Common Disorders

Information about various speech and language conditions affecting children and adults. Articles explain stammering, aphasia, articulation problems, and other communication difficulties.

All About the Voice Disorder Spasmodic Dysphonia

Spasmodic dysphonia causes involuntary voice box muscles to make speech sound tight, weak, or stuttering, but doesn't affect laughing or singing.

Aphasia

Aphasia affects over 250,000 people in the UK by damaging language abilities, here's what you need to know about the condition.

Apraxia of Speech

Apraxia of speech makes it hard to say words correctly and consistently, affecting both children and adults depending on when brain damage occurs.

Articulation Disorders

Speech articulation disorders affect how people produce sounds and string them together, usually treatable with therapy in children.

Children's Speech Sound Disorders

When kids struggle to produce or use speech sounds correctly, speech therapy can help identify and treat the underlying disorder.

Cluttering

Cluttering is a speech disorder where people speak faster than normal and repeat words without realising it, and it's not well known even among doctors.

Coping with Tourettes Syndrome

People with Tourette Syndrome experience involuntary movements and sounds they can't control, usually starting in childhood and often improving with age.

Developmental Disabilities and Speech Difficulties

Children and adults with developmental disabilities often face speech and communication challenges that need proper support and therapy options.

Dysarthria

Dysarthria is slurred speech caused by weak or paralysed muscles used for speech, often from stroke or brain injury, and can be helped with speech therapy.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a coordination disorder where the brain struggles to send proper movement messages to muscles, affecting balance, speech and everyday tasks.

Dysprosody

Dysprosody is a rare speech disorder that disrupts rhythm and intonation, sometimes mimicking a foreign accent, caused by neurological issues or brain injury.

Expressive Language Disorder

People with expressive language disorder struggle to put words together when speaking, even though they understand what others say.

Language Based Learning Disabilities

Language based learning disabilities affect how people use and process spoken and written language, not intelligence.

Lisps

Speech lisps in children: types, when they're normal, and when to seek professional help.

Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

Orofacial myofunctional disorders affect how the mouth and face develop, causing issues with speech, swallowing and tooth alignment.

Phonemic Disorders and Speech Impediments

People with phonemic disorders struggle to produce certain sounds correctly, but speech therapy can often help improve them.

Questionnaire: Does My Child Have a Speech Disorder?

Use this questionnaire to check if your child might have a speech disorder and when to seek professional help.

Receptive Language Disorders

When someone struggles to understand spoken or written language, it may be a receptive language disorder, here's what you need to know.

Selective Mutism

Selective mutism is an inability to speak in certain settings, not shyness, here's what parents and educators need to know.

Specific Difficulties in Producing Sounds

Articulation disorders affect how people produce speech sounds and can stem from physical or developmental causes, though speech therapy often helps.

Speech Delay

Kids typically talk by 18 months, but speech delay varies widely, here's what parents should know about causes and warning signs.

Stammering

Stammering affects about one in a hundred people and can be treated with speech therapy tailored to each person's needs.

Voice Disorders

Voice disorders can be structural, neurogenic, functional or psychological, here's what causes them and how treatment works.

What Is Backing Disorder?

A backing disorder is when someone makes front-mouth sounds at the back of their mouth instead, usually affecting s, t, and f sounds.

What Is Rett Syndrome?

Rett Syndrome is a rare developmental disorder that primarily affects girls, causing loss of speech and motor skills after normal early development.