Speech Sound Development Checklist

Instructions: Answer all questions up to your child’s current age bracket by answering ‘Yes’ on ‘No’.

Interpretation: If you tick 2 or more boxes with a ‘Yes’ contact Kid Sense Child Development on 1800 KIDSENSE (1800 543 736).

Does your child have difficulty with:

Age	Skill	Yes	No
0-6 months	Making cooing sounds.
	Turning towards sounds.
	Responding with eye contact when they hear an adult talking or when making sounds.
6-12 months	Making cooing sounds.
	Turning towards sounds.
	Responding with eye contact when they hear an adult talking or when making sounds.
	Babbling
	Repeating sounds (e.g. 'mamama').
1-2 years	Babbling
	Repeating sounds (e.g. 'mamama').
	Turning towards sounds.
	Responding with eye contact when they hear an adult talking or when making sounds.
	Saying the following sounds in words - /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/.
2-3 years	Saying the following sounds in words - /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/, /s/, /y/, /h/.
	Saying sounds made with no voice (i.e. replaces them with voiced sounds - e.g. “car” becomes 'gar', “tea” becomes 'dea').
	Producing sounds made with a long airflow (i.e. replaces these with sounds made with a stopped airflow - e.g. “sea” becomes 'tea', “shoe” becomes 'to').
	Producing sounds at the end of words (e.g. “tap” = 'ta').
3-4 years	Saying the following sounds in words - /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/, /s/, /y/, /h/.
	Saying sounds made with no voice (i.e. replaces them with voiced sounds - e.g. “car” becomes 'gar', “tea” becomes 'dea').
	Producing sounds made with a long airflow (i.e. replaces these with sounds made with a stopped airflow - e.g. “sea” becomes 'tea', “shoe” becomes 'to').
	Producing sounds at the end of words (e.g. “tap” = 'ta').
	Producing sounds made with the tongue hitting the back of the mouth (e.g. /k/ and /g/) and replaces these with sounds made at the front of the mouth (e.g. /t/ and /d/) so “car” becomes 'tar', “key” becomes 'tea'.
	Saying the 'sh' sound (e.g. the tongue is moved forward in the mouth so the 'sh' sound becomes a /s/ sound).
4-5 years	Saying the following sounds in words - /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/, /s/, /y/, /h/, 'sh', 'ch', 'j', /z/, /l/, /v/.
	Producing sounds made with the tongue hitting the back of the mouth (e.g. /k/ and /g/) and replaces these with sounds made at the front of the mouth (e.g. /t/ and /d/) so “car” becomes 'tar', “key” becomes 'tea'.
	Saying the 'sh' sound (e.g. the tongue is moved forward in the mouth so the 'sh' sound becomes a /s/ sound).
	Saying longer words and non-stressed syllables are deleted from words (e.g. “elephant” becomes 'ephant').
	Producing words appropriately where the whole word is influenced by the presence of a particular sound in the word (e.g. “dog” become 'gog').
	Producing clusters of consonants in words (i.e. clusters of consonant sounds are reduced by one or more consonants - e.g. “brick” becomes 'bick', “straw” becomes 'draw').
5-6 years	Saying longer words and non-stressed syllables are deleted from words (e.g. “elephant” becomes 'ephant').
	Producing words appropriately where the whole word is influenced by the presence of a particular sound in the word (e.g. “dog” become 'gog').
	Producing clusters of consonants in words (i.e. clusters of consonant sounds are reduced by one or more consonants - e.g. “brick” becomes 'bick', “straw” becomes 'draw').
	Producing affricate sounds including 'sh', 'ch' and 'j' and replaces these sounds with fricative sounds (e.g. 'sh', /s/, /z/ or '?') or the /t/ or /d/ sound.
6-7 years	Producing clusters of consonants in words (i.e. clusters of consonant sounds are reduced by one or more consonants - e.g. “brick” becomes 'bick', “straw” becomes 'draw').
	Producing affricate sounds including 'sh', 'ch' and 'j' and replaces these sounds with fricative sounds (e.g. 'sh', /s/, /z/ or '?') or the /t/ or /d/ sound.
	Saying the /l/ and the /r/ sounds (i.e. replaces them with the /w/ or the 'y' sound).
7-8 years	Saying the voiceless 'th' sound (as in 'thank you') (i.e. replaces it with a /f/ sound).
	Saying the voiced 'th' sound (as in 'with') (i.e. replaces it with a /v/ sound).
	Saying the /l/ and the /r/ sounds (i.e. replaces them with the /w/ or the 'y' sound).

This checklist was designed to serve as a functional screening of developmental skills per age group. It does not constitute an assessment nor reflect strictly standardised research.

The information in this checklist was compiled over many years from a variety of sources. This information was then further shaped by years of clinical practice as well as therapeutic consultation with child care, kindergarten and school teachers in South Australia about the developmental skills necessary for children to meet the demands of these educational environments. In more recent years, it has been further modified by the need for children and their teachers to meet the functional Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) requirements that are not always congruent with standardised research.