12/07/2025
No 1. SPECIAL EDUCATION SERIES.
TYPES OF SPEECH PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN.
The kind of speech therapy your child need depends on several factors, including their age and which health condition or speech challenges they might have.
The following are the common and major speech challenge a child might be experiencing:
Aphasia:
People with aphasia can have difficulty reading, writing, speaking and understanding language. It often develops after an injury damages the area of the brain that processes language.
Apraxia:
People with apraxia know what they want to say, but have trouble forming the words. They may have trouble with reading, writing, swallowing and other motor skills.
Articulation disorder:
People with articulation disorders are unable to produce certain word sounds. For example, they may substitute one sound for another — like saying “wed” instead of “red” or “thith” instead of “this.”
Cognitive-communication disorders:
There might have difficulty communicating if the area of the brain that controls thinking ability is damaged. People with cognitive-communication disorders may have issues with listening, speaking, memory and problem-solving.
Dysarthria:
People with dysarthria may have slow or slurred speech. It happens when the muscles that controls speech become weak. Common causes include stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other nervous system disorders.
Expressive disorders:
People with expressive disorders may have difficulty getting words out or conveying their thoughts. Expressive disorders are linked to stroke or other neurological events, developmental delays and hearing loss.
Fluency disorders:
Fluency disorders disrupt the speed, flow and rhythm of speech. Stuttering (speech that’s interrupted or blocked) is a fluency disorder. So is cluttering (speech that’s merged together and fast).
Receptive disorders:
People with receptive disorders have difficulty comprehending or processing what others are saying. They may have a limited vocabulary, trouble following directions or seem uninterested in conversations.
Resonance disorders:
Resonance disorders are health conditions that affect the oral or nasal cavities. They can block airflow and alter the vibrations that help you hear sounds. Cleft palate, swollen tonsils and other conditions that affect the structure of the mouth and nose can cause resonance disorders.
With this, you are better enlightened about the kind of speech problem you need to work on.
