Communication Disorders

The concept of communication disorders is a very broad one. There are five main categories of these kinds of ailments: Language, Speech sound, Fluency, and social (pragmatic). All disorders in these groups vary to how serious they are, some can be treated and even "cured". Others, however, are permanent disorders that someone has to live with.

Here is an in depth look at each category:

• A language disorder is an impairment that makes it hard for someone to choose the right words and form clear sentences when speaking. There isn't a single thing that causes these disorders, there are countless things that can. A.D.D, Apraxia, Autism, and any form of child developmental disorder.
• Speech sound disorders effect a person's ability to pronounce and say words correctly. This includes but is not limited to; studdering, a lisp, trouble pronouncing R's, and any other ailment that impedes a person's ability to correctly pronounce phonymes. This disorder is most common in children.
• A fluency disorder effects someone's ability to smoothly communicate and put sentences together. It is characterized by sound prolongations, repetitions, and a larger amount of disfluencies than normal. A disfluency is anything in speech that interrupts the flow of a sentence like "uh" or "um".
• Finally, there are social or pragmatic disorders. The most recent addition to the DSM (diagnostic and statistic manual) these kinds of disorders are mainly about not being able to understand social interactions and a deficiency in being able to use language in the proper context.