The 8 types of speech disorders

These problems are noticeable, for example, when it comes to pronunciation, regulating the speed of speech, etc.

Practically every act we perform is communicative. Gestures, grimaces, sounds, smells and even distances are and have always been used to obtain information about the actions, motivations and thoughts of others.

Even the absence of action is indicative of something. However, in addition to the above, the human being has one more element to communicate, a symbolic one. This symbolic element is language, which at the oral level is expressed through speech..

Speech or oral language is one of the most fundamental means of communication and bonding for human beings. This capacity develops throughout the life cycle, going from emitting simple holophrases or single words with intentionality to being able to construct elaborations as complex as a Shakespeare play.

However, in many people the development of this ability or its habitual functioning can be delayed or altered due to multiple causes. These alterations in oral communication have been studied by sciences such as psychology and medicine, and different types of speech disorders have been conceptualized on the basis of these disorders.. And no, dyslexia is not one of them, since it is only limited to reading problems.

When language fails: speech disorders

Communicating is fundamental to human development. And a large part of our ability to communicate depends, as we have said, on speech.

However, speech is not something that speech is not something that appears suddenly. (although some authors such as Noam Chomsky became famous for defending that we possess innate structures that allow the development of this ability), but that it has to be learned and developed. Language in general is a complex element that ideally we will acquire and consolidate throughout our physical and cognitive maturation.

Some of the elements that we have to acquire and improve are articulatory ability, fluency and comprehension of speech, vocabulary and word finding skills, grammar and syntax, and even when and how we should communicate.and even when and how to communicate certain things in a certain way.

Although these milestones are generally acquired at certain evolutionary moments, in some subjects there are problems, impairments or bad developments in the comprehension and expression of language that limit the correct functioning and/or socioemotional evolution of the individual.

The following are some of the most common.

1. Language disorder or dysphasia

This disorder involves the presence of a disability in the comprehension and expression of language in children with a level of intelligence appropriate to their level of development, not only at the oral level, but also in other facets such as written language or reading. also in other facets such as written language or reading..

The language disorder or dysphasia can be evolutionary, in which case it could not be a consequence of other disorders, or acquired being in this last case the product of some type of brain accident, convulsive disorders or cranioencephalic trauma.

In any of the cases the child may have problems in expressive or receptive language, that is to say, the problem may be at the level of defects in the emission of language or in its comprehension. Children with this disorder usually have a reduced vocabulary and a limited grammatical structure. which causes speech to be inferior and more limited than expected.

In the case of acquired dysphasia, the effects would be equivalent to those of aphasia in adult subjects, although with the particularity that the greater brain plasticity during the developmental stage usually allows the appearance of language even when there is neuronal damage.

2. Phonological disorder or dyslalia

Another of the main oral language disorders is dyslalia. It is understood as such those disorders in which different errors occur in the articulation of words, the most common being the substitution of sounds, distortions of the correct ones or the lack (omission) or addition (insertion) of these sounds.. For example, a problem in the shape of the tongue can produce dyslalia.

Although this type of problem is common in infancy, to be considered dyslalia, the errors made must be inappropriate to the infant's developmental level, interfering with social and academic performance.

3. Dysphemia, stuttering or childhood-onset fluency disorder

Dysphemia is a disorder widely known to society as a whole, although we usually refer to it as stuttering. It is a a disorder centered on speech performance, specifically its fluency and rhythm.. During the emission of speech, the person who suffers from it suffers one or more spasms or blockages that interrupt the normal rhythm of communication.

Dysphemia is usually experienced with embarrassment and anxiety (which in turn worsens performance) and hinders communication and social adaptation. This problem only appears when talking to someone, being able to speak normally in complete solitude.and is not due to brain or perceptual lesions.

Dysphemic disorder usually begins between three and eight years of age. This is because the normal speech pattern begins to be acquired at this age. Depending on its duration, several subtypes of dysphemia can be found: developmental (lasting a few months), benign (lasting a few years) or persistent (the latter being the chronic type that can be observed in adults).

4. Dysarthria

The speech disorder known as dysarthria refers to the difficulty in articulating difficulty articulating words due to a neurological problem that causes the mouth and muscles to that causes the mouth and the muscles that emit the speech not to present the due muscular tone and therefore not to respond correctly. Thus, the problem is not so much in the Muscle tissues (although these also suffer in the long run due to their misuse) but in the way in which the nerves are connected to them. It is one of the best known types of speech disorders.

5. Social Communication Disorder (pragmatic)

In this disorder there are no problems in articulating or understanding the literal content of the message being transmitted. However, those who suffer from this disorder have great difficulty, and this disorder is based on the presence of severe difficulties in the practical use of language.

Those who suffer from this disorder have problems in adapting communication to the context in which they find themselves, as well as in understanding the metaphorical or implicit meaning of what is being said. or implicit meaning of what is said to them and even to change the way of explaining something, to regulate the conversation with other elements such as gestures or to respect turns of speech.

6. Dysglossia

Like dysarthria, dysglossia is a disorder that causes severe difficulty in articulating the sounds that make up speech.. In this case, however, the problem lies in the presence of alterations in the buccophonatory organs themselves, such as congenital malformations. Thus, here there are already easily identifiable faults in the morphology of well-defined body parts.

7. Tachyphemia or mumbling

This is a speech disorder characterized by exaggeratedly rapid speech, losing words along the way and making mistakes. and making mistakes. Its presence is common in people with a very excited mood, including cases in which the subject is in a manic episode or as a result of consumption of excitatory substances. However, it can also occur during childhood without the need for an external disturbance.

8. Aphasia

One of the best known and most studied groups of language disorders is aphasia. Aphasia is understood as the loss or alteration of language in adult subjects. (in children we would be dealing with the previously mentioned dysphasia) due to the presence of a brain alteration or lesion. Depending on the location or damaged brain structure, the effects on language will be different, allowing its study to find different typologies.

Types of aphasia

Although we can find several classifications such as Luria's or Jakobson's, the most known and used classification takes into account the presence of verbal fluency, verbal comprehension and repetition capacity in different types of lesions

• Transcortical motor aphasiaAs in Broca's aphasia, there is a difficulty to emit a fluent and coherent language while language comprehension is maintained. The big difference is that in this case the subject is able to repeat (and with a good level of fluency) what is said. It is caused by a lesion in the pars triangularis, a region close to Broca's area and connected to it.
• Wernicke's aphasiaIn this aphasia the patient shows a high level of fluency in language, although what he says may not make much sense. The main characteristic of this aphasia is that it causes severe difficulties in understanding auditory information, which in turn causes an inability to repeat information from the outside. The brain lesion would be in Wernicke's area. In patients with schizophrenia who have language impairment, it is common to find alterations similar to those of this aphasia.
• Transcortical sensory aphasiaCaused by lesions in the area linking the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, this aphasia is similar to Wernicke's aphasia except that repetition is preserved.
• Conduction aphasiaBroca's and Wernicke's areas are connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called arcuate fasciculus. In this case both verbal expression and comprehension are relatively correct, but repetition would be very impaired. It must be taken into account that in order to repeat something we must first understand what comes to us and then re-express it, so if the connection between both areas is impaired, repetition is impaired.
• Global aphasiaThis type of aphasia is due to a massive damage of the hemisphere specialized in language. All aspects of language are severely impaired.
• Mixed transcortical aphasiaDamage to the temporal and parietal lobes can cause severe deficits in almost all aspects of language. Basically, language isolation occurs, affecting expression and comprehension, although repetition is maintained and the person may even be able to finish sentences.
Bibliographical references:
• • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
  • Belloch, Sandín and Ramos (2008). Manual de Psicopatología. Madrid. McGraw-Hill. (vol. 1 and 2) Revised edition.
  • Santos, J.L. (2012). Psicopatología. Manual CEDE de Preparación PIR, 01. CEDE: Madrid.