Talk Time

Parents of toddlers and preschoolers are often left quoting the famous Hannah Montana character by saying "Say what?" when interpreting the speech of their young child.  Speech intelligibility refers to the proportion of one's speech that a listener can readily understand.  The degree of clarity with which one's speech is understood by the average listener is influenced by speech articulation, rate, fluency, vocal quality and intensity.  As children's communication skills develop, their comprehensibility to their communication partners steadily increases.  In children, intelligibility to others is different depending on the familiarity of the listeners (i.e., family member versus stranger) and context (known versus unknown conversational topics). 

Here are some general guidelines provided by Lynch, Brookshire, & Fox (1980)* to how clearly a child should be speaking in the 18 to 36 month age range.  By 18 months of age, a child's speech is normally 25 percent intelligible to parents.  By 24 months of age, a child's speech is approximately 50-75 percent intelligible to parents.   By 36 months of age, a child's speech is typically 75-100 percent intelligible to parents.   It is important to remember that these percentages are offered as guidelines for parents.  There is individual variation among children.

As a parent, if you are concerned about the speech intelligibility or articulation development of your child, then you can contact a speech therapist at Child and Family Development (704-541-9080) to discuss the need for an assessment.  A speech therapist will take into consideration not only the speech intelligibility of the child but also the correct production of individual speech sounds for the child's chronological age. 

* Bowen, C. (2006) Speech Intelligibility from 12 to 48 months.  Retrieved from www.speech-language-therapy.com/intelligibility.htm on 12-28-2009.