A speech impediment, or speech disorder, is a condition that makes it hard for you to communicate. There are many types of speech impediments, and anyone can develop one. In some cases, children are born with conditions that affect speech. Other times, people have conditions or injuries that affect speech. Speech therapy can help.
A speech impediment, or speech disorder, happens when you have trouble saying sounds so that people don’t understand what you’re saying. Some people are born with conditions that affect their speech. But you can develop a speech impediment at any time in your life if you’re injured or have a medical condition that affects your voice or your ability to speak.
Without treatment, children with speech impediments may have difficulty learning to read and write. Research suggests children with speech impediments may develop mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Adults may feel anxious about trying to communicate and develop social isolation that can lead to depression.
There are different classifications for speech impediments:
Fluency is the flow of a person’s speech. A person is fluent when they speak continuously and smoothly. A fluency disorder involves chronic and repeated interruptions to speech flow. Examples of fluency disorders are:
An orofacial myofunctional disorder is when something affects how you use or move your face, mouth and tongue muscles. OMDs may affect how you speak, making it hard for you to make sounds like “s” as in sun or “sh” as in ship.
A speech sound disorder is a speech impediment that affects your child’s or your ability to say sounds clearly. Examples of speech sound disorders are:
Some voice disorders may affect your ability to speak. Examples include:
Experts estimate that 5% of children in the U.S. ages 3-17 have a speech impediment that lasts for a week or longer. By the time children are in first grade, 5% have noticeable issues. About 2% of children in the U.S. have voice disorders that affect their ability to speak.
The overall picture is less clear when we’re talking about adults who have speech impediments. Often, speech disorders in adults are classified by the specific condition.
For example, more than 3 million people in the U.S. stutter, or about 10% of the total U.S. population. While most people outgrow stuttering during their childhood, 1 in 4 people experience stuttering as adults. Voice disorders affect 4% of adults in the U.S.
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Speech disorder symptoms vary depending on the cause. For example, if you have stuttering, you can’t control the muscles that you use to speak, so you repeat sounds or syllables or hold or draw out certain sounds or syllables. If you have a voice disorder, your voice may sound uneven or shaky, strangled or breathy.
Healthcare providers don’t know all the reasons why children and adults have speech impediments. In general, anything that may cause brain damage or nerve damage may affect your ability to speak:
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Healthcare providers usually begin diagnosis with a comprehensive physical examination. A pediatrician may do a developmental evaluation. A provider or pediatrician may refer you or your child to a speech-language pathologist (SLP), a specialist who diagnoses and treats conditions that affect your ability to communicate.
Treatment varies depending on your situation. For example, speech therapy is a common treatment for many speech disorders. If you have a voice disorder that affects your speech, your provider may refer you to specialists for voice therapy.
In some cases, yes, speech therapy can help people overcome speech impediments. But everyone is different. You can develop a speech impediment if you have an underlying condition that affects your ability to speak. In that case, speech therapy may help, but it may not fix your speech impediment.
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There’s no way to prevent most speech disorders. You may be able to prevent some voice disorders by protecting your voice from overuse.
There are many types of speech impediments, which makes it hard to say exactly what you can expect. For example, some speech impediments improve as children grow older. If a medical condition causes speech issues, your speech is likely to improve as you get better. But there are situations when people need long-term speech therapy so they can communicate. If you have a speech impediment, your healthcare provider is your best resource for information.
A speech impediment can affect your quality of life. Some suggestions for living with a speech impediment are:
Visit a healthcare provider as soon as you feel like something is affecting your ability to speak, hear or communicate with others. Visit a provider if you think your child might have difficulties with language or comprehension.
A sudden change in your ability to speak may be a symptom of a serious medical condition that needs immediate care. A stroke or head injury can affect speech. If you’re with someone who has the following symptoms, call 911 or your local emergency service number right away. To recognize the warning signs of a stroke, remember to think BE FAST:
A speech impediment happens when your mouth, jaw, tongue and vocal tract can’t work together to produce recognizable words. A language disorder happens when you have trouble understanding what others are saying. You may have trouble expressing your thoughts in ways that people understand.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Speech is one way that we connect with the world around us. Having a speech impediment can make it hard to make that connection. It can be frustrating when you can’t communicate what you want people to know. Without treatment, a child with a speech impediment may have difficulty learning. Adults with speech impediments sometimes feel anxious and stressed about communicating using speech. Often, speech therapy can help. If you’re concerned about being able to communicate or think your child may have a speech impediment, talk to a healthcare provider. They’ll be glad to help.
Last reviewed on 04/26/2024.
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Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy