Dyslalia
This disorder manifests itself as impaired pronunciation of one or more sounds of the native language. Other sounds are pronounced correctly. This is the most common type of impaired communication ability.
The disorder affects the phonetic-phonological aspect of language:
• On the phonetic level (the use of individual sounds), this disorder manifests itself by omission, switching or replacement of sounds, or by their inaccurate pronunciation in the place of articulation.
• On the phonological level, dyslalia manifests itself by impaired fluency in connecting sounds to higher units (syllables and words).
From the point-of-view of development, specialists also differentiate physiological (natural) dyslalia, which is associated with incorrect pronunciation until the fifth year of the child’s life. Each child goes through a period where they incorrectly reproduce the words they hear, this is, therefore, a natural phenomenon. From the age of five to seven, some specialists also speak of extended physiological dyslalia.
Pronunciation problems after seven years of age are labelled as true dyslalia. In this period, articulation stereotypes are already becoming fixed, and correction of pronunciation tends to be more difficult and to take longer.
The child may omit the sound that they are unable to pronounce properly, replace it with another sound, or form the sound in a different place or in a different manner than usual. If the child incorrectly pronounces several sounds at a time, at a time they are supposed to start mandatory school attendance, it is desirable to evaluate the impacts of the disorder when assessing the child’s readiness for school. In the last year prior to the start of school attendance, the provision of logopedic intervention aimed at removing pronunciation difficulties is recommended in particular for children who form a sound in a different place, or in a different manner.