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Children and adults may experience speech, language, voice and/or swallowing difficulties for a variety of reasons. Information about specific types of communication and swallowing disorders, as well as conditions that cause them is included below.
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Stammering
Stammering or stuttering describes speech which is
hesitant or dysfluent. People who stammer may repeat whole
words or just part of words as well as having blocks or
pauses in their speech. Stammering can occur in children
or adults. If stammering is suspected in a young child it
is extremely important to seek help or an opinion as soon
as possible as early intervention is critical. For more
information visit the site of the Irish Stammering Association
at www.stammeringireland.ie.
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Hearing Impairment
Hearing impairment covers a broad spectrum of disability
from mild difficulties hearing to profound hearing loss.
It can occur in children and adults.
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Learning Disability
Learning disability covers a wide range of disorders from
mild difficulties with learning through to moderate or severe.
Learning disability may occur on its own or as part of a
syndrome. Children with a learning disability are slower
to acquire speech and language than other children of their
own age. It is extremely important to have early speech
and language intervention for children with a learning disability.
The speech and language therapist will assess the child
and advise on intervention. Much of early intervention is
done indirectly through parents, carers and preschool liaison.
Simple changes in how parents interact with the child can
make a great deal of difference to early speech and language development.
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Social/Emotional Difficulties
This describes children who show difficulties with their
social and emotional development. Some children may have
behavioural difficulties and/or difficulties coping with
groups of other children at home and/or in school. These
difficulties may be isolated or may be present associated
with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Asperger's
Syndrome.
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Dyslexia
This disorder affects the ability to use written language
to read, write and to understand what is read. Since dyslexia
is often linked closely to spoken language, it is an area
of specialisation for some speech and language therapists.
Speech and language therapists, having an in-depth knowledge
of how children develop spoken language and of how it may
be disordered, have an excellent knowledge base to apply
to disorders of written language/dyslexia. For more information
on dyslexia, visit the website of the Dyslexia Association
of Ireland at www.dyslexia.ie
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Physical Disability
This covers a wide range of disabilities that may affect
the ability to use the muscles of the body (e.g. head, limbs
and mid-body). Individuals with physical disability may have
difficulties with speech due to difficulties coordinating
the muscles of the body involved in speech (e.g., breathing
muscles, vocal cords/voice box, tongue and lips). Physical
disability may be present from birth or may occur in later
life due to a stroke or head
injury. A speech and language therapist will be able to
assess and pinpoint the aspects of the physical disability
that are affecting speech and to provide intervention.
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Cleft Palate
This describes the disorder that occurs when the
palate fails to develop properly in the unborn child. It
may just affect the palate or the lip or both. Because the
palate is an important structure for feeding and speech,
many children with cleft palate have difficulties with speech
and/or feeding. Some speech and language therapists specialise
in the area of cleft palate. For more information, visit
the site of the Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Ireland
www.cleft.ie
or the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain www.cfsgb.org.uk.
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Speech & Language Delay
This describes the failure of a child's speech or language
to develop at the same rate as other children. The child
may have difficulties in understanding language spoken to
them, forming sentences or have poor pronunciation. Many children show all three
features. The speech and language therapist will assess
the child and pinpoint the exact areas of difficulty. These
might be in the areas of attention, listening, language
comprehension, sentence formulation etc. A treatment plan
can then be formulated in conjunction with the child's parent/carer.
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Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disorder affecting
several aspects of development. Communication is impaired
with difficulties in understanding language and in using
language to communicate. Language may be delayed or disordered
(developing in a different way from other children).
ASD also involves difficulties in socialising with others,
understanding social cues, such as tone of voice/facial
expressions and in responding appropriately to the communication
of others.
Individuals with ASD often show a limited range
of activities and interests and a lack of interest or inability
to engage in imaginative activities/imaginative play. Rigidity
in routines is a characteristic of ASD with the individual
wishing to stick to certain routines/patterns and showing
extreme signs of stress/upset if the routine is changed.
There may be a fixation on/preoccupation with particular
objects. The developmental sequence has been shown to be
different in individuals with ASD. They may have delays,
arrests and/or regressions in physical, social or learning
skills. People with ASD may have some areas of advanced
skill whilst other areas will be developing as normal or
at a very slow rate. The individual with ASD may show abnormalities
in the thinking process and in generalising/applying information
learned in one situation to another. Although there is no
'cure' for ASD, early intervention has been shown to make
a great difference to children on the autistic spectrum.
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Specific Language Impairment
This is a disorder where language development does not follow
the same pattern as other children. Disorders can affect
all or some areas of language, understanding, grammar, expression
or social use of language. There is no evidence of learning
disability in these cases. Disorders may present as mild,
moderate or severe in nature. There is sometimes but not
always a family connection. There may also be links to written
language difficulties. Some speech and language therapists
specialise in the area of specific language impairment.
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Voice Disorders
A Voice disorder happens when a person's voice sounds hoarse
or different or when a person is feeling vocal strain or
soreness when talking. In some cases an individual may have
'lost' their voice or may be finding it extremely difficult
to work because of the quality of their voice. Voice problems
happen for a variety of reasons - strain associated with
the person's occupation, poor use of voice, poor vocal habits
or a physical reason such as a cyst on the vocal cords or
smoking related changes to the cords. Poor vocal habit can
lead to changes in the vocal cords such as vocal cord nodules
or oedema (swelling) of the vocal cords. In all instances
where an individual is hoarse or feeling vocal strain, it
is necessary to have an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon look
at the vocal cords and diagnose the problem. Following this, a
speech and language therapist can assess what factors are
causing the difficulty and advise and provide treatment
accordingly. Some therapists specialise in singer's
voice.
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Progressive Illness
A progressive illness
is one where changes in the brain over time lead to difficulties
in communication and/or swallowing. These types
of illness include Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson's
Disease, Huntington's Disease and brain tumours. The changes
in the brain may change muscle function in the
vocal cords, palate, tongue and lips, which in turn affects
speech and swallowing. Some progressive illnesses/types
of brain tumour may affect language or the ability to understand
and/or use words and sentences to communicate. A speech
and language therapist will be able to assess the nature
and extent of the difficulty and to treat accordingly.
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Head Injury
A head injury occurs when there is trauma to the brain.
Such an injury may result in physical difficulties, difficulties
in speech and language, swallowing difficulties and/or difficulties
in thinking and reasoning. The type of difficulty encountered
will depend on which part of the brain was injured and
on the extent of the injury. If language is affected, there
may be difficulty in understanding and/or using spoken or
written language to communicate. If the muscles of breathing,
vocal cords, tongue and lips are affected, there will be
difficulties in pronouncing words clearly and in coordinating
swallowing. A speech and language therapist will be able
to assess the type and extent of the communication and/or
swallowing difficulty and treat accordingly. More
information can be found at www.headwayireland.ie
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Stroke
A stroke/cerebrovascular accident (CVA) happens when a part
of the brain is deprived of oxygen either by a blockage
in a blood vessel supplying the brain or by a bleed.
The type of difficulty encountered will depend on which
part of the brain was affected and on the extent of the
damage to the brain. If language is affected there may be
difficulty in understanding and/or using spoken or written
language to communicate. If the muscles of breathing, vocal
cords, tongue and lips are affected there will be difficulties
in pronouncing words clearly and in coordinating swallowing.
A speech and language therapist will be able to assess the
type and extent of the communication and/or swallowing difficulty
and treat accordingly. For more information on stroke,
visit the Irish Heart Foundation's website at www.irishheart.ie
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Links
IRISHHEART.IE
The Irish Heart Foundation
STROKESCHEME.IE
The Volunteer
Stroke Scheme
DOWNSYNDROME.IE
Down Syndrome Ireland
CLEFT.IE
Cleft Lip and Palate
Association of Ireland
IMNDA.IE
Irish Motor Neurone
Disease Association
PARKINSONS.IE
The Parkinson's
Association of Ireland
AUTISMIRELAND.IE
Irish Autism Action
HUNTINGTONS.IE
Huntington's Disease
Association of Ireland
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