Q: My preschooler is still really difficult to understand. I know each child develops at different rates, but when should I be concerned about her speech?
A: You are correct that children develop at different rates in their speech and language skills. And, you can't compare one child to another because their is a range of ages for normal development of each sound. That being said, there are developmental norms which guide us in determining when a child is delayed and may need intervention. But before we get to them I should inform you that recommendations for treatment are not made by developmental norms alone. This information is only a piece of the picture in your child's speech development. A speech-language pathologist will also take into consideration the following (including, but not limited to): how sounds are produced or types of error patterns (outside of typical patterns, there may be evidence of motor speech challenges), number of errors and the impact on overall intelligibility (how well unfamiliar people can understand your child). stimulability of the sounds (can you child produce the sound in imitation with a little assistance) and the social and educational impact of the speech disorder. Another aspect with bilingual children is to considered the possible impact of the other language on English sound development. Sound development is assessed in all languages spoken by a child and it is considered a disorder when errors are observed across all languages a child speaks. Below is a chart of speech sound development by age:
Now, when we look at overall intelligibility, which is how well someone understands what your child is saying, we consider intelligibility from the perspective of an unfamiliar listener. Parents and siblings have a knack of interpreting the language of the family's three-year-old. However, if friends and strangers are constantly looking to you to decode your little one's speech, you may want to have your child evaluated by a speech-language pathologist to determine if she would benefit from speech therapy. Below are intelligibility norms of typically developing children.
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