Articulation Disorders
Articulation is the process to form speech sounds, syllables and words. The act of speaking clearly is known as Articulation.
Lips, tongue, teeth, palate & jaw are articulators responsible for speech sound production. Inappropriate manner and placement of articulators leads to Articulation problems.
When someone is unable to produce speech sounds clearly, this is known as Articulation Disorder. This affects speech intelligibility.
Some of the articulation errors seen are Substitution, Omission, Distortion and Addition.
Most children’s speech becomes intelligible by 4 years of age. If child’s speech is not clear by 4 years of age, then he/she must consult a Speech Language Pathologist or Speech Therapist.
Articulation problems may occur from anatomical, physiological, & neurological defects, such as cleft lip &/or palate, tongue tie, cerebral palsy, dysarthria, apraxia of speech, delayed speech & language development and hearing loss.
Articulation functional problems can occur due to faulty learning of speech sounds.
Myths and Facts
Myth: Speech sounds will become clear with age.
Fact: Most children learn to speak clear with age due to awareness of faulty speech. But if child fails to learn to correct speech sound production with age then it becomes a habit. Longer the duration of defective speech, longer the treatment duration.
Myth: Speech problems are caused by Tongue-tie.
Fact: Tongue tie is a condition which does not necessarily contributes to faulty speech sound production. It depends on how much it affects the tongue movement.
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