Phonological Disorders
When children begin talking, they often make errors in conversation that sounds like “baby talk.” This “baby talk” is known as phonological processes. Phonological processes are patterns of sound errors that typically developing children use to simplify speech as they are learning to talk.
Examples of phonological processes include saying “wa-wa” for water, “tu-tee” for cookie, and “wed” for red. These processes are considered normal unless they persist beyond the age when most typically developing children have stopped using them.
Some common phonological processes include:
- Final Consonant Deletion– occurs when the ending sounds of words are omitted (example: saying “boo” for “boot”, “moo” for “moose”)
- Stopping– occurs when sounds that are typically produced by forcing air out of the mouth (such as “s,” “f,” “v,” or “z”) are blocked (example: saying “pan” for “fan,” and “tee” for “see”)
- Fronting -occurs when sounds that are produced toward the back of the mouth (“k,” “g,”) are produced at the front of the mouth (example: “do” for “go”, “tee” for “key”)
- Gliding -occurs when “r” or “l” sounds are replaced with “w” (example- “weed” for “read”, “white” for light)
Phonological processes, if left untreated, can have negative social and academic impacts. If you are having difficulty understanding your child and if they are producing errors similar to those described in the examples, we recommend scheduling a speech and language evaluation as soon as possible. A speech pathologist will work with your child on correcting errors in words, phrases, sentence, and conversation through engaging and fun activities.
References:
What Are Phonological Processes? https://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=2158
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