What is an articulation disorder?

An articulation disorder is a communication disorder in which a child has difficulty producing certain sounds. In early childhood, certain articulation errors are age appropriate. However, if errors persist past developmentally appropriate time periods then those errors are considered to be an articulation disorder.

What happens in articulation treatment?

Articulation therapy involves learning about the speech mechanism, building awareness of correct and incorrect productions, and exercises and drill-based practice to retrain the speech mechanism with the goal of the correct sound production generalizing into conversational speech.

What is a phonological disorder?

Phonological processes are patterns younger children use to simplify speech. Like articulation errors, phonological processes are considered age appropriate in younger children and should disappear by age five. If errors persist past the age they are developmentally appropriate, it is considered a phonological disorder.

What happens in phonological therapy?

Similar to articulation therapy, phonological therapy involves learning about the speech mechanism, building awareness of the error patterns of incorrect productions, and exercises and drill-based practice. The goal is to resolve all phonological processes so the child does not display them in conversation.

Learn More/Resources

https://www.wpspublish.com/types-of-phonological-processes#:~:text=Phonological%20processes%3A%20patterns%20of%20sound,and%20jaw%20for%20clear%20speech.

https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/articulation-and-phonology/selected-phonological-processes/