Speech Sound Disorders

April 13, 2021
  • Speech sound disorders is an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of difficulties with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments—including phonotactic rules governing permissible speech sound sequences in a language.
  • Speech sound disorders can be organic or functional in nature. Organic speech sound disorders result from an underlying motor/neurological, structural, or sensory/perceptual cause. Functional speech sound disorders are idiopathic—they have no known cause. See figure below.
  • Organic Speech Sound Disorders
  • Organic speech sound disorders include those resulting from motor/neurological disorders (e.g., childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria), structural abnormalities (e.g., cleft lip/palate and other structural deficits or anomalies), and sensory/perceptual disorders (e.g., hearing impairment).
  • Functional Speech Sound Disorders
  • Functional speech sound disorders include those related to the motor production of speech sounds and those related to the linguistic aspects of speech production. Historically, these disorders are referred to as articulation disorders and phonological disorders, respectively. Articulation disorders focus on errors (e.g., distortions and substitutions) in production of individual speech sounds. Phonological disorders focus on predictable, rule-based errors (e.g., fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion) that affect more than one sound. It is often difficult to cleanly differentiate between articulation and phonological disorders; therefore, many researchers and clinicians prefer to use the broader term, “speech sound disorder,” when referring to speech errors of unknown cause. See Bernthal, Bankson, and Flipsen (2017) and Peña-Brooks and Hegde (2015) for relevant discussions.

Speech and Language Disorders

Speech is how we say sounds and words. People with speech problems may:

  • not say sounds clearly
  • have a hoarse or raspy voice
  • repeat sounds or pause when speaking, called stuttering

Language is the words we use to share ideas and get what we want. A person with a language disorder may have problems:

  • understanding
  • talking
  • reading
  • writing

Children and adults can have speech and language disorders. Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, can help.

About AAC 

You may have seen someone write in a notebook to answer a question. Maybe you have seen people using gestures to communicate. You may have seen someone point to pictures or push buttons on a computer that speaks for them. These are all forms of augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC. 

AAC includes all of the ways we share our ideas and feelings without talking. We all use forms of AAC every day. You use AAC when you use facial expressions or gestures instead of talking. You use AAC when you write a note and pass it to a friend or coworker. We may not realize how often we communicate without talking.  

People with severe speech or language problems may need AAC to help them communicate. Some may use it all of the time. Others may say some words but use AAC for longer sentences or with people they don’t know well. AAC can help in school, at work, and when talking with friends and family.  

Types of AAC 

Do you or your loved one have difficulty talking? There are options that might help. There are two main types of AAC—unaided systems and aided systems. You may use one or both types. Most people who use AAC use a combination of AAC types to communicate.  

Unaided Systems  

You do not need anything but your own body to use unaided systems. These include gestures, body language, facial expressions, and some sign vocabulary.  

Aided Systems 

An aided system uses some sort of tool or device. There are two types of aided systems—basic and high-tech. A pen and paper is a basic aided system. Pointing to letters, words, or pictures on a board is a basic aided system. Touching letters or pictures on a computer screen that speaks for you is a high-tech aided system. Some of these speech-generating devices, or SGDs, can speak in different languages.  

Working With A Speech-Language Pathologist 

An SLP will test how well you or your loved one can speak and understand. The SLP can help find the right AAC system for you. You may use a basic system first and may need it for only a short time. This may happen if you had mouth surgery or a stroke and your speech comes back.  

It may take some time to get a more high-tech system, if you need one. Not every device works for every person, so it is important to find the right one for you. The Information for AAC Users webpage has more information about finding the best AAC system. Insurance or other funding can help you pay for your AAC device.  

See ASHA information for professionals on the Practice Portal’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication page.

This article was originally posted on www.asha.org.  

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