Phonological Delay or Disorder?

A phonological delay or disorder happens when a child’s speech sound system develops more slowly than expected, or when they continue to use immature sound patterns longer than other children their age.

Instead of just struggling to produce a few individual sounds (like “r” or “th”), children with phonological delays or disorders present with consistent patterns of errors that impact whole groups of sounds…

• Saying “tat” for cat, “doe” for go, or “tea” for key
• Saying “pane” for plane and “tar” for star
• Saying “duh” for duck and “buh” for bus

Because these speech errors impact entire sound classes, children with phonological delays or disorders may be harder to understand compared to their peers.

How is this Different from an Articulation Delay?

Great question! An articulation delay is when a child has trouble producing a specific sound (or two)…like not being able to say “l” correctly) while a phonological delay or disorder is when a child applies immature sound production rules to many sounds at once.

How is a Phonological Delay or Disorder Treated?

Here’s the good news: with the right support, children with phonological delays or disorders can make amazing progress!

Speech language pathologists, or SLPs, use evidence-based strategies tailored to each child. Common treatment approaches include:

• Auditory Bombardment: Helping children strengthen their awareness of how sounds should sound
• Minimal Pairs: Using pairs of words that differ by only one sound like key and tea to help children hear AND practice the difference
• Cycles Approach: Rotating through different sound errors and patterns in a structured way, given children repeated exposure AND practice

Therapy is always individualized, playful, and engaging because children learn best when they’re having fun!

When Should You Seek Help?

While every child develops at their own pace, there are developmental norms of when sounds are expected. You may want to consult an SLP if:

• Your child is over 3 and is difficult to understand
• Your child has many speech production errors
• Your child becomes frustrated when trying to communicate

Early support can make a BIG difference in your child’s confidence and communication skills.