Parents are often good at understanding their own children. Even when kids make many sound substitutions (for example, saying “f” instead of “th”), most parents are expert decoders. However, if a child is very difficult to understand, or if you find yourself translating for your child often, you are not alone.
How much of what my child says should be understandable to others?
Many parents have asked me if they’re translating more often than other parents. To answer this question, Speech Language Pathologists use guidelines based on intelligibility samples. Your child’s intelligibility percentage refers to how much of their speech is understandable to others. For example, if your child is 90 percent intelligible, others can understand 90 percent of what he or she says.
At 2 years old, others should understand about 50 percent of what your child says.
By about two and a half years, this should be increasing to 51-75 percent.
At 3 years old, others should understand about 75 percent of what your child says.
At 4 years old, others should understand about 100 percent of what your child says.
It’s important to note that 100 percent intelligibility doesn’t mean your child has completely stopped making sound substitutions. There are several sounds which most children haven’t acquired yet by age four, which is typical for their development. But if your child is having difficulty being understood by others, speech therapy may be a good fit.
If you live in the Rogue Valley, visit my contact page to schedule an assessment. Then we can see how your child produces speech sounds and how that compares to other children of the same age, and from there, decide if services are needed.