Articulation Disorder in Adults
If you have trouble producing the correct sounds when speaking, you may be wondering if speech therapy is the right solution.
While most people think of articulation disorders as a problem exclusively for children, it's important to note that adults can also struggle with articulating sounds correctly. Here are some common adult speech issues related to articulation and how they might be helped through speech therapy.
What are Articulation Disorders?
What Are Some Signs and Symptoms of an Articulation Disorder?
What Causes Articulation Problems in Adults?
How Do You Know if You Have an Articulation Disorder?
What is Involved in an Evaluation for an Articulation Disorder?
How Does Speech Therapy for Articulation Work?
What is the Prognosis for Improvement?
Articulation Activities to Practice at Home for Adults
Finding a Qualified Speech Therapist for Articulation Disorders
What are Articulation Disorders?
Articulation disorders refer to errors in the production of individual sounds. Some adults with articulation problems have difficulty making a particular sound, while others have trouble with a range of sounds. Rhotacism (trouble saying the r sound) and a lisp are two types of articulation disorders.
What Are Some Signs and Symptoms of an Articulation Disorder?
Symptoms of an articulation disorder may include:
Speech that is unclear or hard to understand
Distorted sounds in words (e.g., "thoup" instead of "soup" or “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”)
Articulation disorders are sometimes confused with dysarthria. Dysarthria is a problem of the nerves that control the movement of the tongue, and the condition is usually associated with brain injury.
What Causes Articulation Problems in Adults?
There are many possible causes for articulation problems in adults, including:
hearing loss
cleft palate
developmental disorders
dental issues (e.g., overbite or open bite, dental arch)
anatomical variations (e.g., an enlarged tongue or tonsils)
Sometimes, adult articulation disorders occur more often in those with a family history of articulation disorders. Often, the cause is unknown.
How Do You Know if You Have an Articulation Disorder?
You may want to seek an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist if you do not produce your sounds correctly. Some adults report having had a phonological process disorder or an articulation disorder still unresolved from childhood. Others report that their tongue feels heavy and does not move into position to say the sound correctly on time, affecting their intelligibility and communication confidence.
What is Involved in an Evaluation for an Articulation Disorder?
The purpose of an articulation assessment is to determine what sounds you have a problem saying and if there is a pattern to your difficulties.
An SLP will evaluate your speech and look for a contributing cause to your articulation disorder. Your evaluation will typically consist of the following:
an examination of the speech muscles, including the lips, jaw, tongue, teeth, and hard/soft palate
obtaining a speech sample during a conversation
standardized or informal articulation assessments
naming pictures or repeating a variety of words and phrases of varying lengths and complexities
an interview
transcription of some of the words and phrases you say aloud for later analysis
How Does Speech Therapy for Articulation Work?
Speech therapy is the best way to correct an articulation problem. Articulation therapy usually consists of a series of one-on-one sessions with your SLP, working to improve pronunciation. A typical articulation therapy session lasts 30-45 minutes.
Your SLP will develop an articulation disorder treatment plan focusing on the specific sounds causing your difficulty. During each session, your SLP will assess your progress by having you repeat certain words or sounds back to them so they know how much progress you have made since the last session.
You will practice saying your targeted sound correctly until the correct pronunciation is automatic. You may need to practice 5 to 10 times in a row before it becomes more natural for you. You might practice your targeted sounds in different contexts, including words, sentences, or reading out loud. After you demonstrate that you produce that sound correctly, your speech pathologist may begin adding new sounds.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may use various tools and techniques, such as modeling how to produce the targeted sounds, to help you practice. During articulation disorder treatment sessions, your SLP will provide you with exercises that can be used for practice at home to help improve your articulation skills.
In some cases, your therapist may recommend supplemental treatment from another professional such as an audiologist or a dentist if they suspect that you have a medical condition that is causing your articulation disorder. A combination of treatment techniques may be used to help determine the underlying cause of your articulation disorder and treat it accordingly. For example, wearing a hearing aid will probably help make sounds clearer if you have hearing loss.
What is the Prognosis for Improvement?
The prognosis for improvement depends on the severity of your disorder and how well you practice at home. The more you practice, the faster your progress will be.
To see significant improvements, you may need to complete a series of individual sessions with a speech-language pathologist.
Articulation therapy is an integral part of treating articulation disorders because it can help you develop better communication skills and help you become more easily understood.
Articulation Activities to Practice at Home for Adults
Practicing speech sounds at home is an important part of your therapy because it will add to the skillset that you develop during articulation disorder treatment sessions. The practice tasks work best when practiced consistently, every day, for 3 to 5 minutes. Here are some activities that you can begin practicing right away.
Repeat your target words 2 or 3 times (e.g., sun, sun, sun); Say the word correctly, then incorrectly.
Close your eyes, focus, and feel the placement of the tongue when saying your target sound aloud. Use a mirror to double-check placement of the tongue or for reinforcement of placement of the tongue.
Practice a “Word-for-the-Week”. This could be a word containing your target sounds related to your work or weekly activities (e.g. a concert, or an upcoming tennis match).
Create a recording of yourself reading out loud for 2 to 5 minutes each day; play back your recordings and notice if you need to make any changes.
Choose a conversation partner with whom you will always remember to practice your target sound.
Finding a Qualified Speech Therapist for Articulation Disorders
Speech therapy can help individuals who have difficulty speaking clearly, resulting in more intelligible speech.
If you think you may have an articulation disorder, we can help!
Connected Speech Pathology provides speech therapy services to adults with various communication disorders, including articulation errors.
Learn more about the services we provide adults with articulation disorders.
About the Author
Allison Geller is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and the owner of Connected Speech Pathology. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida in Speech-Language Pathology. Allison has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including telepractice, acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, and private practice. She has worked extensively with individuals across the lifespan including toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, and adults. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including receptive/expressive language disorders, articulation disorders, voice disorders, fluency disorders, brain injury, and swallowing disorders.
Allison served as the clinical coordinator of research in aphasia in the Neurological Institute at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. She is on the Board of Directors for the Corporate Speech Pathology Network (CORSPAN), a Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) certified clinician, and a proud Family Empowerment Scholarship/Step-Up For Students provider. Allison is passionate about delivering high quality-effective treatment remotely because it’s convenient and easy to access. What sets us apart from other online speech therapy options is—Allison takes great care to hire the very best SLPs from all over the country.
