What are Communication Disorders?

Communication disorders include problems related to speech, language and auditory processing. Communication disorders may range from simple sound repetitions such as stuttering to complete inability to use speech and language for communication. 

What are the most common types of communication disorders?

There are four main types of communication disorders, including:

• Speech:The ability to articulate and pronounce speech sounds correctly and fluently.
• Language: The ability to produce and understand spoken and written language.
• Hearing & Auditory Processing: Hearing is the capability of your ear to perceive sounds. Auditory Processing is the brain’s ability to affect how spoken language is processed.
• Medical & Developmental Conditions: Things such as Autism, swallowing and cleft lip.

1. Speech

Speech is the ability to articulate and pronounce speech sounds correctly and fluently. Speech is the verbal means of communicating and consists of the following:

• Articulation - How speech sounds are made (children must learn how to produce the "r" sound in order to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit").
• Voice - Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound.
• Fluency - The rhythm of speech (hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency).

2. Language

Language is the ability to produce and understand spoken and written language made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

• Grammar: What words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)
• Vocabulary: How to make new words and use word families
• Concepts: How to put words together to form a correct sentance
• Social Language: What word combinations are best in what situations 

3. Hearing & Auditory Processing

Hearing is defined as the capability of your ear to perceive sounds. So it literally means the ability to hear not the ability to process or understand.

4. Medical & Developmental Conditions

These tend to be higher order, cognitive disorders that include an element of communication dysfunction. Disorders such as Autism, feeding and swallowing issues, augmentative and alternative communication and voice conditions are included in this group.