Development speech norms:
Keep in mind that while there are 26 letters in the alphabet there are roughly 45 phonemes (sounds) in the English language that children must master.
|
2 years |
3 years |
4 years |
5 years |
6 years |
7 years |
|
h (hop) |
b (boat) |
d (dog) (dad) |
bl (blue) |
br (brown) |
sl (sleep) |
|
m (mom) |
g (go) |
f (fish) |
ch (chick) |
dr (drum) |
sp (spot) |
|
vowels *
|
k (cat) (cup) |
kw (quack) |
j (jump) |
fl (flower) |
(sw) swim |
|
|
n (no) |
|
l (leg) |
fr (free) |
th (that) |
|
|
p (pop) (pig) |
|
ng (sing) |
gl (glasses) |
|
|
|
t (toe) |
|
r (tiger) |
kl (clown) |
|
|
|
w (whee) (water) |
|
s (sun) |
kr (cry) |
|
|
|
|
|
sh (sheep) |
pl (plane) |
|
|
|
|
|
y (yellow) |
r (rat) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
st (stop) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
tr (train) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
v (van) |
|
*There are 14 different vowel sounds in our language. They are not important enough to go into detail. These are the easiest sounds to master. They are produced with an open mouth and do not require a lot of coordination. I have never treated a child for incorrect production of a vowel.
What is a phonological process? Don’t let the name scare you. A phonological process is something that happens to a normally developing child’s speech when they try to simplify the production of a sequence of sounds. However sometimes they are delayed and get stuck on a particular process or speech pattern and need help to overcome it. Here are some examples of the most common phonological processes.
|
name of process |
what it sounds like |
|
final consonant deletion leaving the last sound off |
bo for boat ca for cat do for dog |
|
initial consonant deletion leaving the first sound off |
oat for boat at for cat og for dog |
|
backing (of the tongue) substituting a k or g (back sounds) for a t or d (front sounds) |
cac for cat gog for dog cake for take bike for bite |
|
fronting (of the tongue) substituting a t or d (back sounds) for a k or g (front sounds) |
do for go tup for cup tat for cat dod for dog |
|
cluster reduction (a cluster is two consonant sounds next to each other) |
top for stop geen for green bue for blue |
|
gliding (substituting w for l and r) |
wing for ring wabbit for rabbit wook for look |