Speech Sound Difficulties
| Phonological Disorders: During normal development children often simplify the adult model for speech. When a child continues to rely of “oversimplification” of speech patterns (in pre-school through early school age), however, they are often diagnosed with a phonological disorder. For example, a child may substitute one sound for another (“tup” for cup), completely drop a sound (“bu” for bus), or reduce the number of syllables in a word (“wa” for water). Some children with severe phonological disorders are very difficult to understand. |
| Articulation Disorders: when a person says certain speech incorrectly they have an articulation disorder. For example, when a person has difficulty making a certain sound they will often substitute another or leave the sound out completely. It is important to note that some speech sounds develop over time, so it is not uncommon or inappropriate for a three-year-old to say “wabbit.” However, a six year old should be able to say “R” sounds correctly. Some articulation disorders occur when an individual places their tongue in the wrong place or directs air incorrectly. These sound errors and distortions can be distracting or difficult for a listener to understand. |
| Speech-Language Evaluation: A speech-language pathologist uses several methods to evaluate speech and language skills. An in-depth review of history, a patient/family interview, and personal observation begin the process. Specific test protocols are selected to collect objective data and gain insight about where breakdowns are occurring. This data is compared to people the same age as the patient to determine the degree of delay or impairment. These tools assist the speech-language pathologist to determine an appropriate diagnosis and set an individualized course for treatment. |
| Stroke and Aphasia: A stroke occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen as a result of a blockage or hemorrhage in major blood vessel within the brain. Several factors increase the risk of a stroke. These include: high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, alcoholism, smoking and certain types of medications. Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to language centers of the brain and is characterized by difficulty understanding what people say, having trouble using words to express meaning and/or the inability to produce organized language. As a result, individuals who were previously able to communicate through speaking, listening, reading, and writing become limited in their ability to do so. The most common cause of aphasia is a stroke, but gunshot wounds, blows to the head, brain tumor, and other sources of brain damage can also cause aphasia. Many people with aphasia also have feeding and swallowing disorders. |
| Stuttering: Stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency that interrupts the forward flow of speech. All individuals are dysfluent at times. In fact, most young children are dysfluent as part of normal development. What distinguishes a person who stutters from someone with normal speech is the type, frequency and intensity of the speech dysfluency. |
| Support Groups: The challenges of coping with a communication disorder can be difficult for a patient and their family members. Support groups exist to reach out to these individuals and provide information about current research, resources in the community, and strategies to enhance emotional balance and communication success. |
| Swallowing and Feeding Difficulties: Swallowing and/or feeding disorders may be found in children (pediatric/developmental) or adult (acquired) populations. Speech Language Pathologists work with this population to increase the safety and pleasure of eating experiences. Children with feeding and swallowing difficulties - also called dysphagia - are at risk for malnutrition, dehydration, and respiratory problems. Parents are often the first to notice a feeding problem. Infants and children with dysphagia are a diverse group, ranging from premature babies to teenagers. |
| Tongue Thrust and Oral Myofunctional Disorders: Orofacial Myology and Oral Myofunctional Therapy are specialties within the speech pathology and dental professions that focus on thumb sucking, tongue, lip, jaw, and mouth breathing patterns that interfere with speech, swallowing, and teeth. The goal of treatment is to establish new neuromuscular patterns for the tongue and lips, which often results in more successful orthodontic and speech treatment. |
| Traumatic Brain Injury: Damage to the brain can cause changes in learning, organization, speech, language, problem solving, and/or behavior and social skills. A speech-language pathologist works collaboratively with other rehabilitation and medical professionals (doctors, nurses, neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, social workers, employers, and teachers) and families to provide a comprehensive evaluation and treatment plan for patients with traumatic brain injury. |
| Voice: Difficulties with voice quality may be the result of misuse of the voice, trauma to the throat, degenerative neurological disorders or growths within the speech mechanism. There are a variety of causes for these voice problems. People can become hoarse temporarily by cheering at a baseball game or can sustain an injury that causes a paralysis of the vocal folds. Misuse of your voice, such as talking too loudly or using a pitch level that is too high or too low, can result in a voice problem. Improper breathing and excessive smoking are also common causes. Vocal abuse will result in vocal fold nodules and polyps, which often require surgery to correct. Sometimes voice disorders occur without apparent cause. These include spasmodic dysphonia and paradoxical vocal fold movement. Most voice problems can be improved dramatically with the help of a speech-language pathologist. Others require a combination of medical or surgical treatment and speech-language pathology services. When improper use of the voice has caused a condition requiring surgery, the help of a speech-language pathologist is necessary to avoid a recurrence of the problem. With some conditions, such as cancer of the larynx, an otolaryngologist (ENT) may recommend surgery and pre-surgical counseling with a speech-language pathologist. For example, patients who have had their larynx (voice box) removed (laryngectomy) may require the help of a speech-language pathologist to learn new strategies for voice production. |