This paper presents longitudinal data that provide insight into the phonolo
gical learning of five children. These children were superficially similar
in that all presented with errors affecting production of [s]; however, it
will be argued that each child possessed a phonological system that was uni
que in certain ways. Production of [s] was established with each participan
t using a motoric training approach, and generalization was assessed over a
3-4-month period using a 50-item probe. Once treatment was initiated, chan
ges in the production of [s] and in other properties of the phonological sy
stems were observed. Some of these changes illustrated apparent learning st
rategies that were child-specific, whereas other changes were common to all
of these children and may, in fact, be universal in nature.