SPEECH

Motor speech disorders are impairments in the systems and mechanisms that control the movements necessary to produce speech. They are a group of disorders resulting from disturbances in muscular control, weakness, slowness, or incoordination of the speech mechanism due to damage to the central nervous system. The two types of motor speech disorders are:

Dysarthria

Non- progressive dysarthria is often the result of stroke or brain injury. Progressive dysarthria can usually be seen in people with Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease and similar progressive motor disorders. People with dysarthria usually present with weakness, slowness, incoordination, and imprecise movements of the muscles of speech. Treatment can be beneficial in both progressive and non-progressive dysarthria, aiming to improve or, at least, maintain current speech function.

Apraxia

Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder in which motor function is intact, but the neurologic mechanisms for planning and programming the motor speech sequences are impaired. Apraxia often results in the production of off-target sound sequences. It is often be confused with aphasia (an acquired language disorder) and whilst it is distinct from this, it does often occur alongside aphasia. Apraxia can improve with targeted therapy to help rebuild motor programmes.

Please email admin@specialistspeechpathologyservices.com.au for any further information, or if you would like support with assessment and/or management of a motor speech impairment.