Which statement best describes an articulation disorder?

Which statement best describes an articulation disorder?

• A. The student has difficulty controlling pitch and may sound hoarse or breathy.
• B. The student may repeat, prolong, or avoid certain sounds or words or may stutter.
• C. The student may have trouble learning the alphabet in the correct order or sounding out a spelling word.
• D. The student has difficulty substituting one speech sound for another.

Answer: (D)

An articulation disorder centers on how speech sounds are produced. When a child substitutes one sound for another, it shows a mismatch in producing the target sound, which is a classic articulation error. This focuses on the motor aspect of speech sounds themselves. The other descriptions point to different speech or language issues: voice quality problems affect pitch or hoarseness, fluency issues involve the flow of speech such as stuttering, and difficulties with learning the alphabet or decoding relate to phonological processing or literacy skills rather than how individual sounds are articulated. Thus, substituting one speech sound for another best describes an articulation disorder.

An articulation disorder centers on how speech sounds are produced. When a child substitutes one sound for another, it shows a mismatch in producing the target sound, which is a classic articulation error. This focuses on the motor aspect of speech sounds themselves.

The other descriptions point to different speech or language issues: voice quality problems affect pitch or hoarseness, fluency issues involve the flow of speech such as stuttering, and difficulties with learning the alphabet or decoding relate to phonological processing or literacy skills rather than how individual sounds are articulated. Thus, substituting one speech sound for another best describes an articulation disorder.