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What is speech pathology?

Speech Pathology & 

Communication Disorders 

Here you will find available resources that may serve as beneficial to understanding speech pathology and to effectively defining, diagnosing, rehabilitating, and developing pedagogies for individuals with various communication disorders.

Signs of a Language Disorder

  • Doesn't smile or interact with others (birth–3 months)

  • Doesn't babble (4–7 months)

  • Makes few sounds (7–12 months)

  • Does not use gestures (e.g., waving, pointing) (7–12 months)

  • Doesn't understand what others say (7 months–2 years)

  • Says only a few words (12–18 months)

  • Doesn't put words together to make sentences (1½–3 years)

  • Has trouble playing & talking with other children (2–3 years)

  • Problems with early reading/writing skills—e.g. may not show an interest in books or drawing (2½–3 years)

Signs of a Speech Sound Disorder

Says p, b, m, h, and w incorrectly in words (1–2 years)

Says k, g, f, t, d, and n incorrectly in words (2–3 years)

Produces speech that is unclear, even to familiar people (2–3 years)

 

Signs of Stuttering (Disfluency)

Struggles to say sounds or words (2½–3 years)

Repeats first sounds of words—"b-b-b-ball" for "ball" (2½–3 years)

Pauses a lot while talking (2½–3 years)

Stretches sounds out—"f-f-f-f-farm" for "farm" (2½–3 years)

 

COMMUNICATION DISORDER

Impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems.

May be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech.  Range in severity from mild to profound. It may be developmental or acquired. Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of communication disorders.  It may result in a primary disability or it may be secondary to other disabilities.

 

A)  SPEECH DISORDER

An impairment of the articulation of speech sounds, fluency, and/or voice.

 

  • AN ARTICULATION DISORDER is the atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility.

 

  • FLUENCY DISORDER is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases. This may be accompanied by excessive tension, struggle behavior, and secondary mannerisms.

 

  • VOICE DISORDER is characterized by abnormal production and/or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual’s age and/or sex.

 

B)  LANGUAGE DISORDER

Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems. The disorder may involve (1) the form of language (phonology, morphology syntax), (2) the content of language (semantics), and/or (3) the function of language in communication (pragmatics) in any combination.

Featured Disorders

Stuttering

Lisp

Stuttering is a "fluency disorder" characterized by sound and syllable repetitions and consonant/vowel prolongations. Speech articulation or phonological disorders are related, but different, speech disorders are characterized by omissions, substitutions, or distortions of sounds.

A lisp is classified as a “speech sound disorder” or "articulation disorder" and is a speech impediment in which a person misarticulates sibilants ([s], [z], [ts], [dz]), ([ʒ], [ʃ], [tʃ], [dʒ]).[1] These misarticulations often result in unclear speech.

 

DSM 5 Classifications

DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Communication & Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
DSM-5 Changes
SLP-Relevant Disorder Categories
June 2013 
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