Phonological Processing Disorders (Ensslen-Boggs - Online)

Course overview

Phonological processing is the use of the sounds in one's language to process spoken and written language. The broad category of phonological processing includes phonological awareness, phonological working memory, and phonological retrieval. All three components of phonological processing are important for speech production as well as the development of spoken and written language skills. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the spoken and written language development of children with phonological processing difficulties. A phonological processing disorder affects a child's production and/or mental representation of speech sounds. A phonological disorder is commonly misdiagnosed as an articulation disorder; however, it is very different. A phonological disorder affects how a child organizes the sounds and understands the speech rules of a language. It is estimated that phonological disorders affect roughly 10% of preschool-age children. Usually, there is no known cause. Evidence suggests that children with phonological processing disorders often have significant delays in expressive/receptive language skills, reading, and spelling.