Speech Sound Disorders
Articulation Disorders
An articulation disorder is when a child has trouble saying certain sounds the right way. This isn’t unusual in young children, but if those mistakes continue past age 5, it might be an articulation disorder.
Phonological Disorders
Phonological processes are patterns of sound errors that young children use to simplify speech as they are learning to talk. These patterns are normal at certain ages. For example, it's normal for a 2-year-old to say “nana” instead of “banana.” But if your child keeps using these patterns past the age when most kids have grown out of them, it might be a phonological disorder.
What’s the Difference?
In articulation disorders, a child has trouble physically making a specific sound (like not being able to say “s” correctly).
In phonological disorders, a child can usually make the sound, but uses it incorrectly in patterns — it’s more about how their brain is organizing speech sounds.
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