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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

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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