Speech sound disorders (SSD) are the most common disorders encountered by speech-language pathologists in practice. Among them, idiopathic or functional SSDs prevail, and they are anything but a homogeneous group of disorders. The use of inappropriate and inconsistent terms and inaccurate descriptions of the speech-language difficulties of children with functional SSDs indicate a lack of understanding of the disorder's subgroups. Studies show that the focus is more on a child's ability to articulate individual consonants in words than on assessing phonological competence and determining the presence of phonological processes. Therefore, there is an increasing need for differential diagnosis of functional SSDs in the Slovenian context, as each subgroup of this disorder represents an implication for another type of therapy. Foreign researchers have begun to study these subgroups using qualitative analysis of speech errors and their underlying cognitive-linguistic abilities.
In this research, two tests were used: the Three-Position Articulation Assessment and the An Instrument for Evaluation of Slovenian Phonological Development: Screener. These tests were used to describe the phonological systems of children with functional SSD aged between 4;1 and 6;9 years. The study presents both quantitative data (PCC, PVC, number of phonological processes) and qualitative data (description of phonetic inventory, phonological processes). Of the 23 children included, one had an articulation disorder, four had a combined phonological-articulation disorder, and 18 had a phonological disorder. According to the differential diagnosis model, 8 children showed a phonological delay (including one with an associated articulation disorder), 12 were diagnosed with consistent phonological disorder (one with an associated articulation disorder), and the remaining two children showed presence of inconsistent use of atypical phonological processes, indicating inconsistent phonological disorder, both with an associated articulation disorder. The results are not fully consistent with studies conducted in foreign language environments due to a small sample size and a lack of research and norms related to phonological development in Slovene-speaking children. This study serves as an incentive for further research in the field of phonological development and functional SSD, for more appropriate differential diagnosis and therapy, and for the use of standardized terminology.
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