Northern Arizona University

SPEECH & LANGUAGE CLINIC
MOTOR-SPEECH DISORDERS

Motor speech disorders are speech disorders resulting from neurological damage that affects the motor control of speech muscles or motor programming of speech movements. The most common motor speech disorders are dysarthria and apraxia of speech.

The dysarthrias are oral communication problems due to weakness, incoordination, or paralysis of the speech musculature. They may be characterized by one or more of the following: slurred speech, nasality, weakness, voice and breathing problems. Dysarthria may result from several causes including stroke, head injury, neurological disorders, and accidents.

Apraxia of speech is characterized by difficulty planning and sequencing voluntary muscle movements related to speech. Apraxia may be characterized by one or more of the following: initiation difficulty, frequent pauses and restarts, groping for correct speech, and relatively intact automatic speech. Apraxia of speech may result from several causes including stroke, head injury, neurological disorders, and accidents.

Motor Speech Services at the NAU Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic

Therapy for motor speech disorders, dysarthria and apraxia of speech, consists of relearning movement patterns for speech production, learning specific compensatory techniques, exercise programs, and counseling for the person and their family.

Web-links - Motor Speech Disorders

http://www.ticeinfo.com/speech/index.html

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NAU Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic NAU, Health and Human Services, #66 Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5045 Clinic: (928) 523-8110 Email: Clinic