Speech Sound Disorders and Related Topics

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts related to speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, fluency, voice, dysphagia, and language components.

Speech Sound Disorder (SSD)

A difficulty producing or using speech sounds correctly.

Functional Speech Sound Disorders

Disorders with no known cause, such as articulation or phonological disorders.

Organic Speech Sound Disorders

Disorders with a known physical or neurological cause, such as cleft palate or cerebral palsy.

Phonological Processes

Patterns of sound errors used to simplify speech.

Final Consonant Deletion

final consonant of a word is left out, e.g., saying 'ca' for 'cat'.

Cluster Reduction

a consonant cluster is simplified to a single consonant, e.g., 'poon' for 'spoon'.

Weak Syllable Deletion

deleting a syallable. above > bove

Stopping

Stopping airflow. Sheep > Teep

Main steps in assessing speech sound disorders

Case history, oral mechanism exam, hearing screening, speech sample, standardized tests, analysis.

What is intervention?

The therapy or treatment plan used to help improve speech, language, or communication skills.

How can dysarthria appear?

Slurred, slow, or mumbled speech; poor articulation.

Is comprehension good or poor in dysarthria?

Usually good.

Causes of Dysarthia

Stroke, Parkinson’s, ALS, brain injury

How does apraxia appear?

Inconsistent errors, reaching for sounds, difficulty imitating.

Is comprehension good or poor in Aprixa?

Usually good, problem is mental planning, not comprehension

Common cause of Apraxia?

Stroke, brain injury, or developmental

Motor Speech Disorders

Problems with motor planning or muscle control needed for speech, including dysarthria and apraxia.

Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder caused by muscle weakness or paralysis.

Apraxia of Speech

Difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech.

Fluency

The smooth, effortless flow of speech.

Disfluency

Interruptions in speech flow, such as pauses and repetitions.

Types of disfluencies

Typical and stutter life

Hesitations

Typical: Pausing before speaking → “….I want to go”

Sentence Repetitions

Typical: Repeating a whole sentence → “I want—I want to go outside”

Phrase Repetition

Typical: Repeating short phrase → “In the car, in the car we saw a dog.”

Word Rep

Typical: Repeating a full word → “Can can I have that”

Interjections

Typical: Adding extra words or sounds → “Um, well, like, I don’t know”

Sound Rep

Stutter Like: Repeating one sound → “B-b-b-ball.”

Syllable Rep

Stutter Like: Repeating syllable→ “Ba-ba-basket”

Sound prolongations

Stutter Like: Stretching out a sound → “Ssssun”

Blocks

Stutter like: Getting stuck before or during a sound. → “(Y———es”

Secondary Behaviors

Stutter Like: Physical reactions to stuttering→ blinking, head nodding, jaw tension

What can the voice reflect?

Physical health, emotion, gender, personality.

Developmental Stuttering

Stuttering that begins in early childhood, with 80% of cases recovering naturally.

Voice

What can reflect physical health, emotion, and personality.

Vocal Pitch

The frequency of vibration of the vocal folds, measured in Hertz (Hz).

Monoloudness

Speaking at one consistent volume.

Dysphagia

Difficulty swallowing.

Deglutition

The act of swallowing.

Phonology

The study of sound systems.

Phonotactics

The rules for how sounds can be arranged

Phoneme

The smallest sound unit, e.g., /p/ in 'pat'.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning, e.g., 'cat' or the suffix '-s'.

Morphology

Structure of words

Free

Stand alone. → “book”, “dog”

Bound

Must attach → “-s”, “un-“

Syntax

Sentence structure and grammar.

What are semantic features

Characteristics that define a word → “dog” = animal, furry, barks

Pragmatics

Social use of language, such as taking turns in conversation.

By what age should most phonological processes disappear?

Around 4 yrs

How do vocal folds move?

Open and close like a wave — bottom to top, front to back.

What are the five layers of the vocal folds?

Epithelium, 3 layers of lamina propria, and vocalis muscle.

What is vocal pitch and what is it measured in?

Frequency of vibration; measured in Hertz (Hz).

Males

125 Hz

Females

200 Hz

Children

500 Hz

What affects pitch?

Longer folds = higher pitch; shorter folds = lower pitch.

What are common voice problems or qualities?

Hoarseness, breathiness, strain, fatigue, loss of voice.

What is stridor?

Noisy breathing.

What is aphonia?

Complete loss of voice.

What are common causes of voice disorders?

Structural damage, neuromotor disease, or overuse.

Examples of voice disorders?

Vocal nodules, polyps, tumors.

What are the four phases of swallowing?

1) Oral prep, 2) Oral transport, 3) Pharyngeal, 4) Esophageal

What is aspiration?

When food or liquid enters the airway.

Why do SLPs work with swallowing?

Swallowing uses the same muscles and structures as speech.

What are the three components of language?

Form, Content, Use

What is a cleft palate?

The failure of the palate to fuse during pregnancy

Difference between functional and organic SSDs?

Functional ones don’t have a known cause

What type of speech sound disorder could be a hearing impairment?

Perceptual (organic)

Cleft lip might have difficulties uttering

/b/

neuromotor Speech sound disorders

Apraxia, Dyasrthia, Phonilogy

What unit do we use to measure loudness

decibel

Parkinson’s

Neuromotor

Polyps

Structural

Nodules

Structural

Carinoma

Organic

ALS

neuromotor

Why males voice lower?

Heavier vocal folds

Deepest layer of vocal folds

A muscle

flexiable videolaryngoscopy

A laryngoscope is inserted through the nose to look at vocal folds