As your child develops language skills and begins to verbalize more and more, you may notice your child "simplify" their speech using patterns. Although these patterns may seem like errors, they are not always indicative of a speech-sound disorder! Below, you will find information relating to expected phoneme development and intelligibility of speech (how easily your child is understood) to help you determine if your child is reaching developmental expectations.
Phoneme Development
Individual sounds are often broken down into 3 categories, the "Early 8, Middle 8," and "Late 8" consonants. Although each individual sound has its own age of acquisition, these categories can help to identify if a child's sound production is falling into an appropriate developmental range.
"Early 8" consonant sounds, typically acquired by age 3, include:
| "m" as in "mama" | "n" as in "no" |
| "b" as in "ball" | "w" as in "woah" |
| "p" as in "pig" | "h" as in "hi" |
| "y" as in "yes" | "d" as in "dada" |
"Middle 8" consonant sounds, typically acquired by age 5, include:
| "t" as in "toy" | "v" as in "vest" |
| "k" as in "kite" or "cup" | "ng" as in "song" |
| "g" as in "go" | "ch" as in "chair" |
| "f" as in "farm" | "j" as in "jump" |
"Late 8" consonant sounds, typically acquired by age 7, include:
| "sh" as in "shoe" | "z" as in "zoo" |
| Voiced "th" as in "that" | "l" as in "look" |
| Voiceless "th" as in "bath" | "r" as in "rock" |
| "s" as in "sit" | "zh" as in "treasure" |
Intelligibility
- Between 12-24 Months: Listeners should be able to understand what your child is saying at least 25% of the time. Babble and vocal play may continue to be present as your child develops their speech, language, and vocabulary skills.
- Between 24-36 Months: Listeners should be able to understand what your child is saying at least 50% of the time. At this age, children begin to produce an increased number of word combinations and you may notice that it is easier to recognize single words vs. connected speech.
- Between 36-48 Months: Listeners should be able to understand what your child is saying at least 75% of the time. This should include when they are combining words and producing simple sentences.
- At 48+ Months: Listeners should be able to understand what your child is saying at least 90% of the time. Conversations should flow and your child should be able to easily engage with others.
