Communication disorders can affect people of all ages. Speech and language disorders in children can interfere with social and emotional growth, learning readiness, self-esteem and social interaction. In adults, difficulty with communication can interfere with job performance, decreased ability to interact with friends/family, and can cause social isolation and depression.
The following is a description of the various Speech and Language Disorders which can be treated by a Speech-Language Pathologist:
Articulation and Phonological Disorders
Articulation disorders focus on errors in production of individual speech sounds. Phonological disorders focus on predictable, rule-based errors that affect more than one sound.
Expressive Language Delay/Disorder
Expressive language disorder is difficulty using words to communicate needs and ideas. People who have this disorder may leave words out of sentences, mix up word tense, and repeat phrases or parts of sentences.
Expressive language delay is a broad diagnosis that simply means that a child is having trouble using language to communicate.
Receptive Language Disorder
People with a receptive language disorder have problems understanding oral language or in listening. They may have difficulties processing and retaining auditory information, and in following instructions and directions.
Dysarthria
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder in which the muscles that are used to produce speech are damaged, paralyzed, or weakened. The musculature of the mouth, face, and respiratory system may become weak due to a variety of medically-related causes.
Apraxia
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder that impairs the brain’s ability to plan the movements of the lips, jaw, and tongue needed for speech production.
Voice Disorder
Any deviation in pitch, quality or loudness of the voice. It interferes with communication, or is inappropriate to the age or sex of the individual. It is often characterized by chronic hoarseness, laryngitis, pitch breaks, excessive breathiness or nasality.
An examination by an Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor) is highly recommended prior to initiation of speech therapy for voice disorders.
Aphasia
Aphasia is a language disorder that results from damage to specific parts of the brain. Aphasia causes difficulties with any, or all of the following: expressive language (speaking), receptive language (understanding), reading, and writing.
Feeding/Swallowing disorders
A feeding disorder refers to problems in the development of feeding skills, such as sucking from breast or bottle, eating from a spoon, chewing, or drinking from a cup, while a swallowing disorder, or dysphagia, refers to problems in one or more phases of the swallowing process
Cognitive-Communication Disorders
A cognitive communication disorders is difficulty with any aspect of communication that is affected by disruption of cognition. Some examples of cognitive processes include: attention, memory, organization, problem solving/reasoning, and executive functions