Speech is how we say sounds and words.
Speech includes:
-
Articulation: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.
-
Voice: How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot.
-
Fluency: This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.
When we have trouble saying sounds, stutter when we speak, or have voice problems, we have a speech disorder.
-
Apraxia
-
Articulation/Phonological disorders, dysarthria
-
cluttering
-
stuttering
-
resonance and voice disorders
These disorders can affect communication by making someone’s speech difficult to understand and thus affecting communication. This may lead to increased frustration for your child and affect their self-esteem. If you suspect your child may have a speech disorder, contact us! We are speech and language therapy experts and can help improve your child’s communication.
Please refer to our speech and language milestones checklist for more information.
Questions? Contact us at: 850-466-7061 or by email at smcilwain@gulfcoastspeechlanguage.com
Fax: 448-400-4238