Have you ever wondered whether your child’s speech is as clear as the speech of other children their age, and whether or not it is normal that you can understand everything your child says but aunt Sheila understands almost nothing they say?
While there is variability in a young child’s speech intelligibility, there are general guidelines for how well a child should be understood by familiar and unfamiliar adults (no surprise, familiar adults understand a young child best!).
Intelligibility Ratings with a Familiar Listener:
| Age | Intelligibility |
| 18 months | 25% intelligible |
| 24 months / 2 years | 50% to 75% intelligible |
| 36 months / 3 years | 75% to 100% intelligible |
| 48 months / 4 years | 100% intelligible |
Intelligibility Ratings with an Unfamiliar Listener:
| Age | Intelligibility |
| 18 months | 10% to 25% intelligible |
| 24 months / 2 years | 25% to 50% intelligible |
| 36 months / 3 years | 50% to 75% intelligible |
| 48 months / 4 years | 75% to 100% intelligible |
| 60 months / 5 years | 100% intelligible |
By 4 to 5 years old, a child’s speech should be clear and easily understood by everyone. Children who are missing sounds from their sound system, say things in an unusual or unpredictable way, or sound like a younger child may need input from a speech and language therapist.
If you would like more information about speech development in children or speech therapy with South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy, please get in touch. Follow us on Facebook for more speech, language and feeding tips and sign up for South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s newsletter if you would like new posts sent directly to your inbox.