Speech Impediment

Speech disorders or speech impediments are a type of communication disorder where 'normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisp etc. Someone who is totally unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute (www.wikipedia.com).

My husband and my little cousin both have a speech impediment. My husband stutters when he has to talk to fast. Being a successful business man that travels all over the world, this impediment has been difficult for him because he feels he is not able to communicate at times. He has gone to several therapies to try to help him and they all give him good advice on how to handle the situation. Even with his stutter I am beyond proud of him and his accomplishments. Graduating college with honors and having such an amazing career just shows how people with impediments can be just as grand.

My little cousin who is 5 years old has an obvious speech impediment. When he supposedly speaks, it sounds like you are listening to a toddler that is barely learning their first words. I know there are many options for him and that he can really be all he can be an overcome his speech problem. The only issue is that his mother does not see the problem like everyone else does. I know they say love is blind but I think it is crucial for a parent to be aware and act fast. When the issue is mentioned to her she says that he speaks everything and for some weird reason she is usually the only one who understands his language, to us it just sounds like noises. I hope parents become very aware of this issue and realize the sooner they act the better.

At my field study most of the children have speech impediments but some more sever than others. There are two who are mute, they listen and obey everything but refuse to speak out loud. All of the kids here get special time dedicated to each with a speech therapist who really helps them with their communication skills. Even thought most of the times it is hard for me to understand what they are telling me, I try to make a great face and pretend I understood to help their confidence about their speech. Most of the students are still so young so I know they are probably in their beginning learning stage.

There is an article on this website http://ezinearticles.com/?Speech-Impediments,-How-They-Affect-Our-Lives&id=51716. The article talks about how speech impediments affect people lives. I think what the article says is very negative and horrible way to see a speech impediment. I do not think that having a speech impediment affects marriages and ordering food. I think that all has to do with a persons insecurities. Like I tell my husband every time he travels, do not forget you can do anything you put your mind to and do ever let your self think other wise.
These are the different types of speech impediments that can be developed at an early age:

Stuttering-Stuttering is a common speech impediment. As many as 20 percent of children will go through a stage of stuttering, as noted by the Stuttering Foudation of America. Stuttering often manifests in early childhood, and if left untreated can pose a large problem in future communication as the child matures. Stuttering is characterized as a repeating of certain letter sounds, prolongation of certain letter sounds, or even a stopping of speech in the middle of a word or sentence. Stuttering is largely genetic and can be remedied by regular speech therapy.

Cluttering-At first glance, cluttering may seem to be the same as stuttering, but it is, in fact, a much different impediment. Cluttering is characterized by unnatural breaks in speech. Whereas a child who stutters knows what he wants to say but has trouble saying it, a child who clutters often has long pauses of not knowing what to say. Speech is disorganized, jerky and often hard to understand. Therapy is needed so the child can learn to organize his thoughts before speaking and to speak slowly and clearly.

Articulation Disorder - Articulation disorder deals directly with a child;s inability to articulate certain sounds in speech. This could manifest as a lisp in an inability to make a 'th' sound, and many children have problems in substituting a 'w' sound for a hard 'r' sound. Most often, these disorders are corrected with age as the child becomes more confident in her speech. However, speech therapy may be needed if the problem does not resolve itself.

Phonological Disorder - A phonological disorder is an impediment that finds its roots in the difficulty that some children have in pronouncing words that begin with two consonants. Because of this, children will only pronounce one of the words or omit the letters completely, resulting in broken and confusing speech. This is yet another impediment that is prevalent in early childhood but is resolved as the child ages. You may hear this type of speech in a toddler, but that toddler's speech problem will resolve with age.

Apraxia - Apraxia of speech occurs when a child is unable to move his mouth and tongue to create common letter and word sounds. He may have trouble stringing certain word sounds together as the mouth positioning changes. Children with speech apraxia lack the proper control to make letter sounds and can become frustrated in trying to make letter sounds that they had done unknowingly. Mouth exercises such as blowing bubbles or making kiss sounds can help a child gain better control over the muscles in her mouth and tongue to remedy this impediment.(

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