Post date: Aug 15, 2016 8:19:55 PM
Hi Teachers and Parents,
I wanted to be sure that you have access to the typical patterns of development for speech. Some prefer to access paper copies of this stuff or have it available at their desk (like I do). The attachments (below) are nice visual with ages of mastery and the sounds embedded and ranges of speech sound acquisition marked (as early as...and as late as...). Note, there are some discrepancies leaving the door open to clinical judgement.
These charts do not cover all issues (e.g. multiple sound errors may be a part of a pattern that needs to be addressed...or some sound errors like a lisp are a-typical and should be addressed). It also doesn't differentiate between male and female speech development differences. However, it's a good starter guide to get you thinking about what's appropriate and what's a concern.
By school age, each child should be able to be understood by an unfamiliar listener over 90% of the time. Speech Sound errors are considered disordered when they are about a year past the typical development range and still struggling.
FYI - I didn't create these visuals, they are readily available via google search and are housed on various websites that seem to pop in and out of existence so links don't really stay working for long.