What is SSD?
Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) is a term used to cover a range of difficulties that some children have with their speech (pronunciation of sounds). SSD causes a child’s speech to be difficult to understand compared to other children of the same age.
About 12 children in every 100 will have SSD.
There are several different types of SSD:
- Articulation disorders – Children with articulation disorder have difficulty making the correct movements for speech. Common examples in English are where the ‘s’ sound is said like a ‘th’ sound e.g. sing sounds like thing and ‘r’ sounds like ‘w’ e.g. ‘rabbit’ sounds like ‘wabbit’. The child finds it difficult to say the sound on its own and in words. Some of these sounds take more time to come, and some children will just improve over time.
- Phonological disorder – Phonological disorders are when the child can say the sound on its own but has difficulty saying it in words or misses out sounds e.g. the child can say ‘k’ and ‘g’ on their own, but says ‘teep’ instead of ‘keep’ or ‘pid’ instead of ‘pig’. These can make the child very difficult to understand to people outside their family and sometimes to close family members. These children should be referred to speech and language therapy.
- Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) – This is a motor speech disorder that makes it hard for children to speak. Children with CAS has difficulty learning or carrying out the complex movements that underlie speech. These children should be referred to speech and language therapy.
There are also SSDs related to deafness, cleft palate, Down Syndrome, 22q11 deletion syndrome, cerebral palsy and other childhood conditions.
VIDEO – Expressable Speech Therapy – What is a speech sound disorder? (youtube.com)
Long term impact of SSD
SSD can have a long lasting impact if not treated at the right time. Children with SSD are at risk of literacy difficulties that impact their education and their social development.
Children with SSD often have difficulty with language too. This means they have difficulty expressing themselves to others. They may not know as many words (vocabulary) as other children; they may have difficulty making correct or long sentences or have difficulty understanding what others say to them.
Early identification and intervention is key to support children with SSD. Speech and Language Therapists will work closely with parents to support their child.
Does my child have SSD?
Speech sounds develop gradually over time, some sounds are developed earlier (like ‘m’ and ‘b’) and some develop later (like ‘ch’ and ‘th’). Children vary in the way that they develop speech and some naturally take longer than others. Younger children will produce speech that is different to adult speech, but this may be within the normal range, depending on their age and which sounds they are having problems with.
If your child has speech that is different from their peers and is making it difficult for them to get their message across, you or school/nursery may want to refer them for a speech and language assessment.
How can you help?
When speaking to a child with a SSD:
- Focus on what the child is saying rather than how they are saying it
- don’t pretend to understand (often they can tell because we’ve given the wrong kind of response)
- if you haven’t understood, ask if they can show you / act it out / give a clue
- if you’ve understood part of it, repeat that bit back to check you’re right and ask for clarification on the parts you didn’t understand
- Model (say) the word back to the child correctly so they can hear how you would say it, but don’t ask them to repeat it after you as they may not be able to yet.
- Avoid correcting your child’s speech sound mistakes or making them say it again. Doing this tends not to work and may knock their confidence. Simply repeat the word back to them in a natural way. E.g. Child: “Mummy it’s a nowman.” Parent: “Yes it’s a big snowman.”
More information and useful links
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