Do you know what dysarthria is? Furthermore, do you know what are the types of dysarthria? In this article, we will provide you with information about dysarthria, especially about spastic dysarthria.
In the next articles, we will write about other types of dysarthria, such as Unilateral Upper Motor Neuron (UMN) Dysarthria, Ataxic Dysarthria, Hypokinetic Dysarthria, Hyperkinetic Dysarthria, Flaccid Dysarthria and Mixed Dysarthria.
To ease your understanding on dysarthria, this article is structured as follows:
- Definition of Dysarthria
- Types of Dysarthria: Spastic Dysarthria
Optimistically, you will derive valuable information through this article.
We wish you a very happy learning!
Definition of Dysarthria
What is dysarthria? Dysarthria is a type of speech disability/disorder that can affect the following factors:
- Ability to breathe
- Ability to form sounds
- Ability to produce voice
- The rhythm and nasality of the sufferer’s speech and voice
People who suffer from dysarthria have disorder in the muscles used for speech. The muscles are:
- Jaw
- Soft palate
- Lips
- Tongue
- Muscles of breath support
- These muscles disorder would cause the speech to sound quiet, slurred, slow and/or less coordinated
Types of Dysarthria: Spastic Dysarthria
There are several types of dysarthria and spastic dysarthria is one of them. Here are the symptoms of a person who suffers from spastic dysarthria:
- Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia)
- Emotionally labile
- Co-occurring weakness
- Paralysis of all four limbs
- Widespread involvement of the respiratory muscles, larynx, soft palate, jaw, lip and tongue
- Overall disruptive on speech breathing patterns (uncontrolled, uncoordinated, forced, or shallow)
- Difficulty with volume control, range and loudness
- Strained voice quality
- Limited vocal pitch
- Slow-labored rate of speech
- Imprecise articulation behaviors
- Abnormally excessive nasal speech quality
- Upper motor neuron damage
In the next articles, we will write about other types of dysarthria, Unilateral Upper Motor Neuron (UMN) Dysarthria, Ataxic Dysarthria and other related subjects.