Is My Child’s Speech Normal? – Articulation Screener

Developed by Garth Schindel, M.S., SLP Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist | 33+ Years Clinical Experience Reviewed: September 4, 2025 | Based on Current Professional Guidelines.

This tool can help parents, teachers, and other professionals determine if a child’s speech is normal or if further assessment is needed. My Articulation Screener can help find speech sounds that:

Are doing well
Are still developing
May need to be worked on

This is only a screening for articulation. Having difficulty with a screening tool often means that a full assessment is needed. It does not replace an assessment by a speech-language pathologist or by any other professional.

Print out the Screener

This link to my Is My Child’s Speech Normal – Articulation Screener will open up a PDF file that you can print out to use. The screener has all of the consonants in English by themselves, and most of them in the different positions of words.

By each sound is the age at which I look for most children to have mastered it. For example, most children have the K sound “mastered” when they are 4 years old. There are no hard and fast rules for when sounds develop. Different sources will give different ages. These are my guidelines from my 33 years working as a licensed speech-language pathologist.

Step 1:

Start by having your child say the sound all by itself. For blends such as ST and FL say both sounds in the blend together as one sound. Also, do this for the vowel Rs such as OR, IRE and AIR. You say the sound first and have them repeat it after you.

Then have them say the sound in different positions in words. If they don’t know what the pictures are, you can say the word first.

When you hear a problem with a sound, mark an X in the space for the sound “By Itself” or by the word. Don’t worry about other sounds in the word. For example, if you are looking at the M sound and you hear “Dame” for “Game” don’t mark an X. Watch out for Ss that sound slushy or noisy and Rs that sound weak or distorted. All of the sounds need to sound the way you expect them to sound. If not, mark an X.

Step 2:

Answer the questions below to summarize how your child did.

Does your child have any trouble with any of the sounds that they “should” be doing at their age?

If so, which sounds?

Is the trouble with the above sounds consistent? Can they do the sound by itself or in different positions of words?

Is your child changing Noisy Sounds (S, Z, Sh, Ch, J, F, V) into Stops (T, D, B, P)? For example, “Sun” becomes “Tun” or “Zoo” becomes “Do”. This is called Stopping.

How much do people outside of your immediate family understand?

Decide if you Should Work on Speech Sounds

Children likely need to work on sounds if they are:

Stopping sounds when they are 3 years or older. Occasional Stopping with only a few specific words, may not be as concerning.
2 years old and are understood by people outside the family less than 50% of the time.
3 years old and are understood by people outside the family less than 75% of the time.
4 years old or older, and are understood by people outside the family less than 95% of the time.
Frustrated or upset by having difficulty saying sounds.
At any age, making S and Z sounds with a lateral lisp – the sound is coming out of the sides of their mouths. Frontal lisps, where their tongues come out between their teeth, can be age-appropriate until about 6 years old.
Have consistent trouble saying sounds that they “should“ be able to say for their age. Especially if they are having trouble with more than a few sounds. If they can do the sound easily by itself and in some positions of words, they might still be learning how to do the sound. Typically, it is easiest to say the sound by itself, then at the start of words and then at the ends of words. Sounds in the middle of words are often the hardest.

My How to Do Speech Therapy at Home Guide and Programs for Working on Speech Sounds can help you get started.

If your child has difficulty with sounds that are “expected” later than their age:

They still may need to work on sounds if they are upset, harder to understand or if the difficulty is affecting their early reading and spelling.
They may still be learning to make these sounds. My Basic Speech Development Ideas will help these sounds to develop.
Keep monitoring their sounds.

If your child is not having trouble with any sounds and they are easy to understand:

They are off to a great start for academic and social success!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Email me at SLP@Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

Garth Schindel SLPatHome

Additional information:

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is a screening an assessment

A: No, a screening only lets you know if a full assessment is needed. Screening does not replace assessment.

Q: Do you need to be a speech-language pathologist to screen articulation?

A: No. Any competent adult can use a screening tool.

Q: Are delays with speech sounds related to delays in reading?

A: Yes! A speech sound delay at 3 ½ resulted in significant risk of poor phonemic skills and spelling at the age of 5½ and of poor word reading at the age of 8 (Hayiou-Thomas et al., 2017).

This recent large meta-analysis showed significant language and reading problems for children with speech sound delay, Walquist-Sørli, L. et al., 2025.

Q: Can an early speech delay affect how my child will do at school?

A: Yes. If not corrected a preschooler with a speech sound disorder is at increased risk for later academic difficulties when they are in school (Anthony et al., 2011; Bird, Bishop, & Freeman, 1995; Felsenfeld, Broen, & McGue, 1994; Shriberg, Lewis, Tomblin, McSweeny, Karlsson, & Scheer, 2005; Van Dyke & Holte, 2003).

Q: Can a speech sound delay affect my child socially?

A: Yes. Unfortunately, children with a speech sound delay are at risk for being bullied, struggling with friendships, and enjoying school less (McCormack, Harrison, McLeod, & McAllister, 2011).

Q: My child can say all the sounds, but they are still hard to understand because they talk too fast. How can I work on this?

A: Try these ideas to Help Children Talk Slower.

Clinical Methodology

Screening Principles:

This tool follows evidence-based screening protocols used in clinical settings: Standardized elicitation
Consistent sound sampling across positions
Age-referenced norms
Multi-position testing: Sounds tested in isolation and connected speech
Functional impact assessment: Intelligibility and social considerations

References:

Anthony, J. L., Aghara, R. G., Dunkelberger, M. J., Anthony, T. I., Williams, T. I., & Zhang, Z. (2011). What factors place children with speech sound disorders at risk for reading problems? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20, 146–160.

Bird, J., Bishop, D., & Freeman, N. (1995). Phonological awareness and literacy development in children with expressive phonological impairments. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 446–462.

Felsenfield, S., Broen, P., & McGue, M. (1994). A 28-year follow-up of adults with a history of moderate phonological disorder: Educational and functional results. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 37, 1341–1353.

Hayiou-Thomas, M. E., Carroll, J. M., Leavett, R., Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. J. (2017). When does speech sound disorder matter for literacy? The role of disordered speech errors, co-occurring language impairment and family risk of dyslexia. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(2), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12648

McCormack^,J., Harrison, L., McLeod, S., & McAllister, L. (2011). A nationally representative study of the association between communication impairment at 4–5 years and children’s life activities at 7–9 years. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54, 1328–1348.

Shriberg, L. D., Lewis, B. A., Tomblin, J. B., McSweeny, J. L., Karlsson, H. B., & Scheer, A. R. (2005). Toward diagnostic and phenotype markers for genetically transmitted speech delay. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 48, 834–852.

Van Dyke, D. C., & Holte, L. (2003). Communication disorders in children. Pediatric Annals, 32, 436.

Walquist-Sørli, L., Caglar-Ryeng, Ø., Furnes, B., Nergård-Nilssen, T., Donolato, E., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2025). Are Speech Sound Difficulties Risk Factors for Difficulties in Language and Reading Skills? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(1), 164–177. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00170