Unit I: Communication Disorders

Communication: any act of knowledge being shared between two or more individuals

Communication disorder: a disorder hindering the individual’s ability to communicate with like peers

• Aphasia - difficulty in thinking about message

• Apraxia - difficulty producing the message

• Autism - difficulty interpreting social cues

• ADHD - difficulty with memory

• Hyperlexia - difficulty with reading comprehension alone

• Dyslexia - difficulty with reading and writing comprehension

Origins of Communication:

• From Latin, communicare → to share or make common

The role of communication:

Sender generates message (encode) → Receiver translates message (decode)

Communication = participation

75% of a person’s day is spent communicating

Verbal communication: a form of communication involving the exchange of words alone

• Discussion: a verbal communication tool for decision-making

• Debate: verbal communication as means of achieving an agreement or common consensus

• Formal verbal communication: verbal communication that takes place in formal settings

• Informal verbal communication: verbal communication that takes place in informal settings

Nonverbal communication: a form of communication taking place without any words exchanged

1. Paralanguage: communication with tone loudness, inflection, and pitch

2. Sign language: communication with hand gestures

   1. Commonly found in the deaf community

3. Body language: the use of facial expressions or postures to convey an implicit message

   1. Responsible for a majority of communication

4. Tactile communication: the use of touch as communication

5. Proxemics: the concern surrounding space and time in communication

   1. Interpersonal distance for casual conversation is between 18 in. to 4 ft

   2. Communication distance in crowds of people is between 10 to 12 feet

6. Physical appearance: the use of style and appearance to convey a message

Models of communication:

1. Transmission model: the analogy of communication to telephone proposed by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver

   1. Person + Communication = Behavior or state of mind change

   2. Intention + Different effect = Communication breakdown and failure

   3. Feedback Loop: a continuous communication back and forth between sender and receiver

2. Speech chain: the process of encoding a message

   1. Linguistic

   2. Physiological

   3. Acoustic

Spoonerism: a slip of the tongue involving miscommunication

Classification of Communication Disorders:

• Speech: physical production of speech

• Language: knowledge of symbols and how to combine them

• Developmental or congenital: a form of communication disorder present at birth, before birth, or shortly after birth

• Acquired: a form of communication disorder caused by later life circumstances

  • Organic disorder: a subset of acquired communication disorders caused by a medical or health condition

• Functional disorder: a communication disorder with no known cause

Language modalities:

1. Auditory comprehension

2. Spoken comprehension

3. Reading comprehension

4. Written comprehension

Epidemiology: the study of frequency in people affected by a particular disorder and why

Prevalence: how common does the disease affect a population (percentage)

Incidence: the rate of occurrence in a disease (percentage)

Professions:

• Speech-language pathology: the study of human communication, swallowing, speech and language development, and related disorders

• Audiology: the study of human communication by sound and of hearing, balance, and related disorders

Neuroplasticity: “if you don’t use it, you lose it”

Summary: Communication is nonstop and must be a two-way street. Language is the key to communication and must be combined with comprehension. Communication disorders distort the combination of language and comprehension, so that there are multiple communication breakdowns.