Articulation refers to the production of speech sounds in connected discourse or isolated words. Quite often we cannot identify any factors in a child. A variety of other errors may be made as well, but these are the most common and the most easily identified by parents, teachers and physicians.
Children learn correct speech sound production by listening to and imitating appropriate models.
Articulation skills develop over a period of 5-6 years, as a child gradually learns to control the movements of his tongue, lips, jaw and soft palate and coordinate these movements with the production of an air stream. By age 3, a child. When a child has numerous articulation errors, his speech may be virtually unintelligible, a condition that can be profoundly handicapping. Frustration, withdrawal from situations requiring speech, and behavior problems frequently stem from moderately to severely delayed articulation skills. After the screening, our speech pathologists can advise you if a complete evaluation is indicated and provide you with a variety of suggestions to help your child learn his difficult sounds.