Think about the Warner Brothers cartoons: Sylvester, Daffy Duck, Tweety 
Bird, Elmer Fudd. What do all of these characters have in common?? They all 
have articulation errors! Remember Sylvester's most famous line: "Thufferin' 
Thukatash!"
 
 ARTICULATION is the ability to accurately produce speech sounds. A child 
with an articulation disorder is one who may be having difficulty with the 
placement of their articulators or with the timing and the direction of the 
air flow to accurately produce various speech sounds. Articulators refer to 
the lips, lower jaw, velum (or soft palate- the back portion of the roof of 
your mouth), and tongue. The child’s speech may be unintelligible especially 
to people who are unfamiliar listeners, or people who do not often speak 
with the child. The child may be omitting, distorting, substituting, or 
adding speech sounds throughout his/her speech. The child may be speaking 
with decreased volume or increased rate. A child with these types of 
difficulties may need saome instruction and practice to develop effective 
speech skills.  
     By state law, a child is considered to have an "articulation" disorder 
if they have one or more sound production error "beyond the age at which 90% 
of the population has achieved mastery" according to developmental norms. 
The error needs to be consistent throughout their conversational speech.  
Our district has set forth the following error norms based on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation- 2nd edition (2000). The sounds listed must be 
in error at the age listed in order for the child to be eligible:

Age 3-5 (PS): p, m, n, w, h, b, g, k
Age 4-6 (K): f, d, ng, y, t, kw
Age 6-7 (1st): sh, ch, l, r, j, bl, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl 
Age 7-8 (2nd): th (initial), v, s, voiced th, br, kl, kr, sl, sp, st, sw, tr
Age 8-9 (3rd): th (final), z

It is important to note that speech sounds are fully acquired at different 
ages of the child's life and that it can vary between boys and girls. The 
educational and social impact of the errors are also considered when 
determining eligibility.

Please contact me with any questions regarding your child's articulation.