Speech & Language

Disorders
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT
Speech or language impairment means a
communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired
articulation, a language impairment, or a voice
impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance.”
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

SUBDIVIDED IN TWO GROUPS:

Speech Impairments
Language Impairments
SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS- CAN AFFECT THE WAY A
PERSON CREATES SOUNDS TO FORM WORDS.
1. Articulation Disorders- are errors in the production
of speech sounds that may be related to anatomical or
physiological limitations in the skeletal, muscular, or
neuromuscular support for speech production. These
disorders include:
OCCURS AT THE PHONETIC LEVEL- motor act of
producing consonants and vowels, single consonants and
vowels.
(e.g., lisp, difficulty articulating certain sounds, such as
“l” or “r”);
Substitutions- ( wabbit for rabbit)
Omissions- (bo for boat)
Distortions- (shlip or slip)
Additions- adding vowel between two
consonants /ger-een/ for green

It requires motor-based treatment

approach
2. FLUENCY DISORDERS ARE DIFFICULTIES WITH THE RHYTHM
AND TIMING OF SPEECH CHARACTERIZED BY HESITATIONS,
REPETITIONS, OR PROLONGATIONS OF SOUNDS, SYLLABLES,
WORDS, OR PHRASES. COMMON FLUENCY DISORDERS INCLUDE:

Stuttering- rapid-fire repetitions of consonant or

vowel sounds especially at the beginning of words,
prolongations, hesitations, interjections, and
complete verbal blocks

Cluttering- excessively fast and jerky speech

VOICE DISORDERS
3. Voice disorders are problems with the quality
or use of one's voice resulting from disorders in
the larynx. Voice disorders are characterized by
abnormal production and/or absences of vocal
quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or
duration.
The voice may be hoarse, raspy, or harsh. For
some, it may sound quite nasal; others might seem
as if they are “stuffed up.”
VOICE DISORDERS
Pitch-degree of
highness or lowness of a
tone.
Intensity- perceived as
the loudness of the sound
Resonance- strong and
deep in tone”
 LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS
Language disorders or language
impairments are disorders that involve the
processing of linguistic information.
There are five basic areas of language
Phonology- is the study of sound system of languages.
Morphology- studies the structure of words
Syntax- studies the structure of sentences
Semantic- study of words and their meaning in
a language
Pragmatics- study of words and their meaning
in language with concern to their context.
 PHONOLOGICAL DISORDERS
- are defined as the abnormal organization of the
phonological system, or a significant deficit in speech
production or perception. A child with a phonological
disorder may be described as hard to understand or
as not saying the sounds correctly.
OCCURS AT PHONEMIC LEVEL- sound pattern level;
organization process
It requires language-based treatment approach.
e.G “boo” for book, “pi” pig
Phonological Deficits include:
•limited phonological awareness (e.g., rhyming,
sound/syllable deleting, segmentation, and blending)
•problems with early speech sounds affecting
intelligibility
•tendency to vocalize less and use less varied/less
mature syllable structures than those of same-age,
typically developing toddlers;
•delay in acquisition of phonological skills, including
errors similar to those of younger,
 MORPHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Morphological disorders are defined as difficulties with
morphological inflections (inflections on nouns, verbs,
and adjectives that signal different kinds of meanings).

For Example
Trouble with the structure of words. For example,
adding an ED to signify past tense.
•late acquisition of word combinations;
•errors occurring most often on verbs (especially verb endings,
auxiliary verbs, and past tense marking of regular and
irregular forms), function words (e.g., articles and
prepositions), and pronouns;
•errors of omission occurring more frequently than errors of
misuse, although occurrence of both error types may be
inconsistent;
•difficulty judging grammaticality;
•difficulty identifying and correcting grammatical errors;
•difficulty identifying parts of speech;
SYNTACTIC DISORDER
Solid syntactic skills require an understanding and
use of correct word order and organization in
phrases and sentences and also the ability to use
increasingly complex sentences as language
develops.
•Problems with sequencing words in order.
•difficulty learning and using the rules that govern
word formation (morphemes) and phrase/sentence
formation (syntactic structures)
• not correctly use plural forms or verb tenses.
•might use incorrect word order, leave out words, or
use a limited number of complex sentences,
SEMANTIC DISORDERS
Semantic disorders are characterized by poor vocabulary
development, inappropriate use of word meanings, and/or inability to
comprehend word meanings. These students will demonstrate
restrictions in word meanings, difficulty with multiple word meanings,
excessive use of nonspecific terms (e.g., thing and stuff), and indefinite
references (e.g., that and there).
•late acquisition of first words and word combinations
•difficulty monitoring comprehension
•difficulty understanding questions and following directions that are
heard
•difficulty paraphrasing information;
PRAGMATICS DISORDER
•difficulty initiating and sustaining conversations
•difficulty using language to sequence events of a story—
narratives lack cohesion;
•tendency to omit some story components.
•uncertainty about what to say and what not to say;
•uncertainty about when to talk and when not to talk
•difficulty expressing ideas, feelings, and personal experiences;
•difficulty initiating play with peers, may play alone;
•difficulty understanding others;
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
•Some characteristics of language disorders include:
•improper use of words and their meanings,
•inability to express ideas,
•inappropriate grammatical patterns,
•reduced vocabulary, and
•inability to follow directions.
APRAXIA OF SPEECH
Apraxia is a general term referring to brain
damage that impairs a person's motor skills, and it
can affect any part of the body. Apraxia of
speech, or verbal apraxia, refers specifically to the
impairment of motor skills that affect an
individual's ability to form the sounds of speech
correctly, even when they know which words they
want to say.
Articulation of speech errors are not consistent.
The brain has difficulty making accurate movements
when speaking. The speech muscles aren’t weak, but
they don’t perform normally because the brain has
difficulty directing or coordinating the movements.
Symptoms of Children with Apraxia of Speech:
•Delayed onset of first words
•A limited number of spoken words
•The ability to form only a few consonant or vowel
sounds.
DYSARTHIA
Dysarthria occurs when damage to the brain causes muscle
weakness in a person's face, lips, tongue, throat, or chest. Muscle
weakness in these parts of the body can make speaking very
difficult.
Physical deficit that affects speech.

People who have dysarthria may experience the following

symptoms:
•slurred speech
•mumbling
•speaking too slowly or too quickly
•soft or quiet speech
•difficulty moving the mouth or tongue
APHASIA
Aphasia is an impairment of language,
affecting the production or comprehension of
speech and the ability to read or write.
Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-
most commonly from a stroke, particularly in
older individuals
It is an acquired communication disorder.
FLUENT APHASIA (RECEPTIVE)
is a type of aphasia in which individuals have
difficulty understanding written and spoken language.
People with aphasia have normal inflections but use
words that lacks meaning. The person may have
normal or even increased rate of word production
Have difficulty understanding the speech of others.
NON-FLUENT APHASIA (EXPRESSIVE)
Individuals with Broca’s aphasia have trouble
speaking fluently but their comprehension can be
relatively preserved.
Speech becomes effortful and the person produces
fewer words. You know what you want to say, but you
have trouble saying or writing what you mean.

A person with Broca’s aphasia may understand

speech relatively well, particularly when the
grammatical structure of the spoken language is
simple. However they may have harder
times understanding sentences with more complex
grammatical construct.
PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA
Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a
neurological syndrome in which language
capabilities become slowly and progressively
impaired. Unlike other forms of aphasia that
result from stroke or brain injury, PPA is caused
by neurodegenerative diseases.
individuals with PPA may benefit during the
course of their illness by acquiring new
communication strategies from speech-
language pathologists
CAUSES
Hearing Loss
Down Syndrome
Autism
Cancer that affects the mouth or throat
Dementia
A degenerative disease, such as Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s
Disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Damaged vocal cords
Muscle weakness
Brain damage due to a stroke or head injury
 ROLE OF SPEECH LANGUAGE
Pathologists
 Directcontactwithstudentsismajorityof workload.
 Programmingaugmentativecommunicationdevices andeducatingparaprofessionals
onhowtousethem.
 AlignIEP goalswithteachersandparaprofessionals.

TheAmericanSpeech-Language-Hearing Association identifiedfourdifferenttypesof

activitiesthatSLP’s usein schools:
1. Directservicestoschools
2. Indirectservicestoimplementstudent’s
educationprograms
3. Indirect services to support students in the general education
curriculum
4. Activitiesasmembersofthecommunityof educators
ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE
Classroom
 PRESENTATION
• Do adaptations need to be made to
instruction &materials?
*Keep a slow paced delivery &speak clearly
(If needed, allow students to tape the lecture
on arecorder.)
*Provide step by step directions
*Use visual support to help the student
understand (gestures, pictures, printed
handouts, graphic organizers)
*Stay well-organized. Don’t rush transitions to
newtopics&activities
 THE IMPORTANCE OF GRAPHIC
Organizers
• During a lecture, they provide a visual
representation and can be used as a
reference during discussions later on.
• During reading, they help guide
organization and make great study guides.
• Visually links together groups of important
information for the students!
 RESPONSE
• Do adaptations need to be made to
assignments &assessments in order for
students to successfullyparticipate?
*Allow student extra time to verbally respond to
questions. (Cues and advanced notice can be
used to help students prepare and reduce
anxiety)
*Written assignments &exams might be used
in place of oral presentations orreports.
*Multiple choice/True &False formats can be
used to avoid long written or oral responses.
*Extra time might also be needed for tests.
 SETTING
• Do adaptations need to be made to
the learningenvironment?
*Reduce noise and talking in theclassroom.
*Have the student sit at the front of the
class during instruction&lectures.
*Alternate ways for student to contribute
vocally to class &group discussions.
*Allow use of special communicationdevices.
 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Alternative Vs. Augmentative
Low tech Vs. Hi Tech

•Kidsperation
Software
•Portable
Communicatio
n Devices (Go
talk systems,
Iphone/Ipad
Apps.)
• Graphic
Organizer
s
• Communication
Message Boards
• Communication
Bracelets
• Picture
Books/Boards
 STUDENTS WITH
Communication Disorders
•Use pictures as often as
possible, visual images are
much easier to understand
than audio.
•Collaborate with the ESL
teachers, SLPs & parents
on objectivesandgoals.
•Consider the cultural and
linguistic factors that affect
delivery.
•Encourage Peer Buddies
and class interactions.