Articulation is the ability to produce the sounds of your language clearly whether you are saying words or telling whole stories.  With difficulties in articulation, sounds might be left off, added, or changed, making a child hard to understand. Causes of articulation difficulties can include motor-based disorders (apraxia and dysarthria), structurally based conditions (e.g., cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies), or be related to diagnoses or sensory-based conditions (e.g., Down Syndrome or hearing impairment).

Young children often make speech errors.  The child may have an articulation problem that can benefit from treatment if these errors continue past the expected age, if the errors are not typical for the child’s age, or if there is an underlying problem with the muscles or motor planning of the child’s mouth that is causing the errors.