What does speech sound therapy focus on?

We assess the sounds and patterns affecting your child's clarity, then practice specific speech targets in words, sentences, and everyday conversation.

When should I ask about speech sound therapy?

If you are concerned about how clearly your child speaks, an assessment can help determine whether support would be useful and which approach fits their needs.

How long does articulation or phonological therapy take?

Duration varies by individual. Some children see improvement within a few months, while others with more complex patterns may benefit from longer-term support.

Speech Sound Therapy in Vancouver, BC

Speech sound therapy for clearer communication

We help children practice the sounds and sound patterns that make their speech hard to understand. After an assessment, we choose targets that matter for your child and build practice into words, sentences, and everyday conversation.

If you are looking for signs and explanations first, read about speech sound difficulties and lisps. Children whose speech is inconsistent may need a different approach; learn about apraxia of speech.

How speech-language therapy helps

At West End Speech, we help children:

learn how to make sounds correctly
learn when to use sounds in words
improve speech clarity
become easier to understand at home and school

Speech sound difficulties can also affect reading and spelling. Children who struggle to hear or produce certain sounds may have trouble connecting sounds to letters, which is a key skill for literacy.

Our approach

Therapy is planned around each child’s specific difficulties. Depending on the type and severity of the speech sound disorder, we may use:

For articulation disorders

direct instruction on how to position the tongue, lips, and jaw
visual, auditory, and tactile cues to support sound production
practice moving from sounds in isolation to words, sentences, and conversation

For phonological disorders

activities targeting the patterns affecting your child’s speech, such as final consonant deletion or cluster reduction
minimal pair therapy, where your child practices words that differ by one sound (e.g., “tea” vs. “key”) to build awareness of how sound changes affect meaning
cycles-based approaches for children with multiple patterns

For all children, therapy is play-based and interactive, using games, books, and activities that keep your child engaged.

What to expect

Assessment

Therapy begins with an assessment, where we listen to your child’s speech, identify which sounds or patterns are affected, and determine how well they are understood by others. We also consider your child’s age, language development, and communication needs.

Therapy sessions

Sessions are typically 30–45 minutes and may include:

structured practice of target sounds
games and play activities that create opportunities for practice
home practice activities so your child can continue building skills between sessions

Parent involvement

We work closely with parents and caregivers throughout the process. You will learn strategies to support your child’s speech development at home and at school. See how articulation therapy helped a bilingual child with cleft palate history improve her speech clarity alongside selective mutism treatment.

How to get started

If you’re concerned about your child’s speech clarity, contact us to book an assessment. We see kids online across BC and in-home around Vancouver, in English and French.

Speech Sound Therapy