Psychology Facts

▲ Speech Disorders ▲

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》 Speech disorders occur when a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with their voice.

》 Language disorders occur when a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language) or sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings completely (expressive language).

》 The DSM-5 organizes communication disorders into the following categories:

Language Disorder

Speech Sound Disorder

Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)

Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder

Unspecified Communication Disorder

》 Speech disorders affect the vocal cords, muscles, nerves, and other structures within the throat.

Causes may include:

vocal cord damage

brain damage

muscle weakness

respiratory weakness

strokes

polyps or nodules on the vocal cords

vocal cord paralysis

》 Symptoms

Difficulty coordinating the movement of the jaw, tongue, and lips, which all aid clear articulation

Difficult to understand speech past the age of three years old

Struggling with to produce specific speech sounds

Speech development that lags children their age

Impairments in motor coordination of facial muscles, such as chewing or nose-blowing

Hoarse, raspy, or nasal voice

Abruptly changing the pitch or volume of speech
Running out of air while speaking

Lisping or stuttering

》 People who have certain medical or developmental conditions may also have speech disorders. Common conditions that can lead to speech disorders are:

autism

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

strokes

oral cancer

laryngeal cancer

Huntington's disease

dementia

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease

》 By the first grade, roughly 5% of children have noticeable speech disorders.

》 Some people with speech disorders are aware of what they would like to say but unable to articulate their thoughts. This may lead to self-esteem issues and depression

》 One of the most commonly experienced speech disorders is stuttering. Other speech disorders include apraxia and dysarthria.

Apraxia is a motor speech disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain related to speaking.

Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder in which the muscles of the mouth, face, or respiratory system may become weak or have difficulty moving.

》 Many tests are available to diagnose speech disorders.

Denver articulation screening exam

Peabody picture vocabulary test, revised

Early language milestones scale 2

》 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

》 Mild speech disorders may not require any treatment. Some speech disorders may simply go away. Others can improve with speech therapy.
Treatment varies and depends on the type of disorder.

》 Some people with speech disorders experience nervousness, embarrassment, or depression. Talk therapy may be helpful in these situations.

》 Speech sound disorder is usually treated with speech therapy, where one can learn how to create sounds they struggle with and differentiate between the ones they tend to mix up. In mild cases, the disorder can disappear of its own accord.