Speech
Speech and language disorders refer to problems in communication and related areas such as oral motor function. These delays and disorders range from simple sound substitutions to the inability to understand or use language or use the oral-motor mechanism for functional speech and feeding. Some causes of speech and language disorders include hearing loss, neurological disorders, brain injury, intellectual disabilities, drug abuse, physical impairments such as cleft lip or palate and vocal abuse or misuse.
A child’s communication is considered delayed when the child is noticeably behind his or her peers in the acquisition of speech and/or language skills. Speech disorders refer to difficulties producing speech sounds or problems with voice quality. Speech disorders may be problems with the way sounds are formed, called articulation or phonological disorders, or they may be difficulties with the pitch, volume or quality of the voice. There may be a combination of several problems. People with speech disorders have trouble using some speech sounds, which can also be a symptom of a delay.
Examples, Subsets and Synonyms for Communication Disorders:
- Language Disorders (developmental language disorders)
- Expressive Language Disorders
- Receptive-Expressive Language Disorders
- Phonologic Disorders (speech disorders)
- Stuttering
- Dysarthria
There may or may not be an identifiable reason for the difficulty. Some of the common identifiable causes for speech and language disorders may be: – mental handicap, autism, a learning disability, hearing loss, cerebral palsy, head injury.
14% to 20% of pre-school children have delayed or disordered speech and language.
Signs of Speech and Language/Communication disorders:
- Difficulty in understanding speech
- Difficulty in thinking of words/word finding e.g. may call `bulb’ a `light’
- Difficulty in putting words together into sentences
- Difficulty with grammar e.g. pronoun reversals or problems with plurals
- Difficulty in saying sounds and/ or words e.g. say `tun’ for `sun’
- Difficulty in narrating and sequencing a simple story or event
- Reading and writing difficulties
- System and when to use it.