Difficulties saying certain sounds or words clearly, so a child’s speech is harder to understand than expected for their age.

A motor‑planning speech disorder where the brain has trouble coordinating the mouth movements needed for talking, so sounds and words come out inconsistently or with great effort.

Difficulties physically making specific speech sounds because the lips, tongue or jaw are not moving in the usual way.

Difficulties using sound patterns in words, where a child can make a sound on its own but uses the wrong sound or leaves sounds out when talking (for example “tee” for “key”).

When a child starts using words and sentences later than most children their age, even though their understanding and other development may be otherwise typical.

Trouble understanding language, such as following instructions, answering questions, or making sense of longer sentences and stories.

Trouble using words and sentences to express thoughts, needs, and ideas, which might sound like short, simple sentences or searching for words.

Challenges using language to interact with others, such as taking turns in conversation, reading body language, staying on topic, or understanding jokes and social rules.

Interruptions in the flow of speech, such as repeating sounds or words, stretching sounds out, or getting “stuck” when trying to talk.

Ongoing challenges learning to read and spell, including recognising letters and sounds, sounding out words, and understanding what is read.

Trouble putting ideas into writing, including organising sentences, spelling, grammar, and getting thoughts onto the page in a clear way.

Concerns with how a child’s voice sounds, such as it being persistently hoarse, croaky, strained, too loud, too soft, or very high or low in pitch.

A specific, lifelong learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and spelling, often linked to problems recognising word sounds (phonemes) and breaking words into parts (segmenting, blending), despite regular teaching and typical intelligence.