A group of disorders that result in impaired or ineffective communication. Also see speech impairment .
Alternative Names
Articulation deficiency; Voice disorders; Dysfluency
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 autismschizophreniacerebral 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.
Treatment
The best treatment is prevention and early intervention by a speech pathologist. Speech training is an involved and time consuming endeavor that can have profound results with consistent treatment.
Expectations (prognosis)
The prognosis depends on the etiology of the disorder, usually, speech can be improved with speech therapy. Prognosis improves with early intervention.
Calling your health care provider
Call your health care provider if your child's speech is not reaching the standard landmarks, if you suspect your child is in a high risk group, or your child is showing other signs of a speech disorder.
Prevention
Since mental retardation and hearing loss are predisposing factors for speech disorders, at risk infants should be referred to an audiologist for an audiology exam. Audiological and speech therapy can then be initiated if necessary. Stuttering can best be prevented by parents withholding undue attention to dysfluency in their young child. As young children begin to speak some dysfluency is common. They lack a large vocabulary and have difficulty expressing themselves resulting in broken or dysfluent speech. If parents place excessive attention on the dysfluency a pattern may develop.