Overview
What is speech therapy?
Speech therapy addresses speech sound disorders, which occur when a child has difficulty producing speech sounds clearly. This can make it harder for others to understand what they are saying. While all children make mistakes as they learn to talk, some children continue to have speech difficulties beyond what is expected for their age.
There are several types of speech sound disorders:
Articulation Disorders occur when a child has difficulty producing specific sounds correctly. For example, a child may say "wabbit" instead of "rabbit" or have trouble with sounds such as /r/, /s/, or /l/.
Phonological Disorders occur when a child uses patterns of speech errors. For example, a child may consistently say "tat" instead of "cat" or "poon" instead of "spoon." These patterns are often called phonological processes.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder that affects how the brain plans the movements needed for speech. Children with CAS often know what they want to say but have difficulty coordinating their mouth movements to say it clearly.
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder caused by weakness or reduced coordination of the muscles used for speech. Speech may sound slurred, slow, quiet, or difficult to understand.
Speech therapy for speech sound disorders focuses on helping children produce sounds accurately, improve speech clarity, and communicate with greater confidence. Treatment may include play-based activities, motor-based practice, language-rich interactions, caregiver coaching, and home strategies to support progress beyond the therapy room.