Do you have a student with multiple sound errors? Are you unsure of where to start because there are so many sound errors and you have a difficult time understanding their speech? If you said yes to any of the above your student may be experiencing a phonological processing disorder.

Your student may have more than a simple articulation delay, such as struggling to produce the /r/ or /l/ sound.

They may actually have a phonological disorder which affects how kids make and understand speech sounds. It’s not just about saying words or sounds wrong. This disorder involves problems with the mental rules for organizing speech sounds, which can impact a child’s ability to communicate clearly.

Speech-language pathologists play a key role in helping kids with this condition. They work on improving sound patterns and language skills. Early treatment can make a big difference in a child’s speech development.

Kids with this disorder may simplify words in certain ways. They might drop final consonants or swap sounds. These patterns of sounds can make it hard for others to understand them. Speech therapy can help children learn to use the right sounds and improve their speech clarity.

Key Takeaways

• Phonological processing disorder affects how children organize and produce speech sounds.
• Early intervention by speech-language pathologists can significantly improve communication skills and speech production.
• Treatment focuses on correcting sound patterns to enhance speech clarity and understanding.

What Are Phonological Processes?

When a child first begins to learn the language and how to speak they often use phonological processes which are patterns of sound errors to simplify speech as they are learning how to talk.

Learning all of the sounds can be overwhelming for children so they often simplify complex words in predictable ways to make words easier to pronounce until they can articulate them correctly. 

These simplified speech rules are called phonological processes.

For example, the sound produced in the back of the mouth, such as /k/ and /g/ are more difficult than the sounds made in the front of the mouth, such as the /t/ and /d/ sounds. 

Therefore a typical phonological process might be when the child makes the /k/ sounds then become /t/ or the /g/ sounds then become the /d/ sound. 

For example, you may hear a child say /doh/ for the word “go” or /tat/ for the word “cat”. This is an example of the phonological process called fronting. Which is a typical phonological process up to a certain age when we would then expect them to decrease the use of this phonological process as they learn to articulate the correct sounds.

Children aren’t aware that they are doing these phonological processes. Their brain does it simply to help them produce sounds that are difficult for them to produce.

Understanding Phonological Process Disorders

Phonological processing disorders affect how children organize and use speech sounds. These disorders can make it hard for kids to speak clearly and be understood by others.

Defining Phonological Processes Disorders

Phonological processing disorders risk factors involve problems with the mental rules of speech sounds. Kids with this disorder may mix up or leave out certain sounds when talking.

They might say “tat” instead of “cat” or “nana” for “banana”. This is different from what a Speech-Language Pathologist would diagnose as an articulation sound error, which is making specific sound errors, such as a lisp.

Symptoms of Phonological Disorder

Kids with phonological disorders often show certain signs:

• Leaving off ending sounds (saying “ca” for “cat”)
• Simplifying words (saying “nana” for “banana”)
• Mixing up sounds (saying “tat” for “cat”)
• Trouble with groups of consonants (saying “poon” for “spoon”)

These speech errors can make it hard for others to understand the child. The child might get frustrated when people don’t understand them.

Some kids also have trouble with rhyming or breaking words into parts. This can make learning to read harder.

BONUS: Enjoy my Phonological Processes Chart which lists common phonological processes and the approximate age at which children should no longer be using them.

Typical Phonological Processing Chart

Here is a list of the typical phonological processes that we typically see children using as they learn the language. Included is a brief description, an example, along with the age of elimination.

Atypical Phonological Processing Chart

Here is a list of the atypical phonological processes that indicate a phonological processing disorder. Included is a brief description and an example.

Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist

Speech-language pathologists play a key role in helping children with phonological processing disorder. They use their expertise to assess speech issues, create tailored treatment plans, and guide children through therapy sessions.

Speech Therapy Fundamentals

Speech therapists use fun activities to help kids learn correct sound production. They might use games, songs, or picture cards to practice specific sounds. Therapists also teach children how to move their mouth, tongue, and lips to make sounds properly.

Kids often practice saying words with target sounds at the start, middle, and end. Therapists can give lots of praise and gentle feedback to keep their students motivated.

It’s important to help parents learn ways to help at home too. Using this team approach can help boost progress between therapy sessions.

The Speech Evaluation Process

The evaluation starts with the therapist asking about the child’s speech history. They check hearing and look inside the mouth for any physical issues.

Next, the therapist listens to the child talk. They note which sounds are hard and how speech patterns differ from typical development and the child’s speech intelligibility.

Standardized tests help measure speech skills more precisely. The therapist may record the child’s speech to analyze later.

After gathering all this info, the therapist explains the results to parents. They discuss if therapy is needed and what it might involve.

Creating a Treatment Plan

The therapist uses evaluation results to make a custom plan. Goals focus on the sounds and patterns the child struggles with most.

Treatment might target one sound at a time or work on several related sounds. The plan includes how often to have therapy and for how long.

Therapists pick activities that fit the child’s age and interests. They may use special tools like mirrors or touch cues to help with sound production of articulation disorder.

The plan also has home practice ideas for families. Regular progress checks let the therapist adjust goals as needed.

Are Phonological Processes Normal?

Some phonological processes are considered completely normal unless they continue to use them past the age when typically developing children stop using the phonological processes.

For example, if your 6 year old still uses the phonological process of “cluster reduction” (saying, “top” for “stop”) that would be considered delayed since most children stop using that process by the age of 5.

It is completely normal for children to use some phonological processes when they are first learning to produce speech. 

Here is a list of the phonological processes that are normal for school-aged children to use:

1. Cluster Reduction: This is when consonant clusters, which are two or three consonants occurring in sequence in a word (sp in spot) or (st in stop), is reduced to a single consonant through deletion. 

For example (pider for spider) or (top for stop).

2. Reduplication: Is when all or part of a word is repeated to convey some form of meaning. 

For example (baba for bottle) or (wawa for water).

3. Weak Syllable Deletion: This is when an unstressed or weak syllable of a multisyllabic word is deleted. 

For example, (nana for banana).

4. Final Consonant Deletion: This is when a child omits the final consonant off of a word. 

For example, (ca for cat) or (ba for bat).

5. Velar Fronting: This is when a child substitutes the /k/ and /g/ sounds (which are normally articulated when the tongue makes contact with the velum or soft palate at the back of the throat) with sounds that are made with the front of the tongue, the /t/ and /d/ sounds. 

For example, (doh for go) or (tan for can) (/t/ for /k/ and /d/ for /g/).

6. Stopping: This is when a child replaces a long sounds, such as /s/ or /f/ with short sounds like /t/ or /p/). 

For example, (tea for see) or (pight for fight).

7. Assimilation: This is when a sound is changed to be more similar to other nearby sounds. 

For example, (gog for dog) or (bub for bus).

When Should Phonological Processes Go Away?

The research shows that if a child does not grow out of phonological processes by certain ages then they may need speech therapy to work on them. 

Typically children will stop using these phonological processes on their own without any support or therapy.  

Here are the ages that certain commonly used phonological processes should stop being used:

Expected Age of Elimination
Assimilation  ~  3 years
Final Consonant Deletion  ~  3 years
Unstressed Syllable Deletion  ~  3 years
Reduplication  ~  3 years
Velar Fronting  ~  3 years
Stopping  ~  Persisting after 3 years
Cluster Reduction (without /s/)  ~  4 years
Cluster Reduction (with /s/)  ~  5 years

Data retrieved from Linguisystems Milestone Guide.

What are Atypical Phonological Processes?

Although most children will use the common phonological processes there are some phonological processes that are considered abnormal. 

We often don’t see typically developing language speakers using these phonological processes to learn the language. 

If a child uses these atypical phonological processes this can be a sign that they may have a phonological processing disorder. 

These students should be tested by a speech-language pathologist. 

The following are some of the abnormal phonological processes:

1. Initial Consonant Deletion: Is when a child consistently leaves off consonants from the beginning of words. For example, (ee for tree) or (ick for stick).

2. Backing: This is when you move front sounds like /t/ and /d/ to the back of the mouth like /k/ and /g/, such as (kime for time) or (gime for dime).

3. Apicalization: Is when a labial is replaced by a tongue-tip consonant. For example, (boo for do).

4. Glottal Replacement: Is the substitution of the glottal stop for another consonant (ba? for bat). This can be seen in children with cleft palate due to difficulties with the velopharyngeal port closure.

5. Fricatives Replacing Stops: This is when there is a substitution of a fricative for a stop, such as (sis for sit) or (zoll for doll).

6. Stopping of Glides: This is when there is a substitution of a stop for a glide, such as (des for yes) or (bet for wet).

7. Sound Preference Substitutions: This is the overuse of one particular sound in place of many others. For example, the overuse of /f/ sound for stridents, clusters, and other types of sounds.

8. Migration: Is when there is movement of a sound from one position in a word to another. For example, (oaps for soap).

9. Atypical Cluster Reduction: Is the deletion of the sound that is usually retained. For example, (lay for play) or (lack for black)

10. Medial Consonant Deletion: Is the deletion of intervocalic consonants, such as (spier for spider) or (cain for cabin).

11. Vowel Error Patterns:

• Backing: Is when the tongue is retracted for a front vowel. For example, (cat for kit).
• Fronting: Is when the tongue moves forward for a back vowel. For example, (rock for rake).

Your Student Might Have a Phonological Processing Disorder if…

If your student uses an excessive amount of phonological processes this can be an indication of a phonological disorder because when multiple phonological processes are exhibited together it causes the child’s intelligibility to decrease. 

If your student is unintelligible then they will likely have a phonological delay. Their phonological skills should be assessed by a speech-language pathologist.

The standard guideline for a student’s intelligibility should be 50% intelligible by 2 years old to an unfamiliar listener. 

At the age of 3 years old they should be 75% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener and all students should be close to 100% intelligible by the age of 4-5 years old to an unfamiliar listener. 

Even if the student has a few articulation errors.

How to Treat Phonological Disorders:

If your student is using phonological processes past the age when the phonological process should diminish or if the student is using atypical processes then they likely have a phonological disorder.

Remediation for a phonological processing disorder should target the phonological processes in error as determined by the speech-language pathologist. 

Unlike traditional articulation therapy that targets each error sound by sound, phonological disorders therapy should target eliminating the phonological processes.

In order to treat a phonological disorder, the brain needs to unlearn the rule that it has created. 

Here are ways to help your child or student:

Listen

First, your student needs to hear the difference between his or her errors and the correct production. Using minimal pairs can be a great approach to help your students hear the difference.

– Minimal Pairs Approach in Speech Therapy

The minimal pairs approach uses words that differ by just one sound. For example, “cat” and “hat” or “pig” and “big”.

A therapist might show pictures of a cat and a hat. Then they ask the child to say which one they mean. This helps kids hear the difference between similar sounds.

This method is fun for kids because it feels like a game. It’s great for teaching the importance of getting sounds right. It shows how changing one sound can change a word’s meaning.

Produce the Words

Next, the student should say the words without using the phonological process.

– Articulation Picture or Word Lists

These lists can be perfect practice to work on producing words at the word level.

Use the Word in a Sentence

– Articulation Sentence Practice

Once your student can produce the word correctly then have them move on to using that word in a sentence.

Conversation

– Use Articulation Questions to get Your Students Talking

Once your student can produce the words in sentences, have them practice using the words in conversation.

Generalization

Have the student practice correctly producing their words in everyday situations across multiple settings.

Use Worksheets that Focus on a Specific Phonological Process

There are also plenty of worksheets that target specific phonological processes that you can use. Here are a few examples:

– Fronting

Fronting is a phonological process in children’s language development in which they produce sounds at the front of their mouth that are supposed to be produced in the back. 

This is a natural part of language development and often involves substituting constants such as the /k/ and /g/ sounds (which are normally articulated when the tongue makes contact with the velum or soft palate at the back of the throat) with sounds that are made with the front of the tongue, the /t/ and /d/ sounds. 

For example, (dough for go) or (tan for can) (/t/ for /k/ and /d/ for /g/).

– Stopping

Stopping is one of those very common phonological processes that most speech-language pathologists will have to work on at some point in their career. 

The phonological process of stopping is when a child produces a stop consonant /p, b, t, d, k, or g/ in place of a fricative /f, v, th, s, z, sh, ch/ or in place of an affricate sound /j/.

Stopping is considered a normal phonological process that is typically eliminated by 3-5 years of age.

– Final Consonant Deletion

Final Consonant Deletion is omitting the final consonant of a word, which alters the meaning of the word and affects speech clarity. This pattern of speech is considered a phonological process, where systematic sound errors (dropping the final consonant sound) are made by children as they simplify spoken language.

– Gliding

Gliding phonological process is a specific pattern where children replace certain sounds with a glide sound, typically substituting ‘r’ and ‘l’ sounds with ‘w’ and ‘y’. 

– CVC P Words

CVC words, or consonant-vowel-consonant words, such as cvc p words are fundamental building blocks in early literacy and language education. 

They consist of a short vowel sound sandwiched between two consonants, making them an ideal starting point for children beginning to read and spell. 

These simple structures not only reinforce the basic phonetic principles but also provide a clear and manageable way for young children to practice blending sounds together to form a target word.

– Minimal Pairs

Two frequently used phonological interventions for a child with a communication disorder are the Cycles Approach and the Minimal Pairs Approach. 

Customizing Speech Therapy for Individual Needs

Every child with a phonological processing disorder has unique speech patterns and needs. Speech therapists create tailored plans to address specific challenges and help kids improve their communication skills.

Adapting to a Child’s Unique Speech Patterns

Speech therapists carefully assess each child’s speech to identify their specific phonological errors. They look at how a child produces different sounds and which patterns are most challenging.

This information helps create a personalized treatment plan. The therapist might focus on certain sound combinations or work on specific phonological processes like final consonant deletion.

Therapy activities are designed to be fun and engaging for the child. Games, stories, and songs can all be used to practice target sounds in a way that fits the child’s interests and learning style.

Types of Phonological Disorders and Their Treatments

There are several types of phonological disorders, each requiring a different approach. Some common ones include:

• Cluster reduction
• Final consonant deletion
• Fronting
• Stopping

For cluster reduction, a therapist might use the minimal pairs approach. This involves practicing similar words that differ by only one sound.

The cycles approach can help with multiple sound errors. It focuses on different sound patterns in a rotating cycle.

For stopping, where fricative sounds are replaced with stop sounds, the therapist might use visual and tactile cues to help the child feel the difference between sounds.

Involving Family in the Therapy Process

Family involvement is key to successful speech therapy. Parents and caregivers can reinforce skills learned in therapy sessions at home.

Speech-language pathologists teach families simple exercises to practice with their child. This might include playing word games or reading books that focus on target sounds.

Regular communication between the therapist and family helps track progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed. Families can share observations about the child’s speech in everyday situations.

Home practice helps the child generalize new skills to real-life conversations. It also boosts confidence and makes therapy more effective.

Conclusion – Phonological Processing Disorder

Phonological processing disorder affects many children. It impacts how kids make and understand speech sounds. Early help from a speech-language pathologist is key.

With the right treatment, most kids improve. Therapy helps them learn correct sound patterns. This boosts their talking skills and confidence.

Parents play a big role too. They can practice at home with their child. Simple word games and reading together help a lot.

Schools can give extra support. Teachers may use special methods to help these students learn.

Every child is different. What works for one may not work for another. That’s why custom plans are so important.

With care and effort, kids with this disorder can thrive. They can speak clearly and join in easily with friends and family.

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