Chapter 8 - Communication Disorders

Dysarthria

A group of speech disorders caused by neuromuscular impairments in respiration, phonation, resonation, and articulation.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that can be identified in a spoken language. The English language has 42 to 46 phonemes.

Syntax

The system of rules governing the meaningful arrangement of words in a language.

Cluttering

A type of fluency disorder in which speech is very rapid, with extra sounds or mispronounced sounds; speech may be garbled to the point of unintelligibility; compare with stuttering.

Language disorder

Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written, or other symbol systems.

Graphemes

The smallest level of written language that corresponds to one phoneme; for example, the grapheme t represents the phoneme /t/.

Receptive language disorder

A language impairment characterized by difficulty in understanding language; contrast with expressive language disorder.

Stuttering

Fluency disorder of speaking marked by rapid-fire repetitions of consonant or vowel sounds, especially at the beginning of words; prolongations; hesitations; interjections; and complete verbal blocks; compare with cluttering.

Phonological disorder

A language disorder in which the child produces a given sound correctly in some instances but not at other times.

Cleft palate

A congenital split in the palate that results in an excessive nasal quality of the voice. Can often be repaired by surgery or a dental appliance.

Communication

An interactive process requiring at least two parties in which messages are encoded, transmitted, and decoded by any means, including sounds, symbols, and gestures.

Articulation disorder

Abnormal production of speech sounds.

Morphology

Refers to the basic units of meaning in a language and how those units are combined into words.

Communication disorder

An impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal, and graphic symbols systems. A communication disorder may be evident in the proc esses of hearing, language, and/or speech.

Expressive language disorder

A language impairment that interferes with the production of language; contrast with receptive disorder.

Speech impairments

Speech that deviates so far from the speech of other people that it calls attention to itself, interferes with communication, or provokes distress in the speaker or the listener. The three basic types of speech impairments are articulation, fluency, and voice.

Fluency disorders

A speech disorder characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; see stuttering, cluttering.

Morphemes

The smallest element of a language that carries meaning.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)

A diverse set of nonspeech communication strategies and methods to assist individuals who can not meet their communication needs through speech; includes sign language, symbol systems, communication boards, and synthetic speech devices.

Aphasia

The loss of speech functions; often, but not always, refers to inability to speak because of brain lesions.

Language

A system used by a group of people for giving meaning to sounds, words, gestures, and other symbols to enable communication with one another. Languages can use vocal (speech sounds) or nonvocal symbols, such as American Sign Language, or use movements and physical symbols instead of sounds.

Semantics

Refers to the meaning in language.

Pragmatics

Refers to the rules that govern how language is used in a communication context.

Dialects

A variety within a specific language; can involve variation in pronunciation, word choice, word order, and inflected forms.

Speech

Using breath and muscles to create the specific sounds of spoken language.

Phonology

Refers to the linguistic rules governing a language’s sound system.

Voice disorder

The abnormal production and/or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual’s age and/or sex.