PURPOSE: to check the prevalence of phonological acquisition disorders in relation to gender and age and to identify the phonological process most used by scholars with speech therapy disorders. METHODS: analyzing records of screenings applied in 1076 fundamental first year students, aged 7;0-7;11-year old, divided in 4 groups according to age groups. RESULTS: the founded prevalence was 8.27%. In the group of disordered children, 77% were boys. Comparing groups according to age, the disorders index varied from 6.99% to 10.11%, without significant statistical differences. The five phonological processes most used by disordered children were, in decreasing order: Cluster Reduction (60.67%), Liquids Reduction (47.19%), Fricatives Devoicing (22.47%), Plosives Devoicing (19.1%) and Deletion of Final Consonants (11.53%). There were differences in relation to process usage, comparing genders. CONCLUSION: the high prevalence of phonological disorders in 7-year old children suggests that Prevention Programs are required in earlier ages. The majority of disordered children were boys, with statistical significance. Comparing age groups, the disorders rate did not decrease with increase of age groups. There were differences between genders not only in relation to prevalence but also in relation to process usage, being Devoicing Processes more frequent in females.
Articulation Disorders; Prevalence; Sex; Age
