Can't Understand Your Child? A Guide In Getting Help!

As children begin to talk, they can be quite difficult to understand. This time of difficulty is a natural part of development but should not persist past the toddler stage. It can be hard to determine whether your child’s difficulty to be understood by you and others is developmentally appropriate or of concern. Below you will find some quick guidelines to help you navigate the decision to seek further evaluation from a Speech Language Pathologist.  

 

Children 2 Years Old:  

  • Should be 25-50% understandable by you and unfamiliar listeners (your neighbors, people working in your community, etc.) 

  • Will be using simplification patterns in their speech: 

    • Final Consonant Deletion (“ca” for “cat” or “do” for “dog”)  

    • Syllable Reduction (“nana” for “banana” or “puter” for “computer”) 

    • Fronting (“tat” for “cat” or “do” for “go”) 

    • Stopping (“deep” for “sheep” or “dat” for “that”) 

    • Cluster Reduction (“nake” for “snake” or “bue” for “blue”) 

    • Gliding (“wed” for “red” or “wove” for “love”) 

 

Children 3 Years Old: 

  • Should be 50-75% understandable by you and unfamiliar listeners (your neighbors, people working in your community, etc.) 

  • Should not be using the following simplification patterns: 

    • Final Consonant Deletion (“ca” for “cat” or “do” for “dog”)  

    • Syllable Reduction (“nana” for “banana” or “puter” for “computer”) 

    • Fronting (“tat” for “cat” or “do” for “go”)  

  • May continue to use the following simplification patterns: 

    • Stopping (“deep” for “sheep” or “dat” for “that”) 

    • Cluster Reduction (“nake” for “snake” or “bue” for “blue”) 

    • Gliding (“wed” for “red” or “wove” for “love”) 

 

Children 4-5 Years Old: 

  • 75-100% understandable by you and unfamiliar listeners (your neighbors, people working in your community, etc.) 

  • May still be using the following simplification pattern: 

    • Gliding (“wed” for “red” or “wove” for “love”) 

 

Children 6 Years Old:  

  • 100% understandable by you and unfamiliar listeners (your neighbors, people working in your community, etc.) 

  • Should be producing all sounds accurately  

 

If you are concerned about your child’s understandability, ProActive can help! We are passionate about being proactive in intervention and supporting both our patients and their families in their goals! 

Emily BrandtComment