In the US, approximately 8-10% people have a Communication Disorder. This data was given by the National Institutes of Health. Articulation Disorders, Voice Disorders and Fluency Disorders are the three speech deficiencies found in people worldwide. Each of them needs a different mode of treatment.
Articulation Disorders –
Articulation Disorder makes the production of speech sounds difficult. The types of Articulation Disorders are:
- Omissions-
The patient cannot produce certain sounds like – ends of words, entire syllable or any particular type of sound. For example – ‘fi’ instead of ‘fish’. - Substitutions –
The patient replaces one sound with another. For example – ‘fith’ instead of ‘fish’. - Distortions –
A slight change may be seen in some sounds. For example – ‘filsh’ instead of ‘fish’. - Additions –
The original sound is correctly produced but often an extra sound is attached to it. For example – ‘fisha’ instead ‘fish’.
Mostly a child suffering from this disorder shows difficulty in pronouncing the ‘l’ in ‘pull’, ‘r’ in ‘mirror’, ‘z’ in zoo, ‘th’ in ‘math’, ‘sh’ in ‘shut’, ‘j’ in fudge, ‘z’ in ‘measure’ or ‘ch’ in ‘church’.
Voice Disorders –
The two types of Voice Disorders are:
A Phonation Disorder is a type of Vocal Disorder. The patient suffers from problems with pitch, loudness or the stress on words with voice which starts from the vocal folds of the larynx. Most common cause includes continuous clearing of throat, constant screaming, speaking at a very low voice than the original, excessive smoking or other vocal misuses. The vocal folds may increased in size, lesions or polyps may be found on the vocal folds or the elasticity of the larynx may be affected. Some organic cause may include viral infections, cancer, paralysis of laryngeal nerves, any shocks or trauma.
When any part of the vocal tract is abnormal or is dysfunctional, Resonance Disorder occurs. The tongue may sit too forward or backward of the mouth in the oral resonance disorder. ‘Baby Voice’ may be seen when the tongue is placed too forward in the mouth.
In the case of an oral resonance disorder, the tongue sits too high in the front or back of the mouth. When the tongue sits at the back of the mouth, the voice sounds dull. When the space between the oral cavity and the nasal cavity remains open or closed, Nasal Resonance Disorder occurs. Its common causes include paralysis of the velum, short velum, or cleft palate. The air gets escaped to the nasal cavity producing nasal effect in speech. Denasality occurs when a structural blockage doesn’t allow air to pass between the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.
Fluency Disorders –
Fluency is a property to deliver information with expertise in a non-interrupted manner. In Fluency Disorder one may struggle to find a particular word or sound. The child may repeat the whole word or the whole phrase. Generally small children are affected by this which fades with age. But Speech Disabilities like – Stuttering need efficient treatment.
