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Communication Disorders – Everything You Need to Know
If you, your child, or someone you know, has been diagnosed with a communication disorder you likely have some questions. Frankly, navigating the world of communication disorders can be pretty confusing.
This guide will help answer some of the most pressing questions associated with the disorders, common symptoms, and common treatments.
What is a Communication Disorder?
A communication disorder means that a person has
Communication disorders affect a wide variety of people for a wide variety of reasons. For children, diagnosis may come after a parent or teacher notices that a child’s speech development is noticeably delayed in comparison to their peers.
Like many disorders, symptoms can range from mild to very severe. It can be as limited as a slight
What are the Types of Communication Disorders?
In 2013, mental health experts released the DSM-5 – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5). In it, they categorized communication disorders to help smooth the diagnostic process so individuals could receive the necessary services they required.
According to DSM-5, there are four main types of Communication Disorders: Language Disorder, Speech Sound Disorder, Child-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering), and
Language Disorder
People with a language disorder will often have difficulty understanding or using correct words in context. They may also have difficulty getting others to understand what they mean.
A language disorder may cause a person to have a reduced vocabulary and limited sentence structure. They often struggle to form complete meaningful sentences and have trouble grasping the rules of grammar, both in written and speaking form.
Often language disabilities are diagnosed at a young age when
According to DSM-5, Language Disorder is not related to hearing loss, motor dysfunction, intellectual disability, global developmental delay, or other medical or neurological conditions.
Speech Sound Disorder
Those who are affected by Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) have a difficulty making certain sounds. The sounds may be omitted, changed, or distorted. For those affected by SSD, it is common to substitute
As with Language Disorders, SSD is often identified when parents or teachers notice a slowness in the development of a child’s speech. Onset usually occurs in the early development period of a child, and is not an acquired or congenital condition. SSD can affect a person or child’s ability to learn, write, read, and spell.
Speech Sound Disorder can be divided into two categories: Articulation and Phonological.
Articulation
Those who struggle with articulation have a difficult time making specific speech sounds. This is
There are four major symptoms associated with Articulation Disorders.
Distortion of sound – Distortion sounds are often
Substitution – An example of this would be using the letter “w” instead of the letter “r”.
Omission – Omission refers to the times that people leave out part of a word. For example, instead of saying, “That’s mine!”, they may say, “‘at’s ‘ine.”
Additional sounds – Additional sounds may be added to words as in “doguh” instead of “dog.”
Phonological
Phonological has to do with language at the
Children or adults who have Phonological issues will sometimes create sounds in the wrong part of their mouth. For example, they may use “back sounds” (sounds that would ordinarily be produced in the back of the mouth), in the front
Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder
Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (COND) refers to a disruption in the natural flow of language, more often known as a stutter. COND will manifest itself in repetition or prolongation of speech. Those who suffer from this disorder may also hesitate before they speak or use monosyllabic repetitive words. For example, they may say something like, “He-he-he-he went that way.”
Those who suffer from COND often
Social Communication Disorder
Unlike some of the other disorders, Social Communication Disorder (SCD) doesn’t focus on articulation of words, phonics, or order of words, but rather how an individual communicates
SCD is the most recent diagnostic code added to the communication disorders listed in DSM-5. It has strong similarities to Autism Spectrum Disorder, but a person can be diagnosed with SCD without also being diagnosed with ASD.
In short, Social Communication Disorder revolves around pragmatics and social understanding. Pragmatics refers to using
Another sign of SCD is having difficulty in following rules of conversation or not understanding things that haven’t been said explicitly. People with SCD may struggle to notice subtle parts of conversation or to pick up on non-verbal communications. They may
If you would like to know what causes communication disorders and how to treat them, continue in reading here.