Speech Sound Disorders (SSD) influence speech sounds while talking, thus impacting the speaker’s intelligibility. SSD can be categorized in different ways; one of the critical categorizations of SSD is based on the absence or absence of speech sound errors. Concerning such classification, SSD can be organized into either Phonological Disorder or Articulation Disorder. Phonological disorders involve predictable, rule-based errors such as stopping and fronting that can impact more than one sound. On the other hand, articulation disorder focuses on errors like substitutions and distortions that affect the sound produced. Though the two disorders are closely related, they differ in various aspects ranging from diagnosis to treatment.
Articulation disorder majorly focuses on the errors made in making sounds. Articulation means making a sound; thus, physical troubles when producing sounds are referred to as articulation disorders. Production of sounds depends on movement coordination of the teeth, lips, tongue, and palate. Therefore, any errors in the coordination lead to articulation errors. As a result, people with an articulation disorder may not be able to make certain sounds correctly. These conditions are common among children; they show difficulties in making and forming particular speech sounds appropriate. For example, children may lisp such that instead of producing the sound’s,’ they make a sound like ‘th.’
The phonological disorder can be described as a significant deficit in making sounds and speech perception, and organization of phonology with regard to other people. Like articulation disorder, the phonological condition is common among children. The problem can be identified by parents, guardians, friends, or teachers. Children’s dialect should be differentiated from phonological disorders as they tend to learn from their people. For instance, a child who speaks African American vernacular may pronounce ‘ghos’ instead of ghost yet not consider it an error. However, if a child has a phonological disorder will make errors with particular sounds in words. For instance, if a child can say the sound ‘k’ in some words, like a kite, and omit it in other words, such as like, then that condition is termed a phonological disorder.
Articulation and phonological disorders are attributed to the ongoing challenges in language and literacy, thus the need for their solution or treatment. Speech-language pathologists argue that articulation disorder may be treated by training children to coordinate lips, tongue, and teeth to make sounds properly. Children need to practice making sounds in different words and sentences. Treatment techniques for phonological disorder entail sound system rules and the connection between word and sound meanings. Those affected need to practice identifying and making word pairs that differ by a single sound until they produce correct sounds to learn such rules. Home programs for speech tasks are also essential therapy for the SSD.