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Developmental Articulation Article by: A developmental articulation disorder involves the mispronunciation of speech sounds. Examples include lisping, for example, on the “s” sound, substituting “w” for “r”, etc. These are common childhood speaking errors, but by the age of 5 or 6, nearly all speech sounds have been learned by typically developing children. Some children do not learn sounds as quickly, and intervention by a speech-language pathologist becomes necessary. Children may produce
speech sounds incorrectly for a variety of reasons. I recall vividly
the fun my grandfather used to have asking us to say “three thirsty
thistles” with our front teeth missing. The normal processes
of development of the mouth and teeth, however, are usually not enough
to induce a developmental articulation disorder. There are two main
types of developmental articulation disorders, those that occur due
to a physical disability and those that occur in absence of a physical
disability (called organic and functional articulation disorders, respectively).
Functional articulation disorders are most common. In such cases, a
child frequently does not hear (or process) speech sounds correctly,
or he/she may not hear his/her own mispronunciations. Below is a chart of the typical order of speech sound mastery in children. Keep in mind, however, that children’s performances are very diverse, and each child is unique in his/her sound learning. However, if his/her peers are more accurate in their speech, or worse yet, if your child is being teased over his speech, trust your instincts and seek an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist.
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Organic articulation disorders occur due to some detectable abnormality. Examples
include hearing loss and cleft palate. Children with congenital (meaning
present at birth) hearing loss will have difficulty learning to speak;
their speech is imprecise, unusual in pitch, and nasal sounding. Children
with frequent middle ear infections (otitis media) may have similar difficulties
(secondary to transient hearing loss—hearing loss that is not permanent;
see section on otitis media). Children with a cleft palate (a hole in
the roof of the mouth) sound nasal because they have no tissue at the
top of their mouths to block the nasal cavities as normal speakers do.
Transient hearing loss is also common in these children due to middle
ear infections. Children with functional developmental articulation disorders,
in contrast, do not have any detectable physical abnormalities. They
have difficulty hearing sounds properly and/or producing sounds to match
adult speech. Children who hear sounds incorrectly or are unable to imitate
accurately tend to progress less quickly than those who can produce sounds
correctly with an adult’s example.