Articulation Disorders

Articulation refers to the way in which we produce sounds for spoken language. Speech sounds are acquired in an orderly sequence through a child's early stages of development. Vowels are acquired earlier than consonants and are less likely to be misarticulated. Many speech errors are common early in a child's development and are not a problem unless they persist for too long or significantly reduce a child's ability to be understood (intelligibility). There are many factors that can influence speech sound development and affect a person's intelligibility including hearing, dentition, oral-motor skills, etc. An articulation disorder is defined as the atypical production of speech sounds. It is characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions and/or distortions that may interfere with how well someone’s speech is understood. Articulation disorders can be classified as either functional or organic.

Functional Articulation Disorders

Individuals with functional articulation disorders demonstrate speech production errors in the absence of any identifiable etiology. These individuals present with adequate hearing acuity and intellectual abilities, without signs of structural abnormalities or neurological dysfunction.

Organic Articulation Disorders

This type of articulation disorder is the direct result of a known root cause typically structural or neurological in nature rather than developmental. Examples of etiologies associated with organic articulation disorders are cleft palate, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, etc.