Gangguan Artikulasi Definisi Articulation disorders represent the largest category of all speech problem, also known as phonological

disorder in the DSM-I (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). For most people with this type of difficulty, the label functional articulation disorders is used. This term refers to articulation problems that are not due to structural physiological defect, such as cleft palate or neurological problems, but are likely a result of environmental or psychological influences. Articulation disorders refer to abnormal speech-sound production, characterized by inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate execution of speaking. This category on problems often includes omissions, substitutions, additions, and distortions of certain sounds (shuster, 1998). Omissions most frequenly involve dropping consonant from the end of word. Articulation difficulties come in many forms. Articulation disorders are a rather prevalent type of speech problem (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Research suggest that most problems encountered by speech clinicians involve articulation disorders , with the vast majority being functional. Some estimate suggest that articulation problems represent about 80% of speech disorders diagnosed by such professionals (Gelfand Jenson, & Drew, 1997). Although most of these difficulties are functional disorders some articulation problems do not fit into the functional type and may be attributed to physiological abnormalities. The treatment of articulation disorders has been somewhat controversial, due it part to the large number that are functional in nature. A predictable developmental progression occurs in a substantial number of functional articulation disorders. It such cases, articulation problems diminish and may even cease to exist as the child matures. For instance, the problems disappear for many children after the age of 5. This phenomenon makes many school administrators reluctant to treat functional articulation disorders in younger students, basically because of limited school resources. In other words, if a significant proportionof articulation disorders is likely to be corrected as the child continues to develop, why expend precious resources to treat them early on? The logic as a certain appeal, particularly in times where there is a shortage of educational resources and their use in constantly questioned. However, this argument must be applied with considerable caution. In general, improvement of articulation performance continues until a child is about 9 or 10 years of age. If articulatios problems persist beyond this age, they are unlikely to improve unless intense intervention occurs. Furthermore, the longer such difficulties are allowed to continue, the more difficult treatment will become and the less likely will be successful. Although some suggest that the impact of articulation difficulties is ultimately minimal, some hold that affected individuals may still have residual

indications of the disorder many years later (Johnson & Slomka, 2000 ; Molfese & Molfese, 2000). Decisions wheter to treat articulation problems in young children are not easly made, and interventions can be quite complex. One option is to combine articulation training with other instruction for all very young children. This approach may serve as an interim measure for those who have continuing problems, facilitate the growth of articulation for others, and not overly tax school resource. It does, hoever, require some training for teachers of young children. CAUSATION Articulation disorders develop for many reasons. Some are caused by physical malformations, such as abnormal mouth, jaw, or teeth structures andothers result from nerve injury or brain damage (Lohmander-Agerskov, Soederpalm, Friede, & Lilja, 1998). Functional articulation disorders are often seen as caused by devective learning of the speaking act in one form or another. However, such categories of causation are not as distinct in practice, and a definiteblurring is seen between even such broad types as functional and structural. Function and structure, although often related, are not perfectly correlated, as illustrated by the fact that some people with physical malformations that should result in articulation problems do not have problems, and vice versa. Many functional articulation disorders are thought to be due tofaulty language learning. The source of defective speech learning are frequently unknown or difficult to precisely identify. Like other articulation problems, those of functional nature have many specific causes. For example, interactions between children and their mothers tend to make considerable contribution to language acquisitios (DOdorico et al., 1999; Lakso et al., 1999). In some cases, the existing stimulus and reinforcement patterns may not support accurate articulation. For example, parents may be inconsistent in encouraging and prompting accurate articulation. Parents are busy in their daily routines. Routinely encouraging their children to speak properly may not be high on their priority list. However, such encouragement is important, particularly if misarticulation begins to emerge as a problem. Also, adults may unthinkingly view some normal inaccuracies of speech in young children as cute or amusing. Baby talk, for example, may be reinforced in a powerful manner by parents asking the young child to say a particular word in the presence of grandparents or other guests and rewarding him with laughter and hugs and kisses. Such potent rewards can result in misarticulations that linger long beyond the time when normal maturation would diminish or eliminate them. Related defective learning may come from modeling. Parents (or other adults) may model and thus reinforce articulation disorders when they imitate yhe baby talk of young children. If parents, grandparents, or friends realized the potential result of such behavior, they would probably alter the nature of verbal interchanges with

young children. Modeling is a potent tool in shaping learned behavior. Although the influence of baby talk between parents and children has be questioned, modeling and imitation are used in interventions and are thought to influence natural verbal development (Chapman, 2000; Rice et al., 1999; Shuster, 1998).

INTERVENSI There are many types of treatmen for articulation disorder. Clearly, the treatment for disorders due to physical abnormalities differs from that for disorders that are functional. In many cases, however, treatment may include a combination of procedures. Treatment of functional articulation disorders often focuses on relearning the speaking act; in some cases, muscle control and usage are the focus (Skelton, 1999). Specific causes of defective learning are difficult to identify precisely, but the basic assumption in such cases is that an inappropriate stimulus and reinforcement situation was present in the environment during speech development (inappropriate modeling by parents). Following this assumption, treatment attemps to correct that set of circumstances so that accurate articulation can be learned. Several modification procedures have been employed successfully in treating functional articulation disorders. In all cases, treatment techniques are difficult to implement because interventions must teach proper articulation plus the generalization of that learning to a variety of word configurations and diverse environments beyond the treatment setting. Further research on the treatment of articulation disorders is seriously needed, particularly in views of its prevalence. Additionally, some advocate improving the quality of measurement and research methods employed in this and other areas of communication disorders (Johnson & Slomka, 2000; Skelton, 1999). It should also be noted that differences in language and dialec can create some interesting issues regarding treatment. When a childs first language is other than English or involves a significant specific ethnic dialectic component, that youngster may demonstrate an articulation distinctiveness that makes his speech different and perhaps difficult to understand (Holm, Dodd, Stow, & Pert, 1999; Wilcox Anderson, 1998). Does this circumstance require an intervention similar to that articulation disorders? Such a question involves cultural, social, and political complications far beyond those typically considered by professionals working with speech disorders.