Introduction to Communication Disorders Overview

What is Communication?

• Communication: the process of sharing information between two or more people
• It involves a sender and a receiver
• For communication to be effective:
  • the sender & receiver need to be proficient in the symbol system used to communicate
  • there is an agreement on the system being used

Key Terms

• Formulation: putting thoughts/ideas into words to share with others
• Transmission: the process of conveying one’s ideas to another person
• Reception: the process of receiving a message from another person
• Comprehension: the process of making sense of that message
• Modality: the manner in which the message is conveyed (speech, sign language, reading, writing)
• Feedback: information provided by the receiver to the sender
  • This can be verbal/linguistic, non-verbal/extralinguistic, or paralinguistic (pitch, loudness, etc.)

A Model of Communication

Purposes of Communication

• Instrumental: used to request/ask for something
• Regulatory: used to direct others/give directions
• Interactional: used to interact/converse socially
• Personal: used to express feelings or thoughts
• Heuristic: used to inquire/find out information
• Imaginative: used to tell stories/role play
• Informative: used to provide organized descriptions of the event/object
• All of these are important in developing and maintaining social relationships & meeting basic wants and needs

How does communication relate to speech, language, and hearing?

These processes are essential for human communication:

• Formulation: putting thoughts/ideas into words to share with others
  • Involves language
• Transmission: the process of conveying one’s ideas to another person
  • Involves speech
• Reception: the process of receiving a message from another person
  • involves hearing
  • hearing loss can impair message reception
• Comprehension: the process of making sense of that message
  • involves language

Speech and Language are not the same thing!

• Language: A socially shared code using arbitary symbols for representing concepts/ideas
  • Symbols: words that are made of sounds combined in various sounds
  • Learning language is learning that one thing represents another
• Speech: The neuromuscular process that allows us to express language vocally and a physical action involving the coordination of respiration (breathing), phonation (voicing), and articulation (using the lips, tongue, and teeth in rapid motion to produce language)

Language Domains

• Semantics: meanings of words and word combinations
  • this is also called vocabulary
• Syntax: word order/grammar and sentence organization
  • without syntax, the semantics of language can’t make sense
• Morphology: internal organization of words
  • Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of language
• Phonology: sound and sound combinations of a language
• Pragmatics: how language is used for social purposes

Classification of Communication Disorders

• Communication disorder: a breakdown in any one of the communication processes (language, speech, hearing)
• Language disorders: language centers of the brain are somehow affected
  • Different types are child language disorders, adult language disorders, written language disorders, and reading disabilities
• Speech disorders: problems with physically producing speech
  • Different types are articulation and phonology disorders, fluency disorders, voice disorders, and motor speech disorders
• Hearing loss: problems with receiving sound
  • Includes sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss, and auditory processing disorders
• Feeding & swallowing disorders: neural or muscular issues with the action of swallowing
  • Includes pediatric feeding and swallowing problems as well as adult dysphagia

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