Speech Disabilities

Speech disorders affect a person’s ability to form the sounds that allow them to communicate with other people. They are not the same as language disorders. Speech disorders prevent people from forming correct speech sounds, while language disorders affect a person’s ability to learn words or understand what others say to them. However, both speech and language disorders can make it more difficult for a person to express their thoughts and feelings to others. Types Speech disorders can affect people of all ages. Some types of speech disorder include stuttering, apraxia, and dysarthria. We discuss each of these types below: Stuttering Stuttering refers to a speech disorder that interrupts the flow of speech. People who stutter can experience the following types of disruption: Repetitions occur when people involuntarily repeat sounds, vowels, or words. Blocks happen when people know what they want to say but have difficulty making the necessary speech sounds. Blocks may cause someone to feel as though their words are stuck. Prolongations refer to the stretching or drawing out of particular sounds or words. The symptoms of stuttering can vary depending on the situation. Stress, excitement, or frustration can cause stuttering to become more severe. Some people may also find that certain words or sounds can make a stutter more pronounced. Stuttering can cause both behavioral and physical symptoms that occur at the same time. These can include: tension in the face and shoulders rapid blinking lip tremors clenched fists sudden head movements There are two main types of stuttering: Developmental stuttering affects young children who are still learning speech and language skills. Genetic factors significantly increase a person’s likelihood of developing this type of stutter. Neurogenic stuttering occurs when damage to the brain prevents proper coordination between the different regions of the brain that play a role in speech. Apraxia The brain controls every single action that people make, including speaking. Most of the brain’s involvement in speech is unconscious and automatic. When someone decides to speak, the brain sends signals to the different structures of the body that work together to produce speech. The brain instructs these structures how and when to move to form the appropriate sounds. For example, these speech signals open or close the vocal cords, move the tongue and shape the lips, and control the movement of air through the throat and mouth. Apraxia is a general term referring to brain damage that impairs a person’s motor skills, and it can affect any part of the body. Apraxia of speech, or verbal apraxia, refers specifically to the impairment of motor skills that affect an individual’s ability to form the sounds of speech correctly, even when they know which words they want to say. Dysarthria Dysarthria occurs when damage to the brain causes muscle weakness in a person’s face, lips, tongue, throat, or chest. Muscle weakness in these parts of the body can make speaking very difficult. People who have dysarthria may experience the following symptoms: slurred speech mumbling speaking too slowly or too quickly soft or quiet speech difficulty moving the mouth or tongue Symptoms Symptoms of a speech disorder can include repeating or prolonging sounds, rearranging syllables, and speaking very softly. The symptoms of speech disorders vary widely depending on the cause and severity of the disorder. People can develop multiple speech disorders with different symptoms. People with one or more speech disorders may experience the following symptoms: repeating or prolonging sounds distorting sounds adding sounds or syllables to words rearranging syllables having difficulty pronouncing words correctly struggling to say the correct word or sound speaking with a hoarse or raspy voice speaking very softly Causes Causes of speech disorders can include: brain damage due to a stroke or head injury muscle weakness damaged vocal cords a degenerative disease, such as Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis dementia cancer that affects the mouth or throat autism Down syndrome hearing loss Risk factors that can increase the likelihood of a person developing a speech disorder include: being male being born prematurely having a low weight at birth having a family history of speech disorders experiencing problems that affect the ears, nose, or throat From:“Speech Disorders: Types, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324764#causes.