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It
is typical for children's speech sounds to develop as they
grow. Typically, a baby will begin to "coo"
within the first few months of life. In a short time, they
are babbling. First, babies babble in repeated syllables
(i.e. "mamama"), and later in syllables that change
(i.e. "mamemo"). First words tend to appear
around a child's first birthday, with a rapid growth beginning
around 18 months. Children will often use learned
"true" words mixed with "jargon"/babbling
which begins to mimic the patterns of adult speech. In
time, children, will begin to use most sounds correctly, and
will be easily understood by others. Children often follow
typical "patterns" of speech sound development called
"phonological processes" which are a normal part of
the speech development process. Some patterns can include
sound or syllable substitutions, omissions, and additions.
These eventually begin to disappear, as more intelligible speech
emerges. Most of these patterns begin to subside by ages 2
1/2 to 3 1/2 years of age, but a few can last until age 5 or
longer.
If you are
concerned with your child's speech sound development, please
discuss with your physician, and seek an evaluation from a
licensed speech/language pathologist to determine whether a
problem exists. |