Speech Disorders Health Article

Definition

Speech disorders are characterized by a difficulty in producing normal speech patterns.

Description

Children go through many stages of speech production while they are learning to communicate. What is normal in the speech of a child of one age may be a sign of a problem in an older child. Speech disorders include voice disorders (abnormalities in pitch, volume, vocal quality, resonance, or duration of sounds), articulation disorders (problems producing speech sounds), and fluency disorders (impairment in the normal rate or rhythm of speech, such as stuttering.

Demographics

Speech disorders are common. More than a million children in the public schools' special education programs have been diagnosed with a speech disorder. One in 10 people in the United States is affected by a communication disorder (speech, language, or hearing disorders).

Causes and symptoms

The causes of most speech disorders are not known. Deafness and hearing loss are significant causes of speech delays and disorders. The symptoms of a speech disorder depend heavily on the age of the child. There are no symptoms of speech disorders that apply to all ages of children. Basic guidelines about what kind of speech is normal at what age can be helpful in determining if a child is missing significant speech milestones.

• Twelve months: By this time babies should respond nonverbally, have different types of cries, and may know one or a few simple words (e.g. "mama" or "dada"). At this age babies should coo and babble.
• Eighteen months: Children of this age should be increasing their vocabularies slowly and be able to produce five to 20 common words.
• Twenty-four months: At this point vocabulary building should begin to speed up. At this age children should be able to produce simple sentences made up of two words.
• Three years: Children should begin to be able to produce speech that is understood by those outside immediate caretakers. Sentences become longer and more complex, and vocabulary increases drastically.

When to call the doctor

If a child continuously misses speech milestones, or is significantly behind what is generally considered average for his or her age, a doctor should be consulted. If hearing loss is ever suspected, such as if a child only responds when the parent speaking is in eyesight, the doctor should be consulted without delay.