Speech Sound Disorder (also known as Phonological Disorder) is a disorder where speech sound production is not consistent with what is expected based on the child's developmental stage and age. Additionally, the speech production deficits must not be due to a physical, structural, neurological, or hearing impairment. Children with the disorder may not have knowledge of phonological speech sounds, or be unable to coordinate movements (i.e. - articulation) for speech.
There is a prevalence of speech sound disorders in young children is 8 to 9 percent.[1]
Language disorder (especially in those expressive deficits) may co-occur with speech sound disorder. Individuals may also have a history of delay or poor coordination involving facial musculature (e.g. - chewing, maintaining mouth closure, and nose blowing).
Persistent difficulty with speech sound production that interferes with speech intelligibility or prevents verbal communication of messages.
The disturbance causes limitations in effective communication that interfere with social participation, academic achievement, or occupational performance, individually or in any combination.
Onset of symptoms is in the early developmental period.
The difficulties are not attributable to congenital (i.e. - during fetal development) or acquired conditions, such as cerebral palsy, cleft palate, deafness or hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, or other medical or neurological conditions. Hereditary and genetic disorders (e.g. - Down syndrome) are excluded from this criterion.
Speech sound disorder can be due to various etiologies, and thus is a heterogeneous condition. For example, individuals with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, DiGeorge (22q11.2 Deletion) syndrome, and the FoxP2 gene mutation may have speech sound disorder.
Most children with speech sound disorder respond well to speech therapy. Speech difficulties often improve over time, and the disorder may not be lifelong. For some, certain speech errors can persist into adulthood.