Types of speech impairments

People with speech impairments have difficulty using the communication process efficiently. Speech is abnormal when it is intelligible, is unpleasant, or interferes with communication. The three major types of speech impairments are voice, articulation, and fluency (for example, stuttering). Any one of these three speech impairments is distracting to the listener and can negatively affect the communication process.

One type of speech impairment, voice problems, is not very common in schoolchildren, but when this speech impairment does occur, it needs immediate attention from a professional. Voice is a measure of self; it is part of one's identity. We can identify many of our friends, for example, simply by hearing their voices. Voice distinguishes each person from others, and we typically do not think about how it functions. But when it does not function as usual, such as when we have laryngitis, we find it frustrating. Many famous personalities are recognized by their unique voices. Think of how impressionists create mental images of voice and gesture. Our voices also mirror our emotions: we often can tell when people we know well are happy, sad, angry, or scared merely by hearing their voices.

Two aspects of voice are important: pitch and loudness. A voice problem usually involves a problem with one or both of these aspects. Pitch is the perceived high or low quality of voice. Men typically have lower voice pitch than women. Man's voice whose pitch is high or a woman's pitch that is low attracts attention. If the receiver of communication pays more attention to the voice than to the message, though, communication is impaired. When young boys' voice pitch changes during puberty, attention is drawn to the boys and their unintentional changes in voice. Of course, this pitch change is a normal part of development and disappears as the boy's body grows and voice pitch becomes stabilized.

Loudness is the other main aspect of voice. In some cases, people are labeled with certain personality traits because of the loudness of their voices:"She is such a soft-spoken individual". "He is loud and brash". Voice can communicate much of the intended message for delivery. In some cases, if the quality of voice is so distracting that the message is misunderstood or lost, speech therapy is probably necessary.

Articulation problems are the most common speech impairments. Articulation is the process of producing speech sounds. The receiver of communication must understand the sounds of the words spoken to understand the full message. If speech sounds are incorrectly produced, one sound might be confused with another, changing of meaning of the message. A child who substitutes a “t” for a ''k” sound might say "titty tat'" instead or "kitty cat.'" In such cases, if the words are different or unintelligible the message has no meaning. Speech/language pathologists (SLPs), who specialize in correcting speech impairments, spend a considerable portion of their time remediating articulation errors. They also work with language, voice, and fluency problems.

Articulation is related to the speaker's age, culture, and environment. Compare the speech of a 3-year-old child, a 10-year-old, and an adult. Some of the most common articulation errors young children make, are substitutions and distortions of the S and Z sounds and substituting a “w” for an “l” and a “w” for an “r”.

About 2 to 3 percent of all children require professional help to overcome or compensate for their articulation errors. Teachers and others working with young children should be aware that children ages 2 to 6 generally make certain articulation mistakes as they go through a normal sequence of speech sound development. Adults should not pay too much attention to such misarticulations.

Fluency problems are associated with the rate and flow pattern of a person's speech. A fluency problem usually involves hesitations or repetitions that interrupt the flow of speech. Stuttering is one type of fluency problem.

Some young children (ages 3 to 5) often demonstrate dysfluencies (nonfluencies) in the course of normal speech development, but they are not usually indicative of a fluency problem. Adult speech is not always smooth and fluent either. Even the best of speakers find times when they are dysfluent - when they hesitate in the middle of sentences, repeat parts of words, speak very quickly, or insert fillers such as "you know," "like," or "umm" in their speech. Dysfluencies are likely to occur in exciting, stressful, or uncommon situations. As young children search for words or the rules to apply to their messages, they may become dysfluent, and their manner of speech may suggest stuttering. Individuals who have a stuttering problem persisting into childhood frequently experience some difficulty in speaking throughout their lives. Their ability to communicate, their interactions with other people, and their own self-concepts are affected, but their speech generally can be improved with professional help.