A therapist guides a young boy through speech therapy exercises using a playful and modern approach
Why a child struggles to pronounce sounds is not a simple answer. In the intricate dance of language, mastering pronunciation is akin to fitting together the pieces of a linguistic puzzle. The developmental, biological, learned, and cultural aspects all come into play. Let’s delve into why some individuals encounter challenges in learning specific sounds.
Developmental Issues: All speech sounds are expected to be mastered at certain ages. Most children learn to say these sounds before the expected age, but one would expect that developmentally, they should be able to produce these sounds by the below guidelines: Speech Sound Development Chart.
Biological Issues: When a person has a cleft lip or palate, tongue tie, cerebral palsy, or other structural or neurological issues related to their mouth, throat, or nose area, they are more likely to have speech sound problems. If a child has a hearing impairment or suffers from many colds and ear infections, it may have affected their ability to hear sounds accurately and learn how to pronounce them correctly. In addition, there are known hereditary links to speech and language difficulties.
Learning Issues: Children with other learning or developmental milestone difficulties are more likely to have speech problems. In addition, if a person has phonological awareness difficulties (i.e., the ability to hear the differences between sounds in words. For instance, telling the difference between the “t” and “k”, recognizing the first sound in a word or knowing when words rhyme), the person may have trouble producing a sound accurately given that they can’t identify the sounds properly.
Cultural Issues: When English is not the child’s native language, or they are exposed to a second language, they may be unfamiliar with particular English sounds. Learning to accurately pronounce sounds from another language might require specific instruction.
We don’t know: Sometimes, we just don’t know why. Children can struggle to master the sounds we expect from them at the right age. Often, children will catch up with a little support or practice, but sometimes, their difficulties can be longer lasting.
But no matter, what the reason for why a child is struggling to pronounce particular sounds, they can successfully learn.
1st: Art of Listening: They need to learn to distinguish between this sound and other sounds and recognize when it is pronounced correctly.
2nd: Muscle Learning: Every sound is created with our oral structures (e.g., lips, teeth, tongue, roof of the mouth, vocal chords). They must learn the particular placement and movement to correctly pronounce the sounds.
3rd: Consistent Practice: Like any new skill, practicing this novel sound movement requires consistent practice to make it a habit.
By understanding the nuances of pronunciation challenges, we can create tailored approaches that make the learning journey more accessible and enjoyable. For more information, reach out for a free consultation.
https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/articulation-and-phonology/