Ages & Stages
The agechildren typically say their first recognizable word.
What is around 12 months?
The process is happening when a child says “ca” for “cat”.
The smallest unit of sound that can change word meaning
Phoneme
The main goal of intervention for children with SSDs
To improve intelligibility in everyday speech and increase communicative participation.
A 2-year-old says “ca” for cat and “do” for dog. Typical or atypical?
Typical (final consonant deletion is normal at this age).
The age should a child be 100% intelligible to strangers.
What is by age 5?
A toddler says “wawa” for “water.”
Syllable Reduction/Reduplication
A word that ends in a vowel sound, like hi.
An open syllable
Therapy approach targets error patterns (like final consonant deletion) instead of single sounds
Phonological-based approaches.
A 7-year-old still says “wabbit” for rabbit. Typical or atypical?
Atypical (substitution of /w/ for /r/ should fade by school-age).
The age are most consonants acquired.
What is around age 5.
When a child simplifies blends, like saying “top” for “stop”
Cluster Reduction
The three main features used to classify consonants
Place, manner, and voicing
In motor-based therapy, what are two techniques SLPs might use to help establish correct sound production.
Phonetic placement and sound shaping.
A bilingual child substitutes /b/ for /v/ in English, but this is not an error in their first language. Disorder or difference?
Difference (cross-linguistic influence, not a disorder).
The age do children typically master consonant clusters like “str” or “sts."
What is by age 8?
A child says “tat” for “cat.”
Fronting (back sound → front sound)
The difference between an articulation disorder and a phonological disorder
Articulation disorder = difficulty producing individual sounds (motor-based).
Phonological disorder = difficulty with rules/patterns of sound use.
When selecting targets for bilingual children, what should SLPs prioritize?
Phonological error patterns that occur in both languages and greatly affect intelligibility.
A preschool child can produce /s/ correctly in single words, but not in conversation. What does this suggest?
Phoneme acquisition is not fully generalized.
The speech sounds are usually mastered first in development (around toddler years).
Stops, nasals, and glides (e.g., /p, b, m, n, w, j/)
A child says “won” for “run.”
Gliding (liquid → glide)
Consonant pairs that differ only by voicing, like /p/ and /b/.
Cognate pairs
What is an example of a motor-based treatment approach?
What is visual biofeedback, tacticle cues, etc.
A child in therapy can produce /k/ with cues, but never on their own. Are they stimulable? What does this mean for treatment?
Yes, they are stimulable → they may respond quickly to therapy and possibly self-correct with practice.