An articulation disorder involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added or changed. Young children often make speech errors. For instance, many children sound like they are making a 'w' sound for an 'r' or an 'l' sound (e.g., 'wabbit' for 'rabbit' or 'weaf' for 'leaf'). 'The child may have an articulation disorder if these errors continue past the expected age.

Articulation development follows an orderly sequence and developmental error patterns are to be expected at each stage in development. Increased coordination of the muscles in the lips, tongue, jaw and soft palate are required for later developing sounds such as r, th and l.

The following demonstrates the general age ranges in which the correct production of these sounds should be acquired:

• By two years: p,b,d,t,m,n,w,h

• By three to our years: k,g,f,v,ing,

• By four to five years: s,z,ch,sh,j, l

• By six to seven years: r,th

Many speech sound disorders occur without a known cause. A child may not learn how to produce sounds correctly or may not learn the rules of speech sounds on his or her own. These children may have a problem with speech development, which does not always mean that they will simply outgrow it by themselves. Many children do develop speech sounds over time but those who do not, often need the services of a Speech-Language Pathologist to learn correct speech sounds.

Children with a history of speech sound disorders are at risk for experiencing difficulty in their literacy development.