When children learn to talk they also have to learn their speech sounds. For most children this will occur naturally and they will not need any help, however, some children may need some support to help them on their way.
All children will go through stages during this time which may make their speech difficult to understand. Some children get stuck at a certain stage of their speech development. This is called delayed speech sound development. Some children’s speech does not follow the typical pattern of development. This is called disordered speech development. Children in both of these categories may require speech and language therapy to help them to develop their sounds.
If you have concerns that your child’s speech is not developing quite as it should you can discuss this with your health visitor or the staff at your child’s setting/school who may also have helpful suggestions. If you would like an assessment of your child's speech and language we would be happy to see you.
If your child is a pre-schooler please come along to one of our drop-in sessions. If your child is at school you can ask his or her teacher to refer to us (see our'referral' section for details).
Alternatively, you could visit your local children’s centre and find out when the speech and language therapist is next in so you can chat to her.