speech disorders

Speech impediments are exactly what they say they are. They are something that impedes the speech of an individual. They can make speech slower or harder to understand to the average ear. They can be anything from a slight lisp to muteness causing a lack of ability to speak at all, and many different types in between. In a school setting especially, speech impediments can be frustrating for children. Not only does it make it harder to communicate with peers, but it could also make it more difficult to communicate with teachers. It is often taken for granted to have the ability to speak without any hindrances, such as stutters and cluttering, but having a voice that sounds much different from the voices of your peers can have a lasting effect on people. In this paper, I will explore possible causes of speech disorders, the tests used to diagnose a disorder, some possible treatments or cures, and the lasting effects that having a speech disorder can have emotionally on children, even going into adulthood.

Although there is a different reason causing the different types of speech impediment, one of the most common types of speech impediments is stuttering. One article in particular by Marilyn Nippold examines whether children who stutter (CWS) are more likely to have weaker language skills than children who do not stutter, whether stuttering actually causes more stuttering, and if stuttering can eventually lead to restrictions on a child’s language development. It is determined that CWS possess the same language development of children who do not stutter. It is also stated that stuttering has a “comprised motor control system” that makes it harder to make speech more fluid like children who lack a stutter, meaning that it is harder for children who stutter to perform the act of speaking. These children have the knowledge of the words, but lack the ability to do so with