Omission

When kids are learning to talk, they might leave out some parts of words, like saying "puter" instead of "computer" or saying "nana" instead of "banana." This happens because they're still figuring out all the sounds in their language. They tend to skip the parts of words that aren't as important or stressed. Even though they miss a syllable, we can usually understand what they mean. 

Certain sounds are omitted or deleted. For example a child might say "cu" instead of "cup." Or say "poon" instead of "spoon."

Initial consonant deletion involves omitting the first consonant in a word. For example a child might say "at" instead of "cat."

Emphasize the beginning sounds of words when you’re modeling for your child, such as:

SEAT instead of “eat”

RICE instead of “ice”

FIN instead of “in”

Final consonant deletion involves omitting the final consonant in a word. For example a child might say "boo" instead of "book."

When practicing at home, emphasize ending sounds when you’re modeling correct articulation, such as:

duCK instead of “duh”

doG instead of “dah”

beD instead of “beh”

Weak syllable deletion involves omitting unstressed syllables in multi-syllabic words. For example a child might say "bah-ball" instead of "basketball."

Emphasize ALL syllables when modeling words with more than one syllable, such as:

BAS-KET-BALL instead of “bass-ball”

COM-PU-TER instead of “puter”

BUT-TER-FLY instead of “buhfly”

• Speak with a speech language pathologist.

• Practice sounds that you see they struggle to pronounce.

• Encourage them to use the sounds when they speak.