Supporting children and families living with verbal dyspraxia

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
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“It’s brill-i-ant, it’s brill-ant, it’s brillnt”

Have you ever wondered why children may pronounce a word correctly one minute and in the next breath they struggle to say the same word? It’s equally as frustrating for you as it is for your child. The biggest question of all is WHY? Why does this happen and what causes it? Whilst there are many explanations. When it persists, it might be a condition called verbal dyspraxia.

What is verbal dyspraxia

Verbal dyspraxia is a neurological motor speech disorder that affects the coordination and planning of muscle movements that are needed for speech production. A child may have difficulty making the precise movements needed for speech, which may result in inconsistent and unintelligible speech. Children may also have trouble sequencing sounds and syllables, producing speech sounds accurately, and coordinating the movements of their articulators (e.g., lips, tongue, teeth, jaw). This can lead to a range of speech errors (including sound distortions, substitutions, omissions, and difficulty with rhythm and prosody).

We know that these speech errors, and not being able to get a message across, can be frustrating for children with speech difficulties. Can you imagine talking and limited people understanding you? It’s so tough on children and the people trying to communicate with them.

Creating a person-centred therapy plan is vital. This allows your child to stay motivated, as intervention is likely to be long term. This planning may include favourite words to use during their hobby or favourite activity, or person-centred goals such as ‘giving Alexa an instruction’.

Children with verbal dyspraxia can have several different ways of producing words, which often makes it trickier for them as there’s no consistent pattern to work with. So, we’ve put together some top tips to support their communication and make their (and your) lives a little easier in the process.

Ten ways to make communication easier for your child with verbal dyspraxia

  • Have a list of frequently used words and practise this set. Little and often is best!
  • Use cued articulation to support speech production (ask your Speech and Language Therapist for the gestures)
  • Give time and use active listening. This means showing interest and trying not to think about what is on your never ending ‘to do’ list
  • Reduce frustration in any way that you can. This might mean allowing your child to demonstrate using gestures rather than speech. You might also give top tips for other adults or children who communicate with your child when out and about
  • Talk about the structure of words with your child (i.e., there are two beats/syllables in this word)
  • Show the written form of the word to go alongside their production
  • Split down tasks, so that your child only has to respond to one question at a time, reducing their motor capacity
  • Recognise when your child is working well and when they may need support of an Alternative and Augmentative Communication device
  • Allow all environments to have the same training and equipment (i.e., at school, home, out and about)
  • Have regular periods in the day where your child can practise their specific words in different environments. This can be effective for children with verbal dyspraxia

Do you still have questions? Contact Sonja for support.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    Unlocking communication: My daily life with the Saltillo 88 Core Board

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    Introduction

    As an AAC speech and language therapist who uses the Saltillo 88 Core board every day, I can tell you it’s more than just a communication tool. It’s a doorway to independence, connection, and expressing my students’ unique voice.

    What is the Saltillo 88 and why do I use this one?

    In this blog post, I want to share practical, real-world examples of how I integrate the Saltillo 88 into various daily activities, empowering my students and parents to learn to communicate.

    There are literally hundreds of core boards out there and I have tried many different ones over the years. Which one should I use with this particular client? Should I make up my own? (I have made up tons!) or should I use a ready-made one like the one below which is what this blog is about.

    For me the best ones are boards with a good number of core words (at least 60) so that the board is versatile and can be used across a range of activities. The board needs to have a range of pronouns, verbs, descriptors, prepositions and question words to be useful and to stimulate not just requesting but commenting and asking questions. Another consideration is: can the board easily be transferred to a more robust AAC system. Once my student is used to the symbols and where they are could we move to an electronic talker/device. And if this answer is ’yes’ then we have a great board to get started with.

    Below is a picture of the Saltillo 88.

    Saltillo 88 Core Board
    Saltillo 88 Core Board

    It has 88 words and I find it really does suit most activities. The same board and design is also then found on the TOUCHCHAT AAC device which can be a seamless transition for our learner.

    Let me dive into how core words/board or AAC can be used daily:

    1.  Getting dressed

    Whilst choosing clothes for your little one and getting them ready for the day you can use the following words: want, like, get, finish. Always pack the words into little phrases you can speak naturally when using a board. I have tried to show you phrases that you could use below.

    The words in bold are the core words on the board and the other words are just words you say whilst pointing to the core word.

    • Goal: Express choices, needs, and preferences about clothing.
    • Ideas:
      • ‘I want this one [specific item of clothing: ‘shirt’, ‘pants’]’
      • ‘I like that one [colour/type of clothing]’
      • ‘Help me [put/get it on/take off]’
      • ‘let’s get your socks now’
      • ‘finished let’s go’ (when dressed)

    2. Having a shower/bath

    • Goal: Bath time tends to happen daily and so it lends itself to using the same useful phrases and words to chat about temperature preferences, to ask for toys or for washing routines.
    • Ideas:
      • ‘let’s go have a bath/shower’
      • ‘let’s turn on the tap/water’
      • ‘now turn it off’
      • ‘let’s get/have more toys/water/bubbles/tickles’
      • ‘all gone, what’s next?’
      • ‘how about washing your hands/feet’
      • ‘let’s do that again’
      • ‘need some help?’
      • ‘Stop it now, let’s do something different’

    3. Mealtimes

    • Goal: Mealtimes can be (or should be) enjoyable and motivating to ask for specific things we like, and commenting about our eating experiences.
    • Ideas:
      • ‘I want/give me [food item: ‘apple’, ‘bread’]/[drink item: ‘water’, ‘juice’]’
      • ‘More foods/drinks/snacks’
      • ‘All done’
      • ‘that’s messy we like that (not)’
      • ‘Like’/‘Don’t like’
      • ‘Big’/‘Little’
      • ‘this is so nice!’

    4. Playing

    • Goal: This is where it’s at for children of course and we can use our core words to chat and engage with our little learners.
    • Ideas:
      • ‘I want play’
      • ‘Go’/‘Stop’
      • ‘More/again’
      • ‘not it’s my My turn’/’it’s Your turn’
      • ‘that’s a Big one!’/‘let’s do Little bubbles’ (describing toys)
      • ‘let me Open it for you’ (for boxes, doors in play)
      • ‘I See it’ (to draw attention)
      • ‘Help me’ (with a tricky toy)

    5. Opening boxes/doors/etc

    • Goal: Most kids love opening boxes, doors and cabinets to see what there is to play with. Help your child to ask for what they want.
    • Ideas:
      • ‘let’s Open that box/bag/zip/door’
      • ‘get me a (toy) out of here’
      • ‘Let’s Take it out and see what it is?’
      • ‘finished’ (when finished with the task)
      • ‘I want [what’s inside]’
      • ‘What’s next? Let’s see’

    Tips for using AAC effectively

    • Consistency is key: Emphasise using it regularly, even for small things.
    • Modelling: this is crucial, the adults need to use the board for all situations first and foremost before we can expect our child to be interested.
    • Patience: Communication takes time and practice.
    • Celebrate successes: Acknowledge every communicative attempt.
    • Make it accessible: Keep the board within easy reach at all times.

    Conclusion

    If you’re considering the Saltillo 88, or TouchChat, or are already using it, I hope these examples inspire you. It’s a journey of discovery, and every word communicated is a step towards a more connected and independent life. What are your favourite ways to use the Saltillo 88 or which core board do you love using? I would love to hear your comments and stories.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • · ·

    When speech difficulties overlap: Helping children with phonological delay and childhood apraxia of speech

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    One of the questions parents often ask is:

    ‘What kind of speech difficulty does my child have?’

    It’s a very understandable question. We often hear different terms such as phonological delay, articulation difficulties, or Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), and it can be confusing.

    The reality is that many children don’t fit neatly into one single category.

    In fact, quite often I see children whose speech profile includes a mixture of difficulties. They might have some phonological patterns (where they substitute one sound for another) alongside challenges with motor speech planning, where coordinating the movements needed for speech is harder.

    When this happens, therapy needs to be flexible, responsive, and tailored to the child sitting in front of us.

    Example

    Recently I filmed a short clip from one of my therapy sessions which shows exactly how this works in practice.

    The child I was working with has difficulties with several speech sounds. Part of the challenge relates to a phonological pattern called fronting.

    Fronting is when sounds that should be made further back in the mouth (like /K/ or /G/) are produced further forward instead.

    At the same time, this child also shows signs of motor speech planning difficulty, which means the brain has to work harder to organise and sequence the movements of the tongue, lips and jaw for speech.

    This type of profile can sometimes overlap with characteristics seen in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).

    When difficulties overlap like this, therapy cannot rely on a single approach. Instead, it needs to draw on multiple evidence-based strategies.

    That is exactly what you see happening in the clip. We started out generalising the /K/ sound which until recently had been replaced by a /T/ sound. Whilst looking at a sound loaded picture of /K/ sounds we somehow got talking about a ‘dent’ (I don’t recall how we got there!) but the ‘dent’ was a ‘det’ and I decided to tackle this there and then because there are other great words that end in ‘nt’ like : ‘count’ ‘giant’ ‘point’ or ‘paint’.

    Using visual cues to support motor planning

    Speech is incredibly complex. For children with motor speech difficulties, the challenge is not only knowing what sound they want to say, but also how to move their mouth to produce it.

    This is where visual cues can be incredibly helpful.

    In the clip, you can see me using a whiteboard with pictures and simple visual prompts. These help to:

    • Focus attention on the target sound
    • Understand where the sound occurs in the word
    • Remember the sequence of sounds needed

    Visual supports can act almost like a map for the mouth, guiding children as they practise new speech movements.

    For children with motor planning difficulties, this type of cueing can make a huge difference.

    Why repetition of a single word (massed practice) is so important

    Another key feature you will notice in the clip is lots of repetition.

    This is very deliberate.

    When we are supporting children with motor speech challenges, the brain needs repeated opportunities to practise the correct movement patterns. Just like learning a musical instrument or a new sport, repetition helps the brain build stronger and more efficient pathways.

    In therapy we call this massed practice.

    Rather than saying a word only once or twice, we practise it many times in a structured way, helping the child stabilise the new speech pattern.

    But repetition alone is not enough. The child also needs to understand why the sound matters.

    Showing children that sounds change meaning

    This is where another powerful therapy approach comes in: minimal pairs.

    Minimal pairs are word pairs that differ by only one sound. For example:

    • debt
    • dent

    In the clip, I use these two words to help the child realise that the /N/ sound makes a meaningful difference.

    Without the /N/, the word becomes something else entirely.

    This approach helps children recognise that speech sounds are not random: they carry meaning. If a sound is missing or substituted, the message may change.

    Helping children notice these differences can be a very motivating moment in therapy. Suddenly the sound is no longer just an abstract exercise; it becomes part of real communication.

    Blending approaches for the best outcomes

    In this short therapy moment, I am combining:

    • Visual cueing

    • Motor speech practice

    • High repetition (massed practice)

    • Minimal pair contrasts

    • Listening and awareness of sound differences

    Each element supports a different part of the speech system.

    Some strategies help with motor planning, others support phonological awareness, and others build accuracy and consistency.

    Together they create a therapy session that is both structured and responsive.

    Every child’s speech journey is unique

    One of the most important things I want to convey is that speech development is not always straightforward.

    Two children may both struggle with speech sounds, yet the underlying reasons may be very different.

    This is why careful assessment is essential, and why therapy needs to stay flexible as we learn more about how a child’s speech system works.

    Sometimes a child needs more motor-based work.

    Sometimes the focus shifts towards phonological contrasts.

    Often, as in this example, the most effective therapy uses both.

    Small steps lead to big progress

    Every session helps us understand a little more about how a child’s speech system works and what support will help them move forward.

    And when the pieces start to come together, when a child realises that one tiny sound can change a whole word, that is when the real progress begins.

    If you are concerned about your child’s speech sounds, clarity of speech, or possible motor speech difficulties, early support can make a significant difference. A detailed assessment can help identify the nature of the difficulty and guide a therapy approach tailored to your child’s individual needs.

    Feel free to contact me on www.londonspeechandfeeding.co.uk

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    Reference

    McNeill, B. C., Gillon, G. T., & Dodd, B. (2009). Effectiveness of an integrated phonological awareness approach for children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 25(3), 341-366.

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  • · ·

    Conquering the ‘slushy’ /S/: Your guide to treating lateral lisps

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Conquering the ‘slushy’ /S/: Your guide to treating lateral lisps

    As a speech therapist, few things are as rewarding as helping a child find their clear, confident voice. Among the various speech sound disorders, the ‘lateral lisp’ – often described as a ‘slushy’ or ‘wet’ /S/ sound – presents a unique challenge. While it can be tricky to treat, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve had significant success in helping children overcome this particular hurdle.

    What is a lateral lisp?

    Most people are familiar with a frontal lisp, where the tongue protrudes between the front teeth, resulting in a /TH/ sound for an /S/ (e.g., ‘thun’ for ‘sun’). A lateral lisp, however, is different. Instead of the air escaping over the front of the tongue, it escapes over the sides, often giving the /S/ and /Z/ sounds a distinct, muffled, or ‘slushy’ quality. This happens because the tongue is not forming the correct central groove, allowing air to spill out laterally.

    The science behind a perfect /S/ vs. a slushy one

    To understand how to fix a lateral lisp, it’s helpful to understand how a ‘perfect’ /S/ sound is made. Imagine a narrow, focused stream of air. For a clear /S/ sound, your tongue forms a shallow groove down its centre, directing a precise, thin stream of air right down the middle, over the tip of your tongue, and out through a tiny opening between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, just behind your front teeth. This focused airflow creates that crisp, sharp /SSSS/ sound we recognise.

    Now, picture what happens with a lateral lisp. Instead of that neat, central channel, the tongue is often flatter or positioned in a way that allows the air to escape over one or both sides. Think of it like a river overflowing its banks – the air, instead of flowing in a controlled stream, spills out sideways, creating that characteristic ‘slushy’ sound. This lateral airflow is what we need to retrain.

    Why is it tricky to treat?

    Treating a lateral lisp can be challenging for a few reasons:

    • Habitual muscle memory: The way the tongue moves and positions itself for a lateral lisp is deeply ingrained. It’s a motor habit that needs to be unlearned and replaced with a new, more precise movement.
    • Subtle differences: The difference between a lateral lisp and a correct /S/ sound can be quite subtle to perceive, both for the child and sometimes even for parents. This makes it harder for the child to self-monitor and correct.
    • Oral motor control: It requires fine motor control of the tongue muscles to create and maintain that central groove for airflow.

    My success with children aged six years and over

    I’ve found great success in treating lateral lisps, particularly with children aged six years and older. Why this age group? By this age, children typically have:

    • Increased awareness: They are more aware of their speech and often more motivated to make changes. They can better perceive the difference between their ‘slushy’ /S/ and a clear one.
    • Improved cognitive skills: They can understand and follow more complex instructions and strategies.
    • Better self-monitoring: Their ability to listen to themselves and correct their own speech improves significantly.
    • Enhanced oral motor control: Their fine motor skills, including those of the tongue, are more developed, allowing for greater precision.

    My approach focuses on a combination of auditory discrimination, tactile cues, and targeted myofunctional exercises to help children ‘feel’ the correct airflow and tongue placement. We use a variety of engaging activities to make the process fun and effective.

    It is crucial to understand tongue functioning and focusing on correcting improper oral resting posture and muscle function, which are often significant contributors to a lateral lisp. For example, if the tongue rests low and wide in the mouth consistently, or if there’s a tongue thrust during swallowing, these habits can prevent the tongue from achieving the precise, midline placement necessary for a clear /S/ or /Z/ sound. Through targeted exercises I aim to re-educate the oral and facial muscles, promoting correct tongue posture at rest, during swallowing, and, ultimately, during speech production. By strengthening the muscles responsible for tongue lifting and encouraging a more appropriate swallowing pattern we can establish the correct oral motor skills needed to overcome a lateral lisp and achieve clearer articulation.

    The recipe for success: Little and often

    The single most crucial ingredient for success in treating a lateral lisp is daily home practice of all the strategies given. This isn’t about long, arduous sessions; it’s about consistency. Think of it like building a muscle: short, frequent workouts yield better results than sporadic, intense ones.

    My recommended formula is ‘little and often’. This means:

    • Short, focused sessions: Aim for 5-10 minutes of practice, 2-3 times a day. This prevents fatigue and keeps the child engaged.
    • Integrate into daily routines: Practise while waiting for dinner, during a car ride, or before bedtime. Make it a natural part of their day.
    • Positive reinforcement: Celebrate every small success! Encouragement goes a long way in building confidence and motivation.
    • Parental involvement: Parents play a vital role in providing consistent cues and encouragement at home. I equip families with clear, easy-to-follow strategies.

    Overcoming a lateral lisp requires dedication, but with the right guidance and consistent practice, a clear, confident /S/ sound is achievable. If your child is struggling with a ‘slushy’ /S/, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we can achieve success!

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    Why ‘Prosody’ Matters in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    Prosody refers to the ‘music’ of speech — the rhythm, pitch, stress, and volume that convey meaning and emotion beyond the literal words themselves. Think about a monotone statement like ‘Really?’ compared to one with a rising inflection, expressing genuine curiosity.

    When I work with children on producing speech sound sequences, we focus on mastering individual sounds and then putting them together into target words. A crucial element that can significantly impact a child’s speech production is ‘prosody’.

    In CAS, where the difficulty lies in planning and executing the motor movements for speech, prosody can be a powerful tool for producing clearer words and phrases.

    Here’s why working on prosody is an essential tool in CAS speech therapy:

    1.  It aids Motor Learning:

    Apraxia of Speech means that the planning and execution of speech movements are impaired. When we use exaggerated intonation or stress patterns while modelling words, we are providing additional prosodic variation and, therefore, additional auditory cues. These cues often help my student to carry out the correct motor movements for a word or syllable sequence.

    For instance, I might say ‘ball’ with a high-pitched emphasis on the ‘b’ sound. This auditory cue might be more effective in guiding the child’s tongue placement than simply repeating the word without variation.

    In this little video clip I get my student to say the word ‘snuggle’ (since we were working on that particular sound sequence: snuggle, snout, snore and sneeze) with a high voice and then a lower voice ‘like a bear’ — again it provides that extra auditory cue, but, in addition, the fun aspect also helps to take away the intense focus on a tricky movement pattern.

    By now the new pathways have been laid through repeated practice and now automaticity takes over and without too much effort my student can suddenly produce a motor pattern. It’s magical when it happens and gives me such a thrill.

    2. It makes speech more engaging and natural sounding:

    Children with CAS often sound robotic or flat due to challenges with prosodic elements. By incorporating variations in pitch, volume, and rhythm during therapy, we can help achieve a more natural flow of speech

    3. It makes it easier to express our emotions:

    Children with CAS often struggle to express themselves emotionally; partly through the difficulty of producing clear words — period, but also in addition due to the difficulties or absence of musicality and rhythm in their speech.

    Therefore, it is so important to incorporate activities focused on practising different emotions with varied intonation patterns. This can really empower our students to put emotions into their words.

    Good words to practise are fun words like ‘Wow!’ or ‘Yeiih’ or power words and phrases like ‘No!’ or ‘Gimme that’ etc.

    Making Therapy Fun and Engaging:

    Speech therapy for CAS doesn’t have to be all drills and exercises (though to be fair sometimes we can’t quite get round to making each and every word huge fun though we try…).

    I aim to make all my sessions fun and have intrinsic rewards built into the speech practice where possible.

    Home practice tips:

    Therapy shouldn’t exist in a bubble. Working on prosody during sessions is crucial, but it’s equally important to integrate these skills into everyday interactions. Parents and caregivers can model appropriate prosody during playtime, story time, or even simple conversations. This consistent reinforcement helps our children to generalise their newfound skills and use them naturally in their daily lives.

    • Sing songs and rhymes: Songs naturally incorporate variations in pitch and rhythm. Singing familiar songs and creating silly rhymes can be a delightful way to practise prosody.
    • Use puppets and toys: Assign different voices and personalities to puppets or toys. This encourages children to experiment with pitch and volume to differentiate characters.
    • Read aloud with enthusiasm: Model expressive reading, varying your voice for different characters and emphasising key words. This makes reading time engaging and helps children understand the power of prosody.

    Please feel free to contact me if your child has speech sound difficulties. It is my passion. I love supporting children with apraxia.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    Five ways to increase confidence and reduce frustration in children with speech and language and communication difficulties

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    An orange speech bubble with a testimonial

    Your child’s speech, language and communication difficulties may impact their self-esteem. And they may show signs of increased frustration. You want them to be full of confidence, increasing their participation in school and fully engaging with their peers.

    1. Practise active listening

    Speech difficulties can mean that it’s more challenging to understand what your child says. It’s important to show that you’re paying attention, giving them time to express themselves. Focus on what your child says rather than how they are speaking. Remember to maintain eye contact, and actively listen. Active listening and giving time can be trickier than it sounds. I can provide strategies to support your active listening skills.

    2. Give other means and forms of communication

    Allowing children to express themselves in a variety of ways (e.g., gesture, signs, written, use descriptions to describe a word (e.g., sand – you find it out the beach, it can have pebbles on it, it’s not the sea), use of symbols or high-tech augmentative communication methods such as a computer). Using different ways is vital in reducing frustration and communicating their message. If you’re unsure of what other forms of communication you can use, please contact me for some top tips.

    3. Praise efforts

    Providing specific praise allows your child to understand what they’ve achieved. E.g., you could praise the way your child listens, or how they take turns, or their resilience (e.g., “I like the way you listened” or “good listening”). Think of different ways you could praise you child during different activities, so you are prepared with phrases that you can use.

    4. Have clear start and end points in activities

    Some children with speech, language and communication needs have difficulties with transitioning from one activity to another. They also have difficulties with changes in routine. This can add to their frustration and changes in behaviour. So, how do you show a clear start and end to an activity? You can have a visual timetable, or you could have ‘start’ and ‘finish’ boxes where you place all the materials in the box labelled ‘start’. And once the activity has finished, you put the items in the box labelled ’finished’. If you need support with transitions, please contact me.

    5. Use visuals

    Visuals can support your child to understand routine and spoken language. Visuals can range from symbols to online images, to photographs, or a combination. Explore which type of visuals work well for your children. Using visuals can be powerful if used correctly. Make the most of the opportunities that visuals can provide for your family.

    Increase confidence and reduce frustration in children with speech and language and communication difficulties today. Please feel free to contact me if you need any support or tips on maximising these opportunities.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    The power of babble: Why your baby’s ‘talk’ matters

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    That adorable string of ‘ba-ba-ga-ga-ma-ma’ might sound like baby gibberish, but it’s actually a crucial milestone in your little one’s language development. Babbling or babble, as we call it, is far more than just cute baby noises. It’s a sequence of sounds that lays the foundation for future communication.

    Image by freepik

    What is babbling?

    Babbling typically begins around six months of age, though the timing can vary slightly from baby to baby. It involves your baby experimenting with different sounds, stringing together consonants and vowels. You might hear them repeating sounds like:

    • ‘Ba-ba’
    • ‘Da-da’
    • ‘Ma-ma’
    • ‘Ga-ga’

    As they progress, the babbling becomes more complex, with variations in pitch, rhythm, and intonation. It might even sound like they’re having a conversation with you!

    Why is babbling so important?

    1. Laying the groundwork for speech: Babbling is like a vocal workout for your baby. By practising these sounds, they’re strengthening the muscles in their mouth, tongue, and vocal cords that are essential for speech.
    2. Developing phonological skills: Through babbling, babies begin to understand the sound patterns of their native language. They’re learning which sounds go together and how they’re used.
    3. Enhancing social interaction: Babbling is a social activity. Babies often babble back and forth with their caregivers, which helps them learn about the give-and-take of communication.
    4. Cognitive development: The act of babbling requires babies to use their brains in new ways. They’re learning to control their vocalisations, pay attention to the sounds they’re making, and connect those sounds to the responses they receive from others.

    How can you encourage babbling?

    • Talk to your baby: Even though they can’t understand your words yet, talking to your baby exposes them to language and encourages them to respond with their own vocalisations.
    • Imitate their sounds: When your baby babbles, imitate them! This shows them that you’re paying attention and encourages them to keep ‘talking.’
    • Respond to their babbling: Treat your baby’s babbling as if it’s a real conversation. Respond with words, smiles, and gestures.
    • Play sound games: Make different sounds for your baby and encourage them to imitate you. This could include animal sounds, silly noises, or simple words.
    • Read to your baby: Even before they can understand the words, reading to your baby exposes them to the rhythm and sounds of language.
    • Sing songs: Singing is a fun and engaging way to introduce your baby to new sounds and words.
    • Use mirrors: Babies often enjoy watching themselves make sounds in a mirror.
    • Tactile stimulation: Gentle massage around the mouth and face can increase oral awareness and encourage vocalisations.
    • Vary textures: Offer different textured teethers.
    • Read books with sound effects: Choose books with animal sounds or other engaging noises.
    • Blow bubbles: The act of blowing and popping bubbles can encourage vocalisations.
    • Use visual aids: Show pictures of objects and say their names, emphasising the consonant sounds.
    • Use exaggerated facial expressions: When you make sounds, exaggerate your mouth movements to help your baby see how sounds are made.
    • Increase joint attention: Follow the child’s gaze and point to objects that they are looking at and say the name of the object.

    When to seek help

    If you notice that your baby is not babbling by eight months, it’s a good idea to talk to your speech and language therapist. You might also notice a lack of variation in tone when your child is making sounds, is your baby sounding a little ‘flat’ or monotonous? While every child develops at their own pace, a lack of babbling can sometimes indicate a developmental delay or hearing issue.

    Remember, babbling is a gift. So, enjoy those precious moments of ‘baby talk’ and take comfort in knowing that your little one is on the path to becoming a chatterbox!

    Do get in touch via my contact form if you are concerned about your child’s development or if you simply want some reassurance that your baby is developing well. We will be delighted to arrange a screening appointment for you and give you support and reassurance.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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