Toddler Speech Development [3 Main Areas - Speech therapist's explanation for parents of toddlers]

If there's one thing I want you to take away from this course, it's that learning a new speech sound, let alone all 44 of them in English is no easy feat. It takes time and practice to master the coordination of each movement needed to make a sound.
In this video, we'll review what we've learned about all the different elements of speech development and how to approach correcting errors.
Articulation refers to pronouncing individual sounds. Phonology means pronouncing sounds together to make words. And motor speech is the specific coordination required to pronounce many different sounds clearly and in rapid succession.
Let's talk about the takeaway points from each area of your child's speech development.
ARTICULATION
As you think about your child's articulation skills, or the sounds they're able to pronounce, keep in mind the following. We work on articulation because when children can pronounce sounds better other people can understand them more easily. We want to help you help your child sound and communicate clearly.
Errors with articulation are most often errors with consonant sounds and typically involve incorrect placement and, or movement of the tongue. Try to avoid working on sounds that are too hard for your child's mouth and practice only with sounds that are expected for their age. Sometimes even young children need professional help learning to make speech sounds.
Use the pronunciation profile provided to help determine whether your child's errors need extra help from a speech therapist. And if so, share this information with them during your evaluation.
PHONOLOGY & PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Remember the following about phonology, or how your child combines sounds to say words, phrases and sentences.
Word shape refers to a recognizable phonological pattern such as consonant, vowel, consonant. When children try to produce words that are more complex than their speech system can handle, they naturally simplify the word in order to be successful. This is an expected developmental strategy where children use phonological processes to simplify words to word shapes that are easier for them to say. Leaving consonant sounds off the beginning or end of shorter words typically resolves by the time children turn three years old.
Keep in mind, this only applies for words containing sounds we would expect them to master by the age of three. Many other phonological processes are expected to persist past your child's third birthday, because our speech system is still developing.
Speech pathologists are trained to listen for complex phonological patterns. So if you're concerned about your child's speech development it's always a good idea to consult a speech therapist.
You can help your child learn new phonological patterns at home, but only if practice stays fun for them.
CHILDHOOD APRAXIA OF SPEECH
Lastly, we talked about motor speech skills and childhood apraxia of speech. Apraxia of speech refers to a difficulty coordinating the brain signals with the mouths movements.
A speech language pathologist is the person who diagnoses apraxia of speech, usually only in children three years and older. Speech therapy is absolutely necessary for children with apraxia. Treatment of apraxia involves creating or altering the signal pathways from the brain to the mouth. This is achieved through extensive repetition of words and sound patterns.
The best at-home plan for families of young children with apraxia is twofold. First, establish a communication system to give your child independence and freedom of expression while they're still learning to use speech. Second, make sure that you're doing everything you can at home to encourage your child to imitate sounds with meaning.
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WHO AM I:
I'm Stephanie, a speech language pathologist in San Diego, California. I earned my Master’s Degree from Columbia University in New York City. I make videos about strategies and activities you can use at home to grow your toddler’s language skills. I also share ideas and tips on my Instagram / toddler_talk_ Plus I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick ideas for practicing speech at home + links to other resources I like (www.toddlertalk.com/newsletter).
🌍 My website - www.toddlertalk.com/
✍️ My blog - www.toddlertalk.com/blog
GET IN TOUCH:
If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment on this video to get the quickest response. But if your question is very long, feel free to email me at [e-mail]. I try my best to reply to things as quickly as possible, but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭
Please note:
The content offered on ToddlerTalk.com and all Toddler Talk social media channels is for informational purposes only. Toddler Talk is not engaged in rendering professional advice, whether medical or otherwise, to individual users or their children or families.