When are Speech Sounds Developed?
Posted by Heidi | Filed under Early Language Development, Improving Articulation
One of my jobs as a speech language pathologist is to know when a speech error is developmental or non-developmental. Developmental, meaning it is an appropriate error based on the child’s age, or non-developmental, which would then need to be addressed in speech therapy.
One way of figuring out if a speech error is developmental or not is
by using what are called “sound acquisition norms” or “speech sound
norms”. Speech sound norms are tools that speech language pathologists
(SLP’s) use to help guide them in determining which errors are
developmentally appropriate and which errors are not. There are
multiple speech sound norms that are currently being used by SLP’s all
around the world.
The criticism these speech sound norms receive is that they are not
consistent with one another. In an online conference on the “Confusion About Speech Sound Norms and Their Use”
given by Gregory L. Lof, Ph.D.,CCC-SLP in 2004 he asks the question,
“Do we know when speech sounds are learned?” He then compares some of
the classic sets of speech sound norms that have been used by SLP’s for
years including Sander (1972), Prather, Hedrick, & Kern (1975), and
Templin (1957). He also includes more recent norms like Smit et al.
(1990), and Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation (2000). His findings
revealed large discrepancies from one set of norms to the next. For
example in his study, the /t/ sound is mastered at the age of 2 years 6
months in one set of norms, in another 3 years, in another 3 years 6
months, in another 4 years and in another 6 years old. He concluded
that we don’t really know at exactly what age sounds are mastered.
On the other hand, without studies done to determine speech norms and
tests like the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation, which is a
standardized test developed to determine percentiles and age
equivalents, I don’t know how we would be able to measure a child’s
progress compared with their peers. While all the studies on the
acquisition of sounds may not agree on exactly what age a child masters a
particular sound I believe they give us very useful information on what
sounds are typically developed within the first 2-3 years, what sounds
may not be fully developed until 4-5 years and what sounds we may expect
to be as late to develop as 6 or 7 years.
The reason I felt compelled to write a post about speech sound norms
is because I believe they can be a useful tool to parents as well as
speech language pathologists when it comes to setting expectations of
our little ones’ speech. For example I think it is useful to know that
the /s/ and the /r/ sounds are not typically mastered by the majority of
children until the age of 5 or 6. It is true that some children may
master them as early as three or four but if a parent comes to me and
tells me their three year old can’t say their /r/ sounds, I’m not too
worried.
I do however believe it is also important that we do not place too
much emphasis on the speech sound norms in the way of using them to
determine eligibility for therapy. Especially when there is so much
discrepancy from one set of norms to the next. Think of the children
with special needs. If we use these norms to determine when we begin
therapy we may not begin working on sounds until “90%” of their normally
developing peers have mastered the sounds. Is this fair? It seems
that they should be given a head start instead of holding them back.
As a general rule I like to use speech sound norms as guidelines for
which sounds I may try to stimulate next, but if I find a child is more
stimulable (they can say the sound in imitation or can easily be taught
the sound) for the th sound than the /f/ sound I am going to teach the
th sound before the /f/ sound even though according to the norms the th
sound is mastered later than the /f/ sound.
So if I haven’t confused you completely I would like to share speech
sound norms with you to use as a guide when you look at your child and
try to determine if their sounds are developmentally appropriate. I
have decided to share the speech sound norms from the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation-2
from 2000. The reason I share this one is because it is the most
recent one that I am aware of and was done by a very reputable source in
the field of speech language pathology. I believe it to be reliable.
Remember to not get hung up on what age the “typical” child masters a
specific sound. Use this as a general guide only! You can download a
PDF of this Speech Sound Development Chart here or you can visit the worksheets page and download it there as well.
Let us look at each of our children individually and think also of
how our child’s speech errors are affecting their ability to
communicate, how they may affect their school work, their interactions
with their peers and their self esteem. Let’s be advocates for our
children’s development and give them the support they need to be
effective communicators whether or not it is the “right time” to address
a specific sound according to speech sound norms.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق