This document discusses articulation development, differences, and disorders. It defines articulation disorders as difficulties producing speech sounds that can cause substitutions, omissions, additions, or distortions of sounds. Phonological disorders involve problems applying the sound rules of a language. Articulation disorders are common and have various causes like structural impairments, functional impairments, or unknown etiologies. Assessment of articulation involves testing sounds at the word and sentence level as well as in connected speech. Treatment aims to improve accuracy of target sounds across linguistic contexts.

1. Articulation Development, Differences and Disorders COMSDIS 210: Survey of Communication Disorders

2. Articulation disorder A speech sound disorder resulting from difficulty with the physical production of one or more phonemes.

3. Comparing and contrasting articulation and phonology Both are examples of “speech sound disorders”. Phonology: the sound system of a language and the rules that govern the sound combinations. (ASHA, 1993) Phonological disorders result from lack of awareness and/or use of the linguistic rules governing the use and combination of speech sounds.

4. ASHA Definition of Articulation Disorder “ An articulation disorder is the atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with phonology.” (ASHA, 1993)

5. Facts and figures Incidence and prevalence Articulation disorders most commonly occurring communication disorder. May affect children and adults; can be result of congenital or acquired etiologies. 10-15% of preschoolers 6% of school-age children Almost 91% of speech-language pathologists in schools indicated that they served individuals with phonological/articulation disorders (ASHA, 2006)

6. Types of articulation errors Substitutions Omissions Distortions Additions

7. Substitutions One phoneme (the target phoneme) is replaced with another. Common substitutions.

8. Omissions A phoneme which has an obligatory context is omitted/deleted. Examples

9. Distortions Use of a non-standard allophonic variation of a phoneme in replacement of the target phoneme. Diacritic symbols

10. Additions A phoneme is added to a word for which no obligatory context exists. Examples

11. Articulation development What is normative data ? How is it gathered? How is it used?

12. Articulation normative data Vowels mastered before consonants. Vowels mastered by age 3 years. Normative data on mastery of consonants.

13. Mastery of consonants may vary by word-position. Individual AND cultural differences exist.

14. A note about articulation differences Distinction between articulation disorder and articulation difference

15. Causes of articulation disorders (Etiologies) Structural impairments of the articulatory system Anatomical deviations (congenital or acquired) Craniofacial anomalies Dental/orthodontic issues

16. Functional impairments of the articulatory system Neuromuscular impairments Weakness, paralysis, spasticity Oral motor impairments Oral motor discoordination

17. Myofunctional disorders “ Tongue thrust” (“reverse swallow”) Hearing impairment (transient and chronic) Perceptual/discrimination impairments Mental retardation/cognitive disabilities

18. Unknown etiologies Functional disorders Residual errors

19. Disorder-specific components of the articulation evaluation Assessment of articulation skills at the word level . Assessment of articulation skills in connected speech . Sentence level Reading level Conversational speech level

20. Assessment of effects of co-articulation/ facilitating contexts Contextual testing Assessment of stimulability Stimulability: the degree to which a client can modify their phoneme production given cues provided by the examiner

21. Assessment of ability to auditorily discriminate between accurate and inaccurate productions of the phoneme. Auditory discrimination

22. Treatment of articulation disorders A variety of treatment approaches available. “ Traditional Approach to Articulation Therapy” (Van Riper, 1939) continues to be widely used for clients exhibiting residual errors.

23. Goal of TAAT: increase production accuracy of the target phoneme in various word positions across the “linguistic hierarchy”.

24. Linguistic hierarchy Isolation (nonsense) Syllable level Word level Phrase level Sentence level Reading level Conversational speech level

25. Ways to help a child with an articulation disorder Be a good speech model. Be a knowledgeable referral source. Understand developmental & cultural norms Make referral to SLP for evaluation & diagnosis Never tease/ridicule. Focus on the message, not the manner.

26. Reinforce accurate productions. Leave intervention to the SLP. Realize that treatment is a process. Takes time and skill. Many factors relate to speed at which goals are accomplished.