Phonological Disorder is defined as a subcategory of language disorder that refers to the impaired comprehension fo the sound system of a language and the rules that govern these sound combinations (ASHA, 2008)

"Phonological disorders focus on predictable, rule-based errors (e.g., fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion) that affect more than one sound" (ASHA, 2022)

Phonological Processes: Classified into syllable structure, substitution, and assimilation and further broken down into more specific processes. Refers to consistent patterns of form and function of speech sounds. Phonological Processes are acheived at different ages which is essential to make note of when assessing a child for a phonological disorder. Therefore, it is important to gain an understanding of a childs phonemic inventory before administering an assessment.

Some common Phonological Processes are as follows:

• Syllable Structure Process:

  • • Reduplication

    • Final/Initial Consonant Deletion

    • Weak Syllable Deletion

    • Cluster Reduction

    • Epenthesis

• Substitution:

  • • Stopping

    • Fronting (velar and palatal)

    • Backing

    • Gliding

    • Vowelization

• Assimilation:

  • • Final Consonant Devoicing

    • Prevocalic Voicing

(Bauman-Waengler, 2020)