Week 2 - Speech Pathology

Question 1

What are the range of practice areas for a speech pathologist?

Answer 1

Speech
Development speech sound disorders
Acquired speech disorders
Congenital speech disorders (cleft palate)

Language
Developmental conditions such as language delays or disorders
Acquired language disorders e.g aphasia, dementia, TBI

Swallowing
Dysphagia

Voice
Laryngeal pathologies
Functional disorders

Fluency
Stuttering

Multi-modal communication
Complex communication needs requiring oral, manual or other argumentative supports for communication

Question 2

Describe developmental speech sound disorders

Answer 2

A developmental speech sound disorders means that as the child develops they produce speech patterns that are:

1) not in the typical range for their age
2) persistent

Developmental speech sound disorders may affect a child’s intelligibility

Intelligibility = the clarity of speech or how easily the speech in understood.

Question 3

Discuss acquired speech disorders

Answer 3

These are speech disorders that occur in people who previously exhibited typical communication skills.
Related to:
Neurological changes - stroke
Neurodegenerative conditions - Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
Structural changes- following surgery for head or neck cancer.

Question 4

Discuss congenital speech disorders in children.

Answer 4

Cleft palate is a condition where the two plates of the skull that form the hard palate (roof of the mouth) do not join completely.

Palate cleft can present as complete (hard, and soft palate, and may also include a gap in the jaw), or incomplete (a “hole” in the roof of the mouth, usually as a cleft soft palate).

Question 5

Discuss language disorders

Language impairments in children

Answer 5

Language delay
Language disorders are when children have language difficulties that:
Are persistent, or likely to persist into middle childhood or beyond
Result in significant difficulties evident in everyday social interactions and/or educational progress
Language disorders may be associated with other biomedical conditions such as language disorder associated with Downs Syndrome, language disorder associated with TBI

Developmental language disorder- this is a specific term used to refer to children with language disorders (as above) where these difficulties are not associated with any known biomedical condition

Question 6

Discuss acquired language disorder

Answer 6

A language disorder that occurs in people who previously exhibited typical communication skills.
E.g aphasia, cognitive communication disorders
Related to neurological changes e.g stroke, dementia, TBI

Question 7

Discuss disorders of the voice

Answer 7

Voice disorders can usually be divided into two main types

• laryngeal pathologies such as laryngeal cancer, vocal nodules
• functional disorders

Question 8

Disorders of fluency

Stuttering

Answer 8

Stuttering is a disability that affects verbal communication, more specifically the rhythm and flow of communication.
Stuttering may present as word repetitions, prolongation, or complete speech blocks.

Stuttering is a speech disorder that interrupts the rhythm and flow of speech.

Question 9

Disorder of fluency

Cluttering

Answer 9

Cluttering is an abnormally fast and irregular articulately rate combined with:

• a higher than normal frequency of normal disfluency and pausing errors
• errors in word structure (syllable sequencing errors, excessive coarticulation)

Question 10

Describe swallowing disorders

Answer 10

Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) may affect both adults and children. 
Linked to neurological, functional, and respiratory disorders.