Phonological processes refers to a group of sounds that are in error and can be defined as a pattern in productions that are in error. The following error patterns are common:

Process	Description	Age of Elimination
Backing	Substituting a sound produced at the back of the mouth for a sound produced at the front of the mouth. (e.g., key for tea)	N/A
Final Consonant Deletion	Omitting a consonant at the end of a word. (e.g., ma for map)	3
Assimilation	Omitting a consonant at the end of a word. (e.g., ma for map)	3
Fronting	Substituting a sound produced at the front of the mouth for a sound produced at the back of the mouth. (e.g., tup for cup)	3.5
Stopping	stop sound for a sound that requires airflow. (e.g., pan for fan)	3.5-5
Weak Syllable Deletion	Omitting a weak or unstressed syllable in a multisyllabic word (e.g., tar for guitar).	4
Cluster Reduction	Omitting one or more consonants in a consonant blend (e.g., bue for blue; side for slide)	4-5
Deaffrication	Substituting of a nonaffricate sound for an affricate (ch, j) sound (e.g. “ship” for “chip”).	4
Initial Voicing	Using voice for initial sounds that required the voice to be off. (e.g., big for pig).	6
Gliding	Substituting ‘w’ or ‘y’ for another consonant, namely /l/ and /r/ (e.g., wain for rain; baw for ball).	6

If you have questions regarding your child’s speech productions, feel free to contact us to discuss in more detail for tips, strategies and/or therapy sessions to address sound errors and