SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS - ARTICULATION & PHONOLOGY
Additional Information
SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS (ARTICULATION & PHONOLOGY)
It is very common for most children to make mistakes as they are learning to say new words. However, a speech sound disorder is obvious when mistakes continue past a certain age. Each sound in our language has a different range of ages as to when the sound should be produced correctly. Speech sound disorders include problems with making the sounds (articulation), and difficulty with sound patterns (phonological processes). Adults may also experience speech sound disorders due to the continuation of problems from childhood, or the speech sound disorder may develop after a stroke or head injury.
Articulation Disorders
As mentioned above, an articulation disorder occurs when there is a problem making sounds accurately. These sounds can either be substituted, left off, added or change. These are all errors that make it harder for the listener to understand you. Young children make all types of speech errors. But it is when the child produces these errors past the expected age, that an articulation disorder diagnosis is made. However, not all sound substitutions are speech errors. Some may be related to an accent or a feature of a dialect.
It is important to target the goals necessary as soon as possible within the age range. When a sound is misarticulated and not treated, it becomes more challenging to understand the children as they get older. This can cause social skills issues if the child is not understood by his or her peers.
Phonological Disorders
A phonological disorder is different than an articulation disorder as this involves patterns of sound errors. For example, if a child is producing the sounds in the back of the mouth, in the front of the mouth. Some words in the English language start with two consonants, such as floor or spoon. If a child is only producing one of those two consonants, it becomes more challenging for the listener to understand what the child is saying. Although it is common for some young children to leave one of the sounds out of the words, it should not be expected when the child gets older. This is called cluster reduction and a child who continues to demonstrate such may have a phonological process disorder which should be treated immediately.
Evaluation of Speech Sound Disorders:
When evaluating a child for a speech sound disorder, the speech-language pathologist will listen to the person and may also use a formal articulation test in order to record the sound errors produced. Additionally, an oral-mechanism examination may be conduced in order to determine whether all the muscles of the oral mechanism (mouth, tongue, teeth) are working correctly. The speech therapist will also evaluate their development of language to determine their overall communication functioning. If the sound is not appropriate for the child's age and is not a feature of a dialect, then the speech therapist will recommend treatment services.
***IMPORTANT TO KNOW: An accent is not a speech or language disorder. It is a unique way that speech is produced by a certain group of people who speak the same language. At KidsCare, accent modification services are offered if a client wishes to modify or reduce their accent.
At KidsCare, speech therapists will provide treatment to improve the articulation of specific sounds or sound patterns specific to your child. In relation to articulation, treatment may include learning to recognize the correct and incorrect way to produce a sound, practicing the same sound in different words, or imitating the clinician to learn the correct way to produce the sound.
Causes of Speech Sound Disorders:
Most speech sound disorders occur with no known cause. it may be the child did not learn the rules of speech on their own, or that the child never learned how to produce the sounds correctly. In some cases, the child may outgrow it on their own, if not then the child will need speech services to learn correct speech sound production. However, according to ASHA, some errors may result from physical problems, such as: developmental disorders (e.g.,autism),genetic syndromes (e.g., Down syndrome), hearing loss, illness, and neurological disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy). Additionally, if a child had frequent ear infections at a younger age, the child may be more prone to have a speech sound disorder if those ear infections were accompanied by some degree of a hearing loss.
***By the age of 8, children should be able to produce all sounds in English correctly.***