Let’s make some wavesSpeech Sound Disorder Awareness Day
This year’s Speech Sound Disorder Awareness Day is on Wednesday 18th November 2026!
Make sure to follow us on instagram at radissd_123 and Linkedin at tbc, to share and support us as we make some waves to raise awareness of speech sound disorder
SSD Awareness Day will be annually,
every third Wednesday in November
Speech sound disorder influences how well a child, young person or adult says sounds in words. This means that others have difficulty understanding what he, she or they say/s
Speech development (alongside use of expressive language) is one of the most common concerns for parents and educators in 4-5 year olds compared to other areas of child development important for learning (McLeod et al. 2015). This is because how we use sounds in speech directly effects our ability to spell and read words, sentences and stories.
When speech sound disorder is moderate to severe and persists beyond the age of 8-years, children and young people can have problems succeeding at school, making friends and feeling secure. These children and young people have a greater risk of later mental health problems because of their speech sound disorder (Wren et al. 2016, Wren et al. 2021, Wren et al. 2023)
Check out our Raising Awareness of Dosage in Speech sound Disorder (RADiSSD) webpage for videos and more information about speech sound disorder
What helps?
Speech and language therapy works BUT to work well, children and their families MUST receive:
Therapy early
The right amount of therapy:
The right amount of practise in therapy sessions
The right number of therapy sessions
Enough overall therapy sessions
The right type of therapy for their type of speech sound disorder
Therapy on the right speech sounds
The purpose of the Speech Sound Disorder Awareness day is to help raise awareness of speech sound disorder and its impact, and help drive speech and language therapy services to give these children and young people the right therapy, in the right amount, at the right time to improve their lives and that of their families.
This is important for these children and their families so that children can reach their potential, and also because it means that the NHS is used more efficiently - all reducing the costs of speech sound disorder for the child, their family, and saving resource use in education and the NHS.
Information and activity sheets
Click on the buttons to download information on speech sound disorder and activity sheets you can try in school and at home to raise awareness of speech sound disorder and the importance of speech and language therapy
What could you do to get your friends and family talking about speech sound disorder and how important the right speech and language therapy is for children and young people who experience it?
