Cluster Reduction
A pattern where blends (more than one consonant sound next to each other) are simplified, such as saying "pider" for "spider," or "fing" for "swing." To kids, I call these blends "sound buddies," because these sounds are happier when they have their buddy instead of being alone. (Learn more below.)
Click on your child's target pattern below.
(Ask your speech therapist if you're not sure!)
Ex: says "pot" for "spot"
Ex: says "bot" for "spot"
coming soon
Ex: says "tar" for "star"
Ex: says "dar" for "star"
coming soon
Ex: says "cool" for "school"
Ex: says "gool" for "school"
coming soon
Ex: says "mall" for "small"
Ex: says "no" for "snow"
Ex: says "wing" for "swing"
Ex: says "fing" for "swing"
coming soon
Ex: says "lide" for "slide"
Learn more about patterns of speech:
Patterns of speech (also called "phonological processes") are useful when we're young! To communicate, babies and toddlers simplify speech as they build their verbal skills (like saying "nana" for "banana." As we get older, it is expected that our speech skills progress and these patterns fade. If the patterns persist longer than expected, a speech therapist can help.
When working on patterns of speech (like cluster reduction), it's important to help your child understand the meaning sounds carry (instead of only teaching how to correctly produce a sound*). Why? Because
Phonemes (aka speech sounds) are the smallest meaningful parts of speech.
Ex: If I change one sound, like the /k/ in "cat" to a /b/, I get a word with whole new meaning: "bat."
An approach called Minimal Pairs (where you focus on two words at a time that are different only by one sound) can help build your child's comprehension of the sound meaning.
The links above will provide you with some pairs of words to practice with your child, but you can also use the spirit of this approach in your conversations occasionally: "You said top. Top is the opposite of bottom, like the top of my head (pat or point to the top of your head). I think you meant stop. Sure, let's stop and watch the ducks for a bit."
*This is different than traditional articulation therapy. For example, when someone has a slight lisp on the "S" sound, them saying "S" with that different tongue placement doesn't usually change the meaning of the word, just how it sounds. In this situation, speech therapy would focus more on helping them build the muscle memory to produce "S" with a specific tongue placement/airflow rather than focusing on helping them understand the meaning of the "S" sound in words.
P.S. You might hear "consonant clusters" or "blends." Both refer to two or three adjacent consonants in a word: "cluster" refers to the written form and "blend" refers to the spoken form. The difference is not insanely important to keep track of, this is just a note so you aren't confused if you hear both terms.
