Speech disorders

Alternative names:

articulation deficiency; dysfluency; voice disorders

Definition:

A group of disorders that result in impaired or ineffective communication. Also see speech impairment.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Speech is one of the primary ways we communicate with our environment. It is also an effective way to monitor normal growth and development as well as identify potential problems.

Dysfluencies are rhythm disorders that are usually characterized by the repetition of a sound, word, or phrase. Stuttering is, perhaps, the most serious dysfluency.

Articulation deficiencies are sound that are made incorrectly or inappropriately.

Voice disorders involve differences in the quality, pitch, and loudness of the sound.

There are many potential causes of speech impairment:

• the most common is mental retardation
• hearing impairment
• ADD
• learning disabilities
• autism
• schizophrenia
• cerebral palsy
• cleft palate
• vocal cord injury
• disorders of the palate
• cri-du-chat syndrome
• Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

Delayed speech development is one of the common symptoms of developmentally delayed children. It occurs from 5 to 10% of all children. Males are three to four times as likely to experience speech disorders as females.