An articulation disorder refers to the inability to produce individual speech sounds correctly. This is a functional speech sound disorder that is idiopathic (without a known cause) and primarily focuses on motor aspects of speech.

A phonological disorder involves predictable, rule-based errors that affect production of multiple sounds. It is also a functional speech sound disorder that is idiopathic and focuses on the linguistic aspects of speech sound development.

Signs and Symptoms:

• Additions: Inserting one or more sounds into a word where they don’t belong (e.g., “buhlue” for “blue”).
• Omissions: Deleting a sound in a target word (e.g., “pih” for “pig” or “tar” for “star”).
• Substitutions: Replacing a correct sound with a different one (e.g., “wing” for “ring” or “dat” for “that”).
• Distortions: Altering sounds in words, which may appear as a lisp (e.g., “s” may sound like “th” or a lateralized “sh”).
• Syllable-level errors: Repeating or deleting syllables (e.g., “dada” for “dad” or “comter” for “computer”).

At One Speech Therapy, our licensed speech-language pathologists create individualized treatment plans to address both articulation and phonological disorders. Therapy focuses on providing targeted exercises and techniques to improve the coordination and strength of the articulatory muscles. We teach proper placement and movement for producing specific speech sounds.

In cases where an articulation disorder is not developmental or phonological in nature, it may result from poor oral placement and inappropriate muscle development. We focus on exercises to strengthen the muscles of the lips, tongue, or jaw, which are essential for accurate speech sound production. If structural abnormalities are suspected (e.g., restricted lingual frenulum or dental issues such as underbite), we will refer you to specialized professionals, such as a dentist who specialized in tethered oral tissues, and collaborate with them for comprehensive care.