Phonological Errors Easily (Hopefully) Explained

Phonological disorders are very different from your run-of-the-mill articulation disorder. You know what I mean. You've heard speech sound or articulation errors before. The lisp. That "L" sound that sounds like a "W. Or an "R" sounds that sounds like a "W". Usually articulation errors affect one or two or a few specific sounds. They can occur anywhere in a word- the beginning, the middle or the end. It makes no difference where in a word a particular sound, for example /s/, is made. It is always produced incorrectly wherever it occurs.

Now you may ask yourself "what in the world is a phonological disorder?". It is rule based error process. That's the only true difference. They sound exactly like articulation errors when someone speaks, but eventually a "pattern" is heard by a trained ear

We all use rules when we speak that we don't even know we use. For example, some sounds are made with only the tip of the tongue and are long sounds, such as /s, sh, z/ and some are made with the tip of the tongue and are very short, abrupt sounds such as /d, t/. Sometimes when a person produces phonological errors they "confuse" the two. They may make a short abrupt sound when a long sound is necessary, like when you hear a child say "doo" for "shoe". This is an example of "stopping" a sound. They cut it off instead of letting it flow. The child has the right idea. He/she knows enough to use the tip of the tongue, but does not understand there are long sounds and short sounds and which is appropriate for what word. You may even hear the child use these sounds correctly in other positions of words unlike in articulation errors. Sometimes they are only mispronounced at the beginning or endings of words, for example.

A lot of phonological errors are easy to fix. Frequently therapists use a lot of auditory discrimination or "listening practice" to help a child hear the differences in sounds. Someitnes they need to understand that sounds sound differently. For example, a therapist may show the child two pictures, such as a photo of "doo" (someone doing something) and "shoe" when they have errors in making long vs short sounds, or a picture of a "date" and "gate" if a child does not use sounds in the back of their throats. Then we say one of the words and see if the child can correctly identify the appropriate photos several different times just from listening to the sounds and the differences mispronouncing it can make. The child learns that mispronouncing a sound can make a whole other word that has a different meaning! Then we call their attention to what makes the two pictures different and the words different such as long vs. short sounds or using the back of their throats to make /k and g/. Then we work on having them label the pictures correctly using the long or short sounds or throat sounds as appropriate.

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