Articulation Skills:
Acquisition of phonemes and oral motor ability to produce specific sounds of language in a rapid and precise manner.
Children acquire these sounds over specific time periods, however, some children experience delays or possible disorders in this area; making it difficult to understand them during speech production.
Phonology:
The gradual process of acquiring adult speech patterns is called phonological development. All children make predictable pronunciation errors (often associated as errors, however they are not errors at all) when they are learning to talk like adults. These errors' are called phonological processes, or phonological deviations and may occur beyond expectancy.
Dysarthria:
Speech production deficit resulting from a central or peripheral nervous system disorder. The individual will attempt to express speech, however, the sounds and words that are expressed are distorted.
| Voice Production:
Individuals may experience voice problems for a variety of reasons, including voice abuse or overuse, infection, disease, acid reflux, age, trauma, chemical exposure, cancer, or a neurological pathology.
Tongue Thrust:
Is an abnormal movement that is exhibited when the tongue pushes forward in the mouth. This behavior may be observed during speech production as the tongue is pushed forward beyond the borders of the front teeth. Often a dentist/orthodontist will refer clients' with this behavior for treatment by a speech language pathologist before treating with braces.
Apraxia of Speech:
Is a nonlinguistic sensorimotor disorder of articulation characterized by difficulty in planning movements for speech. The individual knows what they want to say, but cannot figure out how to make the speech system function in ways that would result in specific sounds or sequences of sounds.
| Stuttering:
Stuttering is associated with individuals who experience disruptions or dysfluencies during speech production. In addition to producing speech dysfluencies, individuals who stutter often experience physical tensions and struggle in their speech muscles, as well as embarrassment, anxiety, and fear about speaking. These symptoms can make it very difficult for people who stutter to express what it is they want to say and to communicate effectively with others. There are many different patterns of stuttering and different degrees of stuttering from mild to severe.
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