What do Nicole Kidman, Michael Phelps and Joe Biden have in common? They’ve all overcome a speech impediment or disorder.
Although society sometimes acknowledges speech disorders in inspiring movies such as “The King’s Speech” or through unlikeable characters like Barry Kripke in “The Big Bang Theory,” there often isn’t a lot of discussion about what a speech disorder actually is.
Tambi Braun, associate professor in speech language pathology, answered some questions and discussed some misconceptions about speech disorders.
What is a speech disorder?
Medline Plus defines a speech disorder as a condition in which an individual has difficulty communicating with others. Typically, society associates the term with stutters or pronunciation issues.
Although stutters and pronunciation issues do fall under the category of speech disorder, Braun said that speech language pathology, the career field that studies and treats communication disorders, includes a “broad scope of language and medical topics” like cleft palate, swallowing difficulties and autism.
How is a speech disorder treated?
Speech disorders are usually treated with speech therapy from a speech language pathologist. Patients receiving speech therapy through early intervention efforts tend to be a bit younger, according to Braun.
However, the length, frequency and type of therapy is dependent on the client. Some clients may correct the mispronunciation of certain sounds after a couple of months while others may need to attend therapy for a couple years. Braun said she follows her clients who are born with cleft palate from birth until they are 21 years old.
What kind of effect can speech disorders have?
Braun said that there are challenges individuals with speech disorders might face. When clients are younger, they may face judgement from their peers because there is more pressure to not be different. Braun said this is often the case with students in upper elementary and middle schools.
Braun also said that society has a tendency to associate a difference in speech with an intellectual disability or a lack of intelligence.
“But pairing speech and intelligence is not correct,” said Braun.
Overall, Braun said there has been improvement with the way society views individuals with speech disorders and communication difficulties.
“I think that your generation and the generations coming up are doing much better at making sure that people that have a difference or have a challenge feel less bad about it because you’re a very inclusive generation,” said Braun.
What if I’d like speech therapy now?
Students who think they might benefit from speech therapy because they have difficulty communicating with others can go to NSU’s speech pathology clinic on Griffin Road. Braun said that appointments at the clinic are typically once a week for an hour or twice a week for 30 minutes. Students can contact the clinic at 954-262-7726.
