What Is Speech Delay Therapy?

In this article, we’ll explain the differences between speech delay therapy and language delay, including speech delay without autism, and provide examples of speech delay treatment at home for SLPs to share with parents or caregivers.

The first time a parent or caregiver brings their child in for a speech concern, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) may ask them if they are concerned with speech or language. 

The next question that follows is generally: What is the difference between a speech delay and a language delay?

Speech delay therapy vs. language delay

It’s important for SLPs to educate parents on the differences between speech and language. 

Speech delay

Speech is the way that we produce sounds and words. This consists of a few different skills: articulation, voice, and fluency. 

Articulation is how we move our articulators, such as our lips, tongue, and teeth to produce speech sounds. 

Voice is the quality of our voice or how it sounds when we are speaking. 

Fluency is the smoothness in which sounds, words, and sentences are produced when talking. 

Language delay

Language is the way we use words to share ideas and get what we want. Language consists of receptive language and expressive language. Receptive language relates to understanding what is being said, whereas expressive language relates to how we use words to express our thoughts and ideas. 

Signs speech delay therapy is necessary

When evaluating a child for a speech or language delay, SLPs should consider if they have met general milestones.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) provides guidelines for general milestones for speech and language development. It is important to note that some children may take longer to meet these milestones. 

There are multiple reasons why a child may have speech and language delays, including hearing loss, slow development, or intellectual disability. However, a speech and language delay does not necessarily mean that a child has autism—speech delay without autism can occur—or that they will never use spoken language.

What are the signs of a speech delay?

Between four to six months of age, babies will typically begin to coo or make vocalizations. This can consist primarily of vowel sounds (i.e., “ooo,” “ahh,” “da”). These are early communication efforts that babies start to make. 

As babies grow and develop, they gain more motor control of their articulators. Between six months and 18 months, children should be babbling and attempting to say a word. This can include a word approximation, which may be a portion of the word (“mil”), or producing something that sounds like the target word (“mi mi” instead of “milk”). 

Two-year-old signs of a speech delay: 2-year-old delays include not being able to follow simple directions or communicate more than their immediate needs.

Four-year-old signs of a speech delay: 4-year-old children should be mostly understood, even by those unfamiliar with the child. If not, this may suggest a speech delay.

As children age, it is expected that they can produce a variety of speech sounds. In general, children should be 50% intelligible by four years, 75% intelligible by five years, and 90% intelligible a little past seven years. This can be measured by how intelligible a child is to unfamiliar listeners. 

Some parents become concerned about stuttering when their child is learning to talk. However, whole word repetitions or repeating the same word a couple of times can typically occur when a child is learning to talk. 

If a child is doing part-word repetitions (i.e., a-a-a-apple), prolonging a portion of a word (i.e., aaaaaaaaapple), or exhibiting any physical discomfort when speaking, parents or caregivers should seek out care from an SLP.

What are the signs of a language delay?

When looking for signs of a language delay, a parent or caregiver may start with social communication efforts.

Children are expected to say their first words around 12 months old. Words may include word approximations at this stage. 

Between 18 to 24 months, it is expected that toddlers will produce 50 different words and start to combine two or more words. As children get older, the goal is for them to use longer sentences to engage in retelling events or stories with age-appropriate grammar and vocabulary. 

Benefits of speech delay therapy

The key to effective speech and language therapy is early identification and intervention. Early intervention is intended to provide services for children when they are first starting to have delays—versus the “wait and see” approach. 

The main goal of speech therapy is to improve communication, but speech therapy will look different depending on the age of the child. 

For younger children, speech delay therapy tends to be more play-based and focused on the daily routines of the family. This allows the therapist to follow the child’s lead for activities. 

Play-based therapy focuses on encouraging speech and language development through natural interactions. Activities can include playing with cause and effect toys, reading children’s books, and using bath time or mealtime to encourage speech and language development. 

With older children, speech therapy may have more structure. Children might engage in playing board games while addressing speech and language targets. To improve the functionality of speech therapy, the therapist might incorporate academic concepts, such as vocabulary, concepts, and language structures. 

Speech delay treatment at home

The beauty of working with a speech therapist is learning how to work on speech and language goals at home. SLPs can coach the family on how to maximize opportunities at home to incorporate speech and language development. 

Here are a few child and toddler speech delay exercises that families can do at home:

Interactive book reading

Read the book to your child as you typically would. Pause while reading to point out the pictures. Draw attention to the different elements of print (i.e., different fonts, sizes, punctuation, etc.). Allow your child to finish familiar phrases in the story (i.e., “The cow goes . . . moo”).

Mirror play

 

Point to your body parts in the mirror when getting ready for the day, brushing your teeth, or before bedtime. You can practice social engagement by waving “hi” and “bye” in the mirror.

Sensory activities

The benefit of sensory activities is that they engage all the senses. Multi-sensory activities help to connect all the senses in the learning process, and the opportunities for speech and language activities are endless. You can hide mini objects in a sensory bin that has your child’s target speech sound or narrate play when engaging in finger play. 

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