Which type of errors is typically associated with a phonological disorder?

• A. Atypical errors
• B. Normal simplifications
• C. Context-dependent errors only
• D. Articulation distortions limited to one phoneme

Answer: (A)

Phonological disorders involve systematic, pattern-based errors that reflect a misorganized sound system; they show atypical error patterns that aren’t typical for the child’s age. This is why the best choice is that the errors are atypical. Normal simplifications are expected developmental processes, such as common substitutions that many children outgrow, so they don’t indicate a disorder. If errors were only context-dependent, that wouldn’t capture the broader, cross-context patterns that define a phonological disorder. Distortions limited to one phoneme point more to an articulation issue, where a motor problem affects a single sound rather than the whole phonological system.