Final answer:
A student who substitutes, omits, or distorts words likely has a phonological disorder, which is different from articulation, fluency, or voice disorders and is often seen in conditions like dyslexia.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student who tends to substitute, omit, or distort words in their speech is exhibiting signs of a phonological disorder. This type of speech disorder involves patterns of sound errors. For example, such students might have trouble understanding sound-letter correspondence, which is a key aspect of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling abilities. In contrast, an articulation disorder involves problems with the physical production of sounds, while a fluency disorder relates to the flow of speech, and a voice disorder pertains to the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice. Phonological disorders, on the other hand, revolve around the rules of sound combination, making it the correct answer in the context of the question.