Phonological processes are common through age 5. What clinical guideline does this imply?

• A. They often require intervention after age 5.
• B. They typically resolve by age 5.
• C. They begin after age 5.
• D. They are unrelated to age.

Answer: (B)

In typical development, many phonological processes are normal and fade as a child grows older. The practical takeaway is that these patterns should have largely resolved by around age 5. If a process lingers past that age, it may warrant assessment for a possible speech sound disorder, but the usual expectation is recovery by age 5. This is why the best choice is that they typically resolve by age 5. The other options don’t fit because phonological processes don’t generally begin after age 5, they aren’t unrelated to age, and intervention isn’t automatically required simply because a process has occurred before age 5.