Speech Sound Acquisition - which sounds, and by what age

One of the most common questions SLPs get asked is whether or not a child should have _____ sound by _____ age.

And, believe it or not, there are actually charts that detail just that!

Here's a run down of articulation development. This list varies slightly, from researcher to researcher, and from SLP to SLP, based on which resources they are citing. But the general gist is the same everywhere, and there isn't too much variation when it comes to order of acquisition, and when intervention for sounds may be needed.

FIRST - INTELLIGIBILITY

Intelligibility is how easily understood a child is, especially by unfamiliar listeners.

By age 2, 50% of what a child says should be understood by others

By age 3, this number increases to 75% of what a child says

And by age 4, an unfamiliar listener should be able to understand 100% of what the child says

However, just because a child is intelligible, does not mean that they have all their sounds.

NEXT - SOUND DEVELOPMENT

Generally, we say 75% of children will have acquired the following sounds by the following ages -

Age 3 - h, y, w, ng, p, m, k, t, b, g, d

Age 4 - f, l, sh, ch

Age 5 - j, s, z

Age 6 - v

Age 7 - th

Age 8 - r

When we say a child has acquired a sound, this means they generally produce it correctly - and they do not substitute it with another sound, or eliminate it altogether - whether it be in the beginning of a word, the middle or a word, or the end of a word.

Sometimes, if a sound is there a few times, but not there other times, then this means that the sound may be emerging. In this case, waiting some months may give more clarity on whether the sound is acquired, or whether more help is needed.

LAST - WHEN TO SEE AN SLP

It is a good idea to see an SLP sooner than later, if you feel your child is struggling with producing a sound correctly (given, of course, the sound should have been acquired at the particular age your child is). This is because speech sounds are foundations for reading and writing. Often, if a child does not say the sound correctly, they may read and write it incorrectly as well.

It is also a good idea to see an SLP if you feel your child is not being understood - by you, or by people around them. This can be very frustrating for a child, and they may begin to feel embarrassed or self conscious if it continues. Gentle therapy is often better than constantly pointing out incorrect productions, or telling a child that they are difficult to understand.

Knowing which sounds a child should have is the first step to supporting with their speech and language development!

PS - Check out the "free stuff" tab on this website to access Smarter Speech's Speech Sound Acquisition Chart and more!. It's all this information, but in a nice, printer -friendly or mobile phone friendly format!

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.