What It Is

Articulation disorder sounds scary, but it really just means a child is not speaking clearly, mumbling or having difficulty producing certain speech sounds. Some parents may characterize this as poor pronounciation. This can be a temporary or longer lasting condition depending on the child.

What You Should Know

Common speech sounds children struggle with include: K, G, F, R, L (among others). The classic “S” lisp is another example of an articulation disorder. However, I’ve seen and helped with just about every combination.

You should know that not every sound a child mispronounces is cause for concern. Some sounds naturally develop later in a child’s development. For example, the R sound isn’t expected to be correctly articulated until the child is 7 years old.

My Approach

For articulation disorders, I take a structured, systematic approach. I target the sound in isolation then we progress to syllables, words, phrases, sentences and ultimately the conversational level. 

Even though this is structured treatment, the child never knows it! I make it fun with games tailored to engage the specific child. For example, we may feed Kenny the Kangaroo to target the K sound or go fishing for F words with a magnetic fishing pole. 

Home support is so important for articulation disorders! I always provide ideas for home and school with articulation calendars for daily ideas, games, and reward systems (if you get so many correct /r/s during dinner, you get a penny in the jar each time!)

I’m trained in PROMPT, which I use for articulation disorders when appropriate to provide specific tactile cues (touching the mouth area) to help promote positive speech outcomes.

Testimonial