The child’s skipping some sounds, distorting sounds or replacing sounds with other sounds while trying to make speech sounds is called Articulation Disorder. It is the situation where the child has difficulty in making sounds and makes mistakes despite being at a sufficient developmental level in terms of speaking and making sounds. When diagnosing a child with Articulation Disorder, his developmental level and age should be taken into account.
Skipping Sound: An example of the child saying “api” instead of the door can be given.
Substituting Sound for Sound: An example of a child saying “pulls” instead of sugar can be given.
Distortion of Sounds: Child saying a word that is not in spoken language. For example; saying “tubar” instead of a wall.
Adding Audio: As an example of adding audio; the child saying “bezber” instead of the word memorization.
Children often have difficulty saying the letters “r, s, z, s, t, k, ç”.
Prevalence of Articulation Disorder; It is 3% in preschool children.
The incidence in children aged 6-7 years is 2%
The incidence in individuals in adolescence; 0%. It is 5 percent.
The incidence in boys is several times higher than in girls.
What are the Causes of Articulation Disorder (Speech Disorder) in Children?
Child has hearing loss
Child has mental retardation
Child’s tongue muscles don’t function normally
Nose meat
jaw muscles problem
Having problems in the family
The child’s inability to hear enough sound in one language due to the multilingual environment at home
The child’s shy and shy personality
Sound memory and difficulty in distinguishing sounds
The child has a disorder in the structure of the teeth and palate
Psychosocial causes
What is the Treatment of Articulation Disorder (Speech Disorder) in Children?
The cause of the Articulation Disorder of the child; Structural problems arising from the palate and mouth structure; In treatment, these structural problems are primarily treated.
In the treatment of the disorder, the child’s problem is recognized. Thus, the child gains awareness by learning the correct word of the wrongly pronounced word and comparing the correct and incorrect. Using the correct word in a sentence is another step of the treatment.
The child should be motivated every time he pronounces it correctly. It is very important for parents to support their children in the treatment of Articulation Disorder, and it provides positive developments in treatment.
While this Articulation Disorder in some children resolves spontaneously over time, it may cause permanent damage in some children. For this reason, parents should first take the child to a Speech and Language Therapist and treat them and patiently support their children during the treatment.
If the cause of Articulation Disorder is a psychological condition, the child must be directed to a Child-Adolescent Psychiatrist and receive expert support.
