Articulation and Phonological Disorders
When a child has a speech disorder such as an articulation or phonological disorder, they are unable to produce, initiate, or imitate speech sounds correctly or fluently. Speech disorders can affect a child’s ability to communicate, decrease their self-confidence, and have been correlated with later language and reading disabilities.
We expect a child to be understood by:
18 months: 25% intelligible
24 months: 50-75% intelligible
36 months: 75% intelligible
By age 4, children should be 100% intelligible
(Gleason, 1988).
A speech delay simply means that there is a slower rate of development than expected. Here are some characteristics of children that present with a speech delay:
- They have difficulty acquiring a variety of consonant sounds as quickly as expected
- They don’t sounds like children their age
- They struggle to be understood
Kindergarten children should be 90-95% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners.
Articulation
The phonetic level is the motor act of producing the vowels and consonants (the sounds), so that we have an inventory all the sounds we need in order to speak our language(s).
Articulation vs. Phonological
source=https://www.amyspeechlanguagetherapy.com/articulation-vs-phonological.html
Phonological Process
Both can put a child at risk for writing and reading disorders.
Please remember acquisition of sounds is variable from child to child, which is why there is a large range for some sounds. If a child does not have /k/ or /g/ at the beginning of Kindergarten, it will most likely develop naturally IF there are no other sounds errors. Please be aware of some of the following red flags for articulation that require immediate referral:
The phonological or phonemic level is the brainwork that organizes the speech sounds into the sound patterns to be produced. The sounds need to contrast with each other, or be distinct from one another, so that we can make sense when we talk.
Articulation (phonetic) disorder is a speech sound disorder that affects the PHONETIC level. The child has difficulty saying particular consonants and vowels. The reason for this may be unknown (e.g., children with functional speech disorders who do NOT have serious problems with muscle function); or the reason may be known (e.g., children with dysarthria who DO have serious problems with muscle function).
A phonological disorder is a speech sound disorder that affects the PHONOLOGICAL (phonemic) level. The child has difficulty organizing their speech sounds into a system of sound patterns (phonemic patterns).
The difference between an Articulation and a Phonological disorder; An articulation disorder is the child’s difficulty at a phonetic/motoric level. They have trouble making the individual speech sounds. A phonological disorder is a child’s difficulty at their phonemic level (in their brain). This “phonemic level” is sometimes referred to as “the linguistic level” or “a cognitive level”.