Common Disorders
Learn about common speech and language disorders and how they affect communication. Our articles explain different conditions in straightforward, accessible language.
All About the Voice Disorder Spasmodic Dysphonia
Spasmodic dysphonia is a voice disorder that is also known as laryngeal dystonia. Usually the general population knows little about spasmodic dysphonia, so b...
Aphasia
Over 250000 people in the United Kingdom suffer from aphasia, also known as dysphasia. These people find it hard to use or understand language whether it be...
Apraxia of Speech
The area of the brain that controls speech and language is usually located in the left hemisphere, though in some left-handed individuals this control centre...
Articulation Disorders
Articulation disorders are those that are related to an individual’s ability to say particular sounds and/or string particular sounds together. These diffi...
Children's Speech Sound Disorders
Children with speech sound disorders either can not produce speech sounds, can not correctly produce specific speech sounds or can not use speech sounds corr...
Cluttering
Cluttering is a speech disorder that affects the fluency of speech. Unlike other disorders those who suffer from cluttering are sometimes not even aware of t...
Coping With Tourettes Syndrome
Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder in which motor and vocal tics are present for more than one year. Motor tics are the involuntary movements of mu...
Developmental Disabilities and Speech Difficulties
Developmental disabilities often lead to associated speech difficulties. Defining such disabilities, understanding the different types of such disabilities,...
Dysarthria
Dysarthria is a technical term that, for the general public, equates to slurred speech. There are multiple causes of dysarthria, and many ways of treating th...
Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia is a disorder in which there is an impairment or immaturity in the body’s ability to coordinate movements. In the brain the messages meant to dir...
Dysprosody
Dysprosody is a rare and relatively unknown speech disorder among the general population. Individuals suffering from dysprosody can speak fairly fluently but...
Expressive Language Disorder
Expressive language disorder is a language disorder/communication disorder that makes it difficult for individuals to express themselves in verbal communicat...
Language Based Learning Disabilities
Language based learning disabilities are not necessarily those that involve impairments with speech but rather with the use of language whether it be in spea...
Lisps
Lisps are speech disorders in which individuals are unable to produce a specific speech sound (or sounds). Many children lisp naturally as they learn to spea...
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs) are disorders in which the structures of the face and mouth are different from the recognised norm. These difference...
Phonemic Disorders & Speech Impediments
Phonemic disorders are speech disorders in which individuals have trouble physically producing certain sounds. In the general population phonemic disorders a...
Questionnaire: Does My Child Have a Speech Disorder?
Every child develops at his or her own rate, but when parents believe that their children are not progressing as normal it can be very worrying. Many parents...
Receptive Language Disorders
Receptive Language Disorders are a type of language disorder in which an individual has difficulty understanding spoken, and sometimes also written, language...
Selective Mutism
Selective mutism is often mistaken for simple shyness because it most often occurs in young children and is noticed around the time that they start school. I...
Specific Difficulties in Producing Sounds
When an individual has specific difficulties in producing sounds (phonemes) it is usually considered an articulation disorder. Articulation disorders may als...
Speech Delay
There is no set age at which all children should start talking but most children will be talking – that is, using understandable words to convey meanings �...
Stammering
Stammering, also sometimes known in the United Kingdom as stuttering, is a very common speech disorder. In fact, it is estimated that one in every one hundre...
Voice Disorders
Voice disorders, often called vocal disorders, are those that impede an individual’s voice from sounding as it would normally. Each individual has a unique...
What is Backing Disorder?
A backing disorder is a substitution type of speech disorder in which sounds that are normally made at the front of the mouth are made at the back of the mou...
What is Rett Syndrome?
Rett Syndrome is a developmental disorder in the autism spectrum that occurs almost always in girls, though it has been seen in boys in rare cases. It become...