Medial DR Blend Words for Speech Therapy

This page lists 14 DR Blend words that have the /dr/ sound in the middle, including children, hundred, address, bedroom, hundreds, andrew, laundry, andromeda, withdraw, wardrobe.

Most children master the /dr/ blend by age 7. Blends arrive after the sounds they are made of: the /D/ and /R/ sounds each have to be reliable on their own before the cluster will hold, which is also the order to practise them in. Two-sound blends are generally in place somewhere between ages 4 and 7, tracking the sounds inside them — the ones containing /L/ or /R/ come in later than the rest.

Do not over-correct the slightly "jr" quality of this blend; it is how fluent speakers say it. Practise instead on the /r/ half being present at all: "duh-rrr-agon" slowed down, then blended. A "dwagon" is a /r/ problem, not a /dr/ problem.

The most common /dr/ errors are: Cluster reduction — producing only the /D/ sound and dropping the rest of the blend. This is by far the most common blend error.; Cluster reduction — producing only the /R/ sound and dropping the rest of the blend. This is by far the most common blend error.; Gliding — the /R/ inside the blend turning into a /W/, so the cluster keeps both sounds but loses the /R/.; The two sounds running together into something close to /J/. Ordinary American speech does this in /dr/, so it is a feature of the blend rather than a mistake to correct..

Break words into syllables and have your child practice the syllable containing the /dr/ sound first, then put the word back together. Medial position words can be trickier because the /dr/ sound is surrounded by other sounds. Slow the word down so your child can feel each part.