Phonological awareness, reading accuracy and spelling ability of children with inconsistent phonological disorder

The results support classification of speech disorders and show a differentiation of phonological awareness skills across groups. Children with consistent atypical speech errors have poor phonological awareness and are most at risk for literacy difficulties. Those with inconsistent phonological disorder are at increased risk of spelling difficulties. The findings indicate that phonological awareness and spelling skill are distinct processing systems and highlight the role of phonological assembly skills (i.e. storing and/or retrieving phonological output plans) in spelling output. The interactive processes between reading and spelling are discussed.