It’s one thing to speak Spanish, it’s another thing to have field-specific vocabulary to talk about speech disorders in Spanish. Whether you are a fluent Spanish speaker, a novice Spanish speaker, or a non-Spanish speaker, as a speech-language pathologist you will need to be able to describe speech disorders in Spanish at some point in your career.

Below you’ll find several lists of words used to talk about communication development and communication disorders in Spanish. We’ve included a list of phonological processes in English and Spanish. You will also find English terms and their Spanish translations to describe articulation skills and articulation goals. These will come in handy during IEP meetings and when reviewing evaluations and progress with families.

Talking about Phonological Processes in Spanish

Let’s start with Spanish phonological processes. When talking about phonological processes in English we might share with a parent that,

Phonological processes are normal patterns that occur in developing speech due to motor constraints. Children stop using some patterns around age three and other patterns are used longer. It’s when these patterns are used past the point at which most children stop using them that they are considered a problem.

And for our Spanish-speaking parents, we might share that,

Los procesos fonológicos son patrones normales que ocurren en el desarrollo del habla  mientras que el sistema de articulación madura. Los niños dejan de usar algunos patrones alrededor de los tres años y otros patrones se usan por más tiempo. Es cuando estos patrones se usan más de lo normal que se consideran un problema.

And here’s a great chart with English and Spanish developmental norms that you can include in your reports.

This chart provides examples of different processes in English and Spanish and some guidelines for when phonological processes are suppressed. Remember that with any charts of development, there is a lot of variation in children and studies. Use them as guidelines to inform your evaluation and to guide your dynamic assessment process and evaluation of stimulability.

Phonological Processes Chart

* Based on the work of Goldstein (Spanish) and Shriberg (English).

For more information about phonological processes in Spanish and speech disorders in Spanish, check out this ASHA article and this great resource.

Let’s talk about how we describe articulation disorders in Spanish.

With articulation, we are often describing where a sound is made and how a sound is made. In speech lingo, that’s place and manner of production. Below is a table of frequent terminology we use to talk about articulation disorders in English and Spanish.

When we talk to parents about articulation disorders we might say,

Articulation deals with the way we use our lips, tongue, and teeth to produce different sounds. When we evaluate articulation skills, we look to see if there is a particular sound or type of sound that is difficult to produce. We talk about these sounds by the place they are articulated and by the way we make them.

In Spanish, that would sound like this:

La articulación se trate de la forma en que usamos los labios, la lengua, y los dientes para producir diferentes sonidos. Cuando evaluamos las habilidades de articulación, investigamos si hay un sonido espicífico o un tipo de sonido que es difícil de producir. Hablamos de estos sonidos por el lugar en que se articulan y por la forma en que los hacen.

Chart of Articulation Terms in Spanish and English

Talking about Speech Goals in Spanish

After we talk to parents about our concerns about their child’s speech development, we talk about goals and how we are going to work on the areas of need. Here are some of the ways we talk about speech goals in Spanish.

In English, our conversation with parents might sound like this:

Your child is currently demonstrating articulation/phonology skills that are below average compared to other children his/her age. We have selected goals to address his/her areas of difficulty.

And in Spanish…

Su hijo actualmente está demostrando habilidades de articulación/fonología que están bajo del promedio en comparación con otros niños de su edad. Hemos seleccionado objetivos para ayudar con sus areas de necesidad.

Terms for Articulation Goals in Spanish and English

Spanish Stuttering Vocabulary

Fluency terms in Spanish are hard to come by and are best used with examples if you are explaining goals or processes to parents or teachers. Simply translating vocabulary might not get the meaning across because even in English, someone might not understand what we mean by revisions, and vocal tension. So use these translations of stuttering terms into Spanish to facilitate not only the use of the word but also the description of the process.

Voice Disorder Spanish Terms

And if Spanish stuttering terms were hard to come by, what about Spanish voice disorder translations?! Just like with fluency translations, use this list to facilitate understanding in meetings when you are trying to explain why the client’s voice is different and what goals you are going to focus on to help.

Vocal Nasality

Voice Quality

And to wrap this up, here are a few more great resources.

Talking to Spanish-speaking parents about speech disorders

The Goal Bank with Goals Written in English and Spanish

Spanish Wording for Parent Conferences

Articulation Self-Rating Charts

Communication Disorder