Children typically begin saying their first words around their first birthday and should be able to produce all the sounds, syllables and words by age 4. Children who cannot speak clearly or struggle with specific speech sound errors may have an articulation disorder.

Articulation therapy can help children and adults with articulation disorders. This article will explore articulation assessment, treatment, and parent training. For professional articulation speech therapy Adelaide services, click here.

Assessment

During the assessment process, your child will undergo a series of tests to determine the cause and type of speech disorder. Your speech pathologist will consider their medical history, prior ear infections, or other conditions that may have affected how they pronounce certain sounds. They will also examine their mouth structure and their movements when speaking.

Speech sound disorders can occur in people of all ages. It is important to seek evaluation and treatment for these problems because they can affect a person’s social, emotional, and professional life.

Difficulties with articulation and pronunciation can lead to difficulty communicating wants, needs, ideas, and information. Moreover, children who struggle with accent and pronunciation can find it difficult to form friendships or be understood by others. This can lead to frustration, isolation, and a lack of self-confidence in the child. Speech pathologists can help address these difficulties and reduce the impact on a child’s quality of life.

Therapy

Articulation therapy sessions focus on improving the production of clear and distinct sounds in speech. Making sound requires the coordinated movement of the lips, tongue, teeth, palate (roof of the mouth) and respiratory system. For professional articulation speech therapy Adelaide services, click here.

Children typically develop their articulation skills throughout childhood, but some may have difficulty producing specific sounds. This may be because they cannot coordinate their muscles properly, or they substitute sounds they can make, for example, saying “tat” for “cat”.

This is known as an articulation disorder. Speech pathologists will use various techniques and strategies to help the child produce their speech sounds correctly. They will also teach them to combine these sounds into words and syllables. This will enable them to communicate effectively with their peers, family, and teachers. In addition to articulation therapy, your child may also benefit from language therapy and phonological disorders treatment. A speech pathologist can deliver both through private lessons at their clinic or in the growing field of telepractice.

Parent Training

Children with articulation (pronunciation and talking) difficulties have difficulty producing sequences of sounds that make up words and sentences. This can impact their ability to express themselves clearly in family, childcare and school settings, as well as their interaction with others.

Depending on your child’s needs, articulation therapy may include exercises to improve tongue and lip movement, techniques to improve airflow/breath support and practice producing specific speech sounds. Regular articulation therapy and exercise at home can correct single-word articulation disorders.

During the assessment process, your Speech Pathologist will discuss their findings with you and provide a comprehensive report detailing your child’s strengths and needs with recommendations. This report can be shared with teachers and childcare workers if you wish. Additionally, remote consultations are available if you prefer to discuss your child’s needs with an SLP online. These sessions can be run individually or with your child and parents. They can also be combined with a parent training session to help build your knowledge of your child’s speech and language development. For professional articulation speech therapy Adelaide services, click here.

ABA for Change

ABA involves changing the behaviour of someone with autism or other developmental disabilities by teaching new skills that replace unwanted behaviours. Those new skills may include social interaction, play and language skills. They could also be behavioural skills such as self-management, patience, tolerance, etc. The program is designed by a qualified and trained BCBA who considers the individual’s skills, preferences, and family situation.

In the case of articulation speech therapy in Adelaide, the goal is to teach sound production. The therapist starts with an inventory of the person’s current speech sounds and determines their difficulty level. This is called the articulation hierarchy. It begins at the most superficial level (sound in isolation) and moves to the word, phrase, and narrative/conversational classes.