These most commonly refer to what is known as Dysarthria and Apraxia of Speech. Dysarthria refers to poor control and weakness within speech musculature while apraxia refers to impaired sequencing of movements involved in speech production.
A large number of neurological conditions can cause these conditions, in my experience as a speech therapist the most common conditions are Parkinson’s disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) etc. Dealing with a condition like a stroke or other neurogenic condition is difficult as is, but the effects are exacerbated with the frustration of unintelligible speech, slurred nature of speech, difficulty saying the right sounds, altered speech or voice quality etc.
A speech therapist is trained to assess different aspects of speech production that include but are not limited to voice quality, speech and breathing coordination, resonance, intelligibility of speech overall as well as articulation of specific sounds, rate of speech etc. Here are some common complaints:
Dysarthria and apraxia are both treatable by trained speech therapists with the use of strategies to improve strength and coordination of speech musculature. Schedule a consultation to learn more.
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