What is a speech sound disorder? A speech sound disorder occurs when children have difficulties producing sounds within their speech, making it difficult for others to understand them. This often results in the need for speech therapy services to ensure your child can effectively communicate with those around them. During speech therapy, a licensed speech-language pathologist will assess your child’s ability to produce specific sounds and determine next steps.
Speech therapy for children with a speech sound disorder may be play-based, drill-based, or a combination of both. Each speech sound will also be targeted in isolation, at the syllable level, word level, phrase level, sentence level, story level, and conversational level. Regardless of the style of therapy that best fits a child’s needs, there will be initial teaching trials to accurately produce each speech sound. Typically, a child has mastered the following speech sounds by age 2-3 years: /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/.
Here are some tips/tricks for teaching a child each early developing consonant:
- /p/: Initially, explain that /p/ is a ‘lip sound’ and show the child how both lips come together and then pop apart. Use a mirror so they can watch their lips and yours. Emphasize that the voice is off (no buzzing in the throat). Additionally, it may be beneficial to use the ‘tissue trick’ by holding a tissue in front of the child’s mouth and producing /p/; the tissue should move due to the puff of air during the child’s production.
- /b/: Teaching the consonant /b/ requires the same steps as teaching /p/, except there is emphasis on the voice being turned on. Have the child touch their neck and feel the ‘buzz’ during their production. You may also use the ‘tissue trick’ by holding a tissue in front of the child’s mouth and producing /b/; this time, the tissue should not move as drastically due to the sound being produced with their ‘voice on.’
- /m/: Explain that /m/ is a ‘lip sound’ and a ‘humming sound.’ Have the child look in a mirror and show them how to put their lips together gently. Turn the voice on and make a long ‘mmmmmm’ sound. Tactile cues, such as rubbing your hand on your belly to imitate a ‘mmm’ sound when you eat yummy food, may also be beneficial.
- /n/: Explain that /n/ is a ‘nose sound’ and the tongue touches the spot right behind the top front teeth. Use a mirror to show the child where their tongue should be. After tongue placement has been established, have them place a finger under their nose, remind them to turn their voice on, and feel the air coming out of their nose.
- /t/: Explain that /t/ is made using your tongue, and the tongue touches the spot right behind the top teeth and pops down quickly. Use a mirror, so the child can see where their tongue should be placed and watch the quick downward motion of the tongue. Emphasize that the voice is off (no buzzing in the throat).
- /d/: Teaching the consonant /d/ requires the same steps as teaching /t/, except there is emphasis on the voice being turned on. Use a mirror to watch tongue placement and have the child place their hand on their neck to feel the ‘buzz.’