Speech is the general term frequently used when referring to how a person talks. The therapeutic terms related to speech include articulation and phonology. Read about both below.

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Articulation refers to how people say sounds. An incorrect production is called a distorted sound. Each sound should be accurately produced by a specific age. If a child has difficulty clearly saying a specific sound or sounds, they may have an articulation disorder. Speech sound errors would likely improve with speech therapy.

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Phonology refers to how people organize sounds into words. A phonological error occurs when one sound is substituted for another. For example, a child may point to a cookie, but say "tootie." The child substituted a "t" for "c" which changes the word meaning. This error and others should be eliminated by a specific age. These errors could decrease with speech therapy.