Phonological Characteristics and Rehabilitation of Lateral Misarticulation in Children with Functional Articulation Disorders / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

@#Objective To explore the phonological characteristics of lateral misarticulation in children with functional articulation disor-ders and the rehabilitation approaches for them. Methods From June, 2013 to December, 2014, 44 children with lateral misarticulation were assessed and the phonological characteristics of lateral misarticulation were analyzed. They accepted targeted rehabilitation training. The cor-relation was analyzed between lateral misarticulation and age as well as severity of disorder. Results The frequency of lateral misarticulation was the most in Blade-palatals (75.00%), and then the dentals (65.91%), lingua-palatals (56.82%) and blade-alveolar consonant (20.45%). Thirty-eight cases were cured and 4 cases improved after 1 to 5 courses of rehabilitation. The overall cure rate was 86.36%(38/44), and it was 100%(11/11), 86.67%(13/15), 77.78%(14/18) in those with mild, moderate and severe disorder, respectively. There was no significant correlation between lateral misarticulation and age (r=0.100, P=0.752) as well as severity (r=0.257, P=0.092). Conclusion Lateral misarticu-lation in children with functional articulation disorders mainly occurs on blade-palatals, dentals and lingua-palatals. The targeted speech re-habilitation training is beneficial.