Phonological Processes Series: Initial/Final Consonant Deletion, Assimilation, Voicing/Devoicing
This session covers initial and final consonant deletion, assimilation, and voicing/devoicing, phonological processes that affect syllable structure and sound production in children's speech. Attendees will learn to distinguish typical developmental patterns from atypical ones (such as initial consonant deletion), understand their impact on intelligibility, and apply evidence-based treatment ideas.
Speaker
Kira Howard, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist with 15 years of clinical experience and owner of Moving Mountains Speech Therapy in Pleasant Grove, Utah. She specializes in childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), speech sound disorders, and supporting autistic children, with advanced training in Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC), PROMPT (Level 1), and DIR/Floortime. Kira is passionate about bringing evidence-based, motor-based intervention strategies to clinicians and families alike.
Disclosure: Financial: Kira Howard is the owner and founder of Moving Mountains Speech Therapy, LLC. She maintains active digital storefronts on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) and Boom Learning. The materials and digital decks featured throughout this presentation are proprietary products of these stores, and the presenter receives direct financial compensation and royalties from their purchase.
Built for you
Who this course is for
Every minute is written for working clinicians, educators, and families. You walk away with real-world tools to try with your next learner, not abstract theory.
Speech-Language Pathologists
Educators
Caregivers
AAC Teams
After this course
What you’ll walk away with.
You leave with concrete skills and frameworks you can apply in your next session, classroom, or family visit, not just ideas to think about later.
Earn your CEUs
Attend the full course and pass the post-session assessment at 80% or higher. Your .05 ASHA CEUs are reported to ASHA when you opt in on the assessment.
- 01
You’ll be able to
Identify initial consonant deletion, final consonant deletion, assimilation, and voicing/devoicing patterns in children's speech samples, distinguishing typical developmental processes from atypical ones (e.g., initial consonant deletion).
- 02
You’ll be able to
Explain the clinical significance of each process, including expected age of elimination (Bowen, 2011) and why persistence or atypical presentation warrants further evaluation.
- 03
You’ll be able to
Apply evidence-based strategies to begin developing appropriate treatment approaches for each pattern.
The full 30 minutes
Your learning path.
- 1
Fronting: definition and examples, typical age of elimination, identification tips, clinical relevance
10 minutes - 2
Backing: definition and examples, typical age of elimination, identification tips, clinical relevance
10 minutes - 3
Stopping: definition and examples, typical age of elimination, identification tips, clinical relevance
10 minutes
Earn ASHA CEUs in three steps
Free courses, ASHA CEUs when you opt in.
Register & attend
Register in under a minute and watch on-demand, whenever it fits your schedule.
Pass the assessment
Complete the short post-course assessment with 80% or higher to confirm mastery.
CEUs reported to ASHA
Choose to be reported on the assessment and your .05 ASHA CEUs are filed to ASHA for you. No paperwork, no chasing certificates.
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