Communication Disorders and Language Disorders

Communication Disorders

• Communication disorders are a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to receive, comprehend, send, and process concepts or communication systems.
• These disorders include deficits in language, speech, and communication.
• The "Big Nine" areas of communication are articulation, fluency, voice and resonance quality, receptive/expressive language, hearing, swallowing, cognitive assessments of communication, social aspects of communication, and communication modalities.
• Communication encompasses any nonverbal or verbal behavior that influences other people's ideas and attitudes.
• Communication disorders are often comorbid with other neurodevelopmental or mental disorders.

Nature of Language Disorders

• Language disorders involve persistent difficulty in language leaning and usage.
• This can manifest in different ways, such as trouble with vocabulary, difficulty forming sentences, comprehending messages, and social communication.

Characteristics of Communication Disorders

• Persistent difficulty in language learning and usage and other forms of communication.
• These issues can affect vocabulary use, sentence structure, message comprehension, and social communication.

Nature of Speech Sound Disorders

• Speech sound disorders involve difficulties in speech perception or motor production or representation of speech sounds.
• The disorder is often categorized as functional or organic.

Etiology of Speech Sound Disorders

• Physical problems like cleft lip/palate or trauma to the larynx can cause problems.
• Pre- and perinatal factors, like low birthweight or infections during or after pregnancy, can cause issues in speech.

Speech Production

• Articulation problems relate to the physical movements needed to make sounds.
• Phonological problems refer to the way sounds are organized or grouped to create words.

Articulation Disorders

• Speech Sound Errors are often random and variable, and include substitution, omission, distortion, and addition.

Phonological Disorders

• Speech Sound errors that are predictable and rule-based, including fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion.

Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder

• Also known as stuttering, it is a disorder characterized by repeated interruptions or hesitations in the fluency of speech.
• It can affect rhythm, timing, and the way speech flows.

Classification In Public Schools

• Language disorders are classified as "Speech or Language Impairment (SLI)".
• These classifications often include impaired articulation, language impairment, or stuttering.

Assessment of Communication Disorders

• Comprehensive assessments, including case history, initial clinical interviews, hearing screenings, and standardized assessments, are used to determine if there are communication concerns.
• Tools used also include orofacial examinations and diadochokinetic tasks.
• Speech-language samples, including naturalistic interactions, are considered part of a comprehensive assessment.

Intervention of Communication Disorders

• Professionals use intervention techniques like modeling, prompting, and block trials/drills to help target specific communication skills.
• Naturalistic techniques use interactions in everyday activities to support language development.

Explore the impact of communication disorders on language skills and the various types affecting comprehension and expression. This quiz covers critical concepts from the 'Big Nine' areas of communication and highlights challenges faced by individuals with language disorders.