Part of Learning and Growing
Your child is starting to talk and a lot of what she says sounds like gibberish, which is normal. She still needs more practice. She still needs to do a lot more listening to get better at it. It could also be because the body parts (tongue, teeth, etc.) needed for speech are still developing.
For many reasons, your child uses phonological processes to talk. Think of it as a verbal “short cut” so that she can get the words out. Her speech isn’t perfect, but you can get the gist of what she’s saying.
You notice that she says things like “pider” instead of “spider” or “chock-it” instead of “chocolate.” It’s adorable.
Time To Worry?
A few years have passed. In many ways she’s become more intelligible, a lot easier to understand. Many of the phonological processes she relied on are gone. Her speech and language skills have improved tremendously. But she still says things like “top” instead of “stop” and “boo” instead of “blue.”
Is this something you should be worried about?
Cluster Reduction
First, we need to know what a consonant cluster is. A consonant cluster is two consonants side by side in a word. Examples are “st” in “stop,” “bl” in “blue,” and “st” in “fast.”
Cluster reduction is dropping one consonant in a cluster, or the entire cluster…”top” instead of “stop,” “boo” instead of “blue,” “vegable” instead of “vegetable.”
Normal Until It’s Not
Many children will resort to cluster reduction with words they find difficult to say, which is a normal part of speech and language acquisition. But many experts agree that this starts to become a concern if a child still uses cluster reduction after 3 ½ years of age.
What are your options if your child is engaging in cluster reduction well into 4-5 years of age, and beyond?
Sooner Rather Than Later
Your best course of action is to contact a speech therapist. Speech therapists can determine if cluster reduction is the problem or if it’s something else. More importantly, a speech therapist can help with cluster reduction.
Even if your child is a bit older, it’s never too late to contact a speech therapist. But don’t wait. If your child is close to 3 years of age and you still notice cluster reduction make an appointment. The earlier a child starts to get treatment for speech and language challenges, the better it will be.