What is an Articulation Disorder

If your child’s speech is hard to understand, your child might be diagnosed with an Articulation Disorder or Phonological Disorder. These are “Functional Speech Sound Disorders”. WHOA!! Okay, so what is all that?

Articulation Disorder: An Articulation Disorder is speech production characterized by errors, substitutions, or distortions. Have you found yourself saying, “He knows what he wants to say but we just can’t understand him.” Articulation Disorders are very common in our preschool to school aged kiddos. Often times parents don’t realize they can get therapy to their child have more intelligible speech. If your child’s speech is hard to understand your child may be exhibiting an Articulation Disorder. If you think your child may have an articulation disorder, call your pediatrician,  he/she can refer you to a local speech language pathologist for an evaluation. This will help ease your mind and set your child on the path for success

Phonological Disorder. I often think of the kiddos who we snicker at when they say “titty tat” for “kitty cat.” Well, that is actually a phonological process called fronting, producing /t/ for /k/. Phonological processes show a pattern of errors and can make your child’s speech highly unintelligible. Children with Phonological Disorders often times will use their friends or close family members as translator because very few people understand what they are saying. It is best for these kiddos to get into treatment early on. The longer they use a phonological process the harder the habit is to break.

Articulation Disorders and Phonological Disorders often times go hand in hand so, you may hear the umbrella term “Speech Sound Disorder.” Whether it is an Articulation Disorder or a Phonological Disorder, if your child has a Speech Sound Disorder it is best to seek an evaluation and treatment as soon as you notice his/her speech is hard to understand.

If you think your child may have a Speech Sound Disorder, contact a local speech language pathologist for an evaluation