Articulation Delays/Disorders in School Age Children

Articulation is the way we produce speech sounds. Many school age children make speech errors, so it is important to consider the age range during which school age children develop each sound when determining if sound substitutions are age-appropriate. An Articulation Disorder involves difficulties producing sounds. Sounds may be substituted, omitted, added or deleted in an articulation disorder. For example, a school age child who says “tup” for “cup” is substituting the sound “t” for the sound “k.” An articulation disorder can make it difficult for a school age child to be understood by others and can impact social interactions, school participation and academics (i.e. reading, writing, phonological awareness skills). The school age child’s speech could be unclear, slushy or sound mumbled.  The school age child may have an articulation disorder if these sound errors continue past the expected age of mastery.

The following speech developmental chart provides the ages in which each sound is mastered.