Which of the following is considered a type of impairment in speech disorders?

Omission is considered a type of impairment in speech disorders because it refers specifically to the absence of sounds or syllables in speech, which can significantly affect intelligibility and communication effectiveness. For example, a child may produce the word "plain" as "pain," leaving out sounds that are crucial for clarity. This aligns with the concept of speech sound disorders, where specific speech sounds are omitted, leading to challenges in clear speech production.

In contrast, while fluency, prosody, and pragmatics are important aspects of speech and language, they do not fit the same category as omitted sounds. Fluency refers to the flow and rhythm of speech, which encompasses disorders such as stuttering; prosody relates to the intonation and stress patterns in speech; and pragmatics involves the social aspects of communication, such as turn-taking and using contextually appropriate language. These elements contribute to effective communication but do not represent specific impairments in sound production in the same way that omission does. Therefore, omission stands out as a direct indicator of a speech impairment.