Children with phonological process errors often use patterns that make their speech hard to understand (like saying “tat” for “cat”). Instead of starting with the easiest sounds, the complexity approach targets more advanced sounds first. Research shows that working on complex sounds can create faster, broader improvement across your child’s whole speech system.
Practicing difficult sounds can “unlock” easier ones without targeting them directly.
It speeds up overall speech progress instead of fixing sounds one at a time.
Speech pathologists choose these sounds purposefully—not randomly.
Understanding Phonological Processes
In your journey to supporting your child with communication challenges, understanding phonological impairments is a fundamental step. Let’s break it down and explore what they really mean and their impact on early childhood development.
Defining Phonological Processes Disorders
A phonological delay is when a child omits, substitutes, and/or distorts a process. Phonological impairments occur when children struggle to understand sound combinations. This struggle makes it hard for them to be understood by others. These troubles are not simply about pronouncing a hard “r” or getting the “th” sound just right. They can include problems with a whole range of sounds and patterns. For instance, your child might say “tat” instead of “cat” or “doo” for “go.” It’s the consistency and the pattern of these substitutions or omissions that flag a potential phonological processes disorder.
Significance in Early Childhood Development
Early childhood is crucial for addressing phonological disorders, forming the foundation for future communication, literacy, and social interaction. If untreated, these challenges can lead to future reading and writing difficulties. Clear speech helps children express themselves, make friends, and thrive in school and beyond. It’s why experts emphasize evidence-based treatments for preschool children with phonological disorders, aiming for timely intervention to set the stage for better outcomes.
How the Complexity Approach is Applied
Instead of practicing already-emerging sounds, therapists focus on sounds your child hasn’t mastered yet. The goal is to cause broader change—not just improvement on one sound.
To understand how this works, here’s a quick overview of sound groups:
- Stops: p, b, t, d, k, g
- Fricatives: s, z, sh
- Affricates: ch, j
- Nasals: m, n
- Liquids: r, l
- True clusters: blends like sm, sn, bl, dr
Therapists use research to choose which “marked” (more complex) sounds will create the biggest impact.
Using the table below, speech pathologists find sound targets appropriate for your child’s practice. Each arrow in the marked sounds column suggests that working on that sound group supports improvement with the counterpart. So, targeting a later developing sound group like true clusters will help improve several other groups. These include clusters, affricates, fricatives, and stops. However, if stop targets were chosen for practice, then the only sounds that will improve are stops. Therefore, complex target choice is challenging in nature. It will help your child naturally improve their speech sound productions faster.
| MARKED SOUNDS | UNMARKED SOUNDS |
| Fricatives —–> | Stops |
| Affricates —–> | Fricatives |
| Liquids —–> | Nasals |
| True Clusters —–> | Affricates |
Aim high but stay realistic. Your speech pathologist is not trying to help your child master targets all at once. Instead, they gradually build them up to a consistent level. Practically speaking, a therapist might target reaching 75% accuracy in production over a series of sessions.
Teaching Parents and Caregivers
The complexity approach in phonological therapy requires your involvement. You, the parent or caregiver, play a crucial role in your child’s success. By understanding and participating in the process, you can amplify the benefits of therapy outside of clinical sessions.
Your Role as a Parent or Caregiver
Home support helps therapy work faster. Your speech pathologist may give you simple activities like:
- Auditory bombardment: Listening to target sounds in words.
- Minimal pair practice: Saying word pairs that differ by one sound (e.g., “go” vs. “snow”).
- Short practice routines: Repeating target words with your child.
- Spend time listening to words: with target sounds during shared book readings.
You don’t need training to help—just basic guidance and consistency.
Helpful Tools and Resources for Phonological Processes
Interactive Tools for Phonological Processes
- Apps that include phonological processes like Articulation Station
- Story platforms like Vooks for listening activities
- Listening for target patterns using ABC Mouse resources
Ask your child’s speech therapist which tools match their targets.
The Bottom Line
Your child isn’t working on “hard sounds” for no reason. The complexity approach is a research-based method designed to make speech progress happen faster and more efficiently. By targeting challenging sounds first, therapists help your child improve many sounds—not just one.
Nanette Cote is an ASHA certified speech pathologist, published author, and private practice business owner with 30 years experience.
