What Is Speech Therapy?

An Introduction for Parents

If you're reading this, chances are you're wondering whether your child might need support with their speech—and you're not alone.

Many parents feel uncertain when their child isn’t speaking as clearly as their peers or when others struggle to understand them. It’s completely normal to feel confused, worried, or even overwhelmed. That’s where speech therapy comes in—it's not just about “fixing” sounds; it's about supporting your child to express themselves with confidence and clarity.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through:

• What speech therapy is

• The different types of speech difficulties

• How therapists like me approach helping children

• How Barbara Dodd’s research helps us make sense of speech sound problems

Let’s start from the beginning.

What Is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy supports children who have difficulties with:

• Saying sounds clearly (speech)

• Understanding language and putting words together to make sentences (language)

• Using and understanding words in social situations (communication)

Some children may also need support with stammering, voice quality, or feeding and swallowing, but for now, let’s focus on speech—how children pronounce words.

What Are Speech Difficulties?

There are different reasons why a child might not be speaking clearly. Here are a few of the main ones:

1. Delayed Speech Development

Some children follow the typical pattern of sound development but are a little behind. These children might be described as having a “speech delay.” They may grow out of it naturally—or may need a bit of support to catch up.

2. Phonological Disorders

This is a common reason for unclear speech, especially if lots of words are affected. Phonology refers to the sound patterns in a language—so a phonological disorder means the child isn’t using these patterns in the typical way.

For example, your child might say “tat” for “cat” or “lellow” for “yellow.” These aren't random mistakes—they follow patterns. Barbara Dodd, a leading expert in speech sound disorders, has helped us understand that these patterns are part of different speech error types, which we’ll get to shortly.

3. Articulation Difficulties

Some children struggle to make specific speech sounds—like the “s” sound in “sun” or the “r” in “rabbit.” This is more about how the sounds are physically made with the tongue, lips, and jaw.

4. Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

This is a rarer speech difficulty where children know what they want to say, but the messages from their brain to their mouth get mixed up. Speech may sound inconsistent, effortful, or unusual in rhythm.

How Do Speech Therapists Help?

Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) tailor their approach to the type of speech difficulty a child has. We don’t just work on saying sounds over and over—we look at the bigger picture, including how your child plays, understands, and uses language.

Using Barbara Dodd’s model, we can group speech difficulties into five main categories:

1. Articulation disorder – Difficulty making specific sounds.

2. Phonological delay – Using younger speech patterns for their age.

3. Consistent phonological disorder – Speech errors that follow patterns but aren’t age-typical.

4. Inconsistent phonological disorder – Errors vary from word to word with no clear pattern.

5. Childhood Apraxia of Speech – As mentioned, difficulties with motor planning for speech.

Knowing which type your child has helps us plan the most effective support.

Therapy Approaches Might Include:

• Play-based activities to practise sounds in fun, engaging ways

• Listening and awareness games to help children hear the difference between sounds

• Visual cues or signs to support tricky sound combinations

• Structured programmes like Minimal Pairs, Core Vocabulary, or Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme, depending on the child’s needs

The most important part? Making sure your child feels supported, successful, and motivated.

Final Thoughts

Speech therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all—and your child is not “behind” or “wrong.” They’re simply developing in their own way and might need some extra support to communicate clearly.

If you're concerned, it’s never too early (or too late) to reach out. A short conversation with a speech therapist can help clarify what’s going on and what the next steps might be.

On my website, you’ll find more about how I work, as well as blogs and resources to help you feel more confident in supporting your child’s speech journey.

If you’d like to chat about your child’s speech, I’d love to hear from you.