What are Speech Sound Disorders?

Speech Sound Disorders (SSD) is used to describe difficulties in producing speech. Children may have these difficulties because they struggle with making and/or hearing the correct sounds, or because of other conditions such as hearing loss, cleft palate or cerebral palsy. We don’t know exactly what causes some children’s SSD. SSD will sound different for every child and may result in them making errors in the speech they produce. Although all children make errors when they are learning to speak, children with SSD will make errors that do not follow the same patterns.

Some children may have mild difficulties and others will have more severe speech sound problems, and may be difficult to understand, especially for adults who do not know the child well. Some children with SSDs also have problems with their language, while others will only have difficulties with speech. 

What Help is there for Children with Speech Sound Disorders?

Lots of help is available for children with SSD. Speech and Language Therapists will be involved in diagnosing SSDs and providing appropriate help. Treatment for Speech Sound Disorders may include learning how to make sounds correctly, using sounds in different words, and in different positions in a word, and learning to tell if sounds are right or wrong. SLTs may also give parents and carers exercises to do at home to help their child further.