Speech Sound Development Checklist
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Instructions: Answer all questions up to your child’s current age bracket by answering ‘Yes’ or ‘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
Making cooing sounds.
0-6
months
Turning towards sounds.
Responding with eye contact when they hear an adult talking or when making sounds.
Making cooing sounds.
Turning towards sounds.
6-12
months
Responding with eye contact when they hear an adult talking or when making sounds.
Babbling
Repeating sounds (e.g. ‘mamama’).
Babbling
Repeating sounds (e.g. ‘mamama’).
1-2 years
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/.
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
2-3 years
‘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’).
Yes
No
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’).
3-4 years
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).
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’.
4-5 years
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’).
Saying longer words and non-stressed syllables are deleted from words (e.g. “elephant”
becomes ‘ephant’).
5-6 years
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.
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’).
6-7 years
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).
Saying the voiceless ‘th’ sound (as in ‘thank you’) (i.e. replaces it with a /f/ sound).
7-8 years
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.
Kid Sense Child Development Corporation Pty Ltd © 2017