--- title: A Comparison of Articulation and Phonological Processing date: 2022-01-15 author: Stacie Bennett excerpt: "Often, when we talk about typical development in speech, the conversation is influenced by articulation and phonological awareness . So, it’s important to realize that there are many reasons why a..." categories: [All posts, Speech Sound Disorders] url: https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-versus-phonological-processing --- # A Comparison of Articulation and Phonological Processing Often, when we talk about typical development in speech, the conversation is influenced by [articulation and phonological awareness](https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/articulation-and-phonology/). So, it’s important to realize that there are many reasons why a child isn’t talking or why their intelligibility (what is understood by the listener) is poor, and phonological processing is one of them. #### The more you practice, the more it carries over! Try the Speech Blubs app for fun and engaging therapy sessions with your little one. **Speech sound disorders** can be broken down into [phonological disorders](https://speechblubs.com/blog/3-types-of-phonological-processes-and-disorders/) and articulation disorders. Please note that it is very important that speech sound disorders be diagnosed appropriately, as treatments for phonological and articulation disorders differ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-chx6_NCp0 Next, **articulation disorders** happen when a child has difficulty producing a specific sound (or sounds) and are fixed by addressing the sound(s) in error. For example, a child may put their tongue in the wrong spot when creating the /r/ sound, which makes the [/r/ sound](https://speechblubs.com/blog/r-sound-articulation-therapy-at-home/) different than it should be. ## **If your child has an articulation disorder, they:** - have problems making sounds and forming particular speech sounds properly (e.g. [they may lisp](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-error-guide-lisp/), so that *s* sounds like *the*); - may not be able to produce a particular sound (e.g. they can’t make the *r* sound, and say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”). You can target specific sounds with articulation therapy: - [Articulation Therapy: An All-in-One Guide for Parents](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-therapy-guide-for-parents/) - [B Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/b-sound-articulation-therapy-parents-guide/) - [H Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-therapy-the-h-sound/) - [JJ and CH Sounds Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/j-ch-sounds-parents-guide-articulation-therapy/) - [L Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/l-sound-articulation-therapy-parents-guide/) - [Lisp Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-error-guide-lisp/) - [M Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-therapy-the-mighty-m-sound/) - [N Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/the-nice-n-sound/) - [NG Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/ng-sound-articulation-therapy-parents-guide/) - [R Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/r-sound-speech-therapy-articulation-guide/) - [S Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-therapy-the-s-sound/) - [SH Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/articulation-therapy-the-sh-sound/) - [T and D Sounds Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/t-d-sounds-parents-guide-articulation-therapy/) - [W Sound Articulation Therapy](https://speechblubs.com/blog/the-wondrous-w-sound/) **Phonological disorders** are more complex, as they are patterns in a child’s speech used to simplify speech sound production. An example of this is when a child deletes the last sound off of a word. They might say /ca/ for /cat/ or /si/ for /sit/. The majority of children with highly unintelligible speech present with a phonological disorder, as their speech is characterized by repeating patterns of incorrect productions. ## Children have a phonological disorder if they: - are able to make the sounds correctly, but they may use it in the wrong position in a word, or in the wrong word, e.g. a child may use the *d* sound instead of the *g* sound, and so they say “doe” instead of “go”; - make mistakes with the particular sounds in words, e.g. they can say *k* in “kite” but with certain words, will leave it out e.g. “lie” instead of “like.” ## **The types of disorders in phonological processes chart:** **Phonological Process** **Description** **Example** Fronting replacement of a sound typically produced in the back of the oral cavity with a front sound  “tar” for “car,” “tandy” for “candy” Backing replacement of a sound typically produced in the front of the oral cavity with a back sound “gog” for “dog” Final Consonant Deletion omission/deleting of final consonant “cu” for “cup” Cluster Reduction simplification of a cluster (two letter sound) into single sound “poon” for “spoon” Weak syllable deletion deletion of weak syllable in word “tefone” for “telephone” Gliding sound /r/ and /l/ replaced by /w/ and “j” “wadder” for “ladder” Stopping replacement of sounds “too” for “shoe” Reduplication repetition of syllables “wawa” for “water” Prevocalic Voicing replacement of voiceless consonant with a voiced consonant “vone” for “phone” Initial Consonant Deletion deletion of initial consonant “ose” for “nose” Epenthesis addition of “uh” sound in between two consonants “puh-lane” for “plane” It’s important to know that children’s speech goes through normal articulation and phonological errors. By 2-years-of-age, a child’s speech should be 50% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener, by 3-years-of-age 75% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener, and by 4-years-of-age 100% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener ([ASHA](https://www.asha.org)).