Motor Speech Disorders (Apraxia and Dysarthria)
Symptoms:
- Weakness or incoordination of the muscles used with speaking.
- Slurred or imprecise speech sounds.
- Slow or effortful speech.
- Changes in pitch, loudness, and rhythm of speech.
- Breathy or harsh voice quality and/or “nasal” speech.
- “Groping” behaviors while finding the right sounds to say.
- Greater difficulty speaking as number of letters or syllables increases.
Treatment:
A speech language pathologist will help a client communicate as clearly and efficiently as possible. Treatment may involve exercises to strengthen or improve control of the muscles used in speaking and compensatory strategies such as improving breath support, talking in short sentences, emphasizing key sounds in words and sentences, and learning to control the rate, rhythm, and intonation of speech. Alternatives to speech, such as gesturing, writing, and use of alternative communication devices may be needed and trained when the speech difficulties are severe.
A speech language pathologist will help a client communicate as clearly and efficiently as possible. Treatment may involve exercises to strengthen or improve control of the muscles used in speaking and compensatory strategies such as improving breath support, talking in short sentences, emphasizing key sounds in words and sentences, and learning to control the rate, rhythm, and intonation of speech. Alternatives to speech, such as gesturing, writing, and use of alternative communication devices may be needed and trained when the speech difficulties are severe.