Speech is the physical act of producing sounds. There are
four major categories of problems. One cause is a physical
abnormality, such as a dental gap due to missing teeth or a
gap between teeth. Some lisps are an example of this. Cleft
palates and cleft lips can also result in speech that sounds
different.
A second cause is apraxia of speech, or verbal apraxia,
which is a sequencing problem. Sound clusters, such as
"str" are reduced to just "s", and long words are rarely
spoken the same way twice. In fact, some syllables of long
words are omitted at times. People with this problem may
learn to speak in short words as a way of hiding their
difficulty.
Dysarthria of speech sounds slurred. It comes from a
weakness of various muscles.
A fourth cause is idiopathic, or due to unknown causes.
Stuttering is a special case. Research has often shown
genetic components and physical differences int he brains
of stutterers. Other people believe there can be a
psychological component, as when a person starts
stuttering when feelingunder a lot of stress or after a
traumatic event.
The two biggest causes of language problems are head
injury, such as from car accidents, and strokes. Other
causes also occur.
Depending on where in the brain the injury occurred,
problems understanding language and difficulty expressing
oneself may result. A person could receive long directions
and follow them, but not say he needs a piece of equipment,
for example.
Word-finding problems are a special example of difficulty
expressing oneself. The word may be "on the tip of your
tongue". Most people have occasional difficulty with this, but
if it is severe, this should be investigated further.
There may also be poor executive functioning, such as time
management and sequencing skills. (This could include
setting priorities, getting places on time, etc.) Math skills,
both in basic operations like adding, and in time and money
skills, can be affected by head injuries and strokes.
Speech-language pathologists have the expertise to
diagnose and treat these problems. They may work closely
with your doctor, and often require a prescription from him
before working with a client.
Help is available! Workers with these issues should talk to
their physicians, and check with their health plans about
coverage.
Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP is a certified speech-language
pathologist and the director of Business Speech
Improvement. She can be reached at
http://www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com Her company
specializes in intensive, work-related, customized
communication training, including speech/language
therapy. Other speech-language pathologists can be
located at http://www.corspan.org, and http://www.asha.org
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