Aphasia

Difficulty in the production and comprehension of spoken and/or written language resulting from brain damage.

Characterised by any of the following:

• Word finding difficulties
• Difficulty putting sentences together
• Difficulty understanding what is said

Dysarthia

A motor speech disorder of the muscles of speech i.e. tongue, lips, and larynx resulting from neurological origin.

Characterised by:

• Normal understanding
• Speech that sounds slurred, slow, effortful and/or quiet
• Possible dribbling

Apraxia

Difficulty with the motor planning for speech resulting from brain (neurological) damage .

Characteristics include:

• Difficulty co ordinating speech and mouth movements
• Inaccurate production of words
• Searching movements of the mouth as they try to speak
• Inconsistency of speech errors

Voice Disorders

Voice disorders may arise from neurological origin, emotional factors, structural abnormality, or as a result from poor vocal technique.

Characteristics of a voice disorder may include:

• Hoarse voice
• Pitch breaks
• Incomplete or complete loss of voice
• Sore throat
• Poor volume

Stuttering

Difficulty with the flow and fluency of speech.

Characterised by the following:

•  Repetition of sounds, words or phrases: eg ‘d-d-door' ‘door door door'.
•  Prolonging sounds: eg ‘dddddoor' or block before the sound begins ‘….door'.
•  They may also have facial grimaces, twitching or irregular breathing.

Cognitive Difficulties

Difficulty with the higher level organisational aspects of language caused by brain damage or degeneration.

Characteristics of cognitive problems include:

• Difficulty planning, problem solving and sequencing of ideas, and
• Difficulty with memory for communication
• Poor social skills

Cognitive difficulties may result from brain damage or degenerative conditions eg Dementia.

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