Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonological
Processes
What are speech sound disorders?
Most children make some mistakes as they learn to say new
words. A speech sound disorder occurs when mistakes continue past
a certain age. Every sound has a different range of ages when the
child should make the sound correctly.
Speech sound disorders
include problems with
articulation
(making sounds) and
phonological processes
(sound patterns).
To learn more about typical speech sound development, see
How Does Your
Child Hear and Talk? and
Literacy and Communication: Expectations From Kindergarten
Through Fifth Grade.
Can adults have speech sound disorders?
Adults can also have speech sound disorders. Some adults
continue to have problems from childhood, while others may
develop speech problems after a
stroke
or
head injury. To learn more about adult speech disorders, see
apraxia of
speech
and
dysarthria.
What are some signs of an articulation disorder?
An
articulation disorder
involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left
off, added or changed. These errors may make it hard for people
to understand you.
Young children often make speech errors. For instance, many
young children sound like they are making a "w" sound
for an "r" sound (e.g., "wabbit" for
"rabbit") or may leave sounds out of words, such as
"nana" for "banana." The child may have an
articulation disorder if these errors continue past the expected
age.
Not all sound substitutions and omissions are speech errors.
Instead, they may be related to a feature of a dialect or accent.
For example, speakers of African American Vernacular English
(AAVE) may use a "d" sound for a "th" sound
(e.g., "dis" for "this"). This is not a
speech sound disorder, but rather one of the phonological
features of AAVE.
To see the age range during which most children develop each
sound, visit
Talking
Child's speech chart.
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What are some signs of a phonological disorder?
A
phonological process disorder
involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all
sounds made in the back of the mouth like "k" and
"g" for those in the front of the mouth like
"t" and "d" (e.g., saying "tup" for
"cup" or "das" for "gas").
Another rule of speech is that some words start with two
consonants, such as broken or spoon. When children don't
follow this rule and say only one of the sounds
("boken" for broken or "poon" for spoon), it
is more difficult for the listener to understand the child. While
it is common for young children learning speech to leave one of
the sounds out of the word, it is not expected as a child gets
older. If a child continues to demonstrate such cluster
reduction, he or she may have a phonological process
disorder.
To see the ages at which phonological processes should
disappear, go to
Typical Speech Development: The Gradual Acquisition of the Speech
Sound System.
How are speech sound disorders diagnosed?
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) is the professional that
evaluates children or adults with speech and language
difficulties. The SLP listens to the person and may use a formal
articulation test to record sound errors. An
oral mechanism examination
is also done to determine whether the muscles of the mouth are
working correctly. The SLP may recommend speech treatment if the
sound is not appropriate for the child's age or if it is not
a feature of a dialect or accent. For children, the SLP often
also evaluates their language development to determine overall
communication functioning.
What if I speak more than one language? Is my accent a speech
sound disorder?
An accent is the unique way that speech is pronounced by a
group of people speaking the same language. Accents are a natural
part of spoken languages. It is important to realize that no
accent is better than another. Accents are
NOT
a speech or language disorder. An SLP can work on
accent
modification
services if a client wishes to reduce or modify his or her
accent.
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What treatments are available for people with speech sound
disorders?
SLPs provide treatment to improve articulation of individual
sounds or reduce errors in production of sound patterns.
Articulation treatment may involve demonstrating how to
produce the sound correctly, learning to recognize which sounds
are correct and incorrect, and practicing sounds in different
words. Phonological process treatment may involve teaching the
rules of speech to individuals to help them say words
correctly.
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See Also:
Speech Sound Disorders: Causes and Number
Speech Sound Disorders: Benefits of Speech-Language
Pathology Services