Speech

When we talk about speech, we refer to the sounds we produce and combine to make words when speaking.

Children learn different speech sounds at different ages (e.g. a sound like ‘b’ comes very early and you will hear it in a baby’s babbling, whereas a sound like ‘th’ is often learnt once a child is school-aged). Speech pathologists are trained to assess how easy a child is to understand based on both how they are making specific sounds as well as sound patterns that occur while speech is developing.

Research and experience has shown us that while many parents are concerned about how their child sounds, far less actually pursue getting help at the time they become concerned. Family members or friends may reassure you that your child will grow out of it, whereas research strongly indicates against a ‘wait and see’ approach (for more on the research and references, refer to our blog pages). 

The earlier that help is sought the better, as early support can help to prevent other issues developing in the future, including language, literacy or behaviour difficulties.