Apraxia:
A neurological childhood speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired despite normal muscle function. Errors are often inconsistent and prosody is frequently inappropriate.
Articulation Disorder:
Inability to correctly produce speech sounds (phonemes) in isolation or combined with other phonemes because of imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, tongue, or throat. The atypical production of speech sounds may be characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility.
Asperger’s Syndrome:
A developmental disorder related to autism and characterized by higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills and restrictive, repetitive patterns of interest and activities. Problems with non-verbal communication may include the restricted use of gestures, vocal tone, facial expressions, or eye gaze. Asperger’s Syndrome is generally thought to be at the milder of “high” end of the autism spectrum, and is no longer recognized as a separate DSM code.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):
A disorder that is characterized by short attention span and poor concentration. The people affected are usually of normal or above average intelligence. Other symptoms include impairment in perception, conceptualization, language, memory, motor skills; executive dysfunction; and increased impulsivity.
Autism Spectrum Disorders:
A spectrum of conditions characterized by widespread abnormalities of social communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behavior. Autism is not a single disorder, but a spectrum of closely-related disorders with a shared core of symptoms. Every individual on the autism spectrum has problems to some degree with social skills, empathy, communication, and flexible behavior. The level of disability and the combination of symptoms varies tremendously from person-to-person.
Central Auditory Processing disorder (CAPD/APD):
Deficits in the perceptual processing of auditory information not attributed to hearing loss or intellectual impairment. Only a qualified audiologist can diagnose the presence of this disorder
Cluttering:
A syndrome characterized by a speech delivery rate which is either abnormally fast, irregular, or both.
Communication Disorder:
Impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts of verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems. A communication disorder may be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech. A communication disorder may range in severity from mid to profound. It may be developmental or acquired. Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of communication disorders. A communication disorder may result in a primary disability or it may be secondary to other disabilities.
Congenital:
A condition that is present at birth
Developmental Delay:
A delay in the appearance of normal developmental milestones
Distortion:
The misarticulation of a standard sound in which the latter is replaced by a sound not normally used in the language. A lateral lisp is an example of a distortion.
Dysfluency:
Disruption in the smooth flow or expression of speech, both normal and abnormal
Dyslexia:
A specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. While many associate letter reversals as a sign of dyslexia, it is actually characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Echolalia:
Immediate or delayed repetition of heard phrases and sentences that is often associated with the communication of people in the autism spectrum. While some echolalia has no apparent communication intent, it is also used as a means of turn-taking, labeling, requesting, processing, responding, and rehearsing language, and self-regulation.
Fluency Disorder:
An interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and repetitions in sounds, syllables, words, and phrases. This may be accompanied by excessive tension, struggle behavior, and secondary mannerisms.
Hard of hearing:
A hearing disorder, whether fluctuating or permanent, which adversely affects an individual’s ability to communicate. The hard-of-hearing individual relies on the auditory channel as the primary sensory input for communication.
Hoarseness:
Abnormally rough or harsh-sounding voice caused by vocal abuse and other disorders
Hyperlexia:
A young child’s ability to read words far above what would be expected at his/her chronological age or an intense fascination with letters or numbers. Most hyperlexic children display significant difficulty in understanding verbal language.
Language disorder:
Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written and/or other symbol systems
Laryngitis:
Hoarse voice or the complete loss of the voice because of irritation to the vocal folds
Lateral Lisp:
A specific type of lisp in which the airflow courses around the sides of the uplifted tongue resulting in a distortion typically heard with the sounds /s/, /z/, /ch/, /j/, /sh/ and /zh/ (such as in the word “measure“)
Learning Disability:
A condition giving rise to difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills to the level expected of those of the same age, especially when not associated with a physical handicap or intellectual disability
Lisp:
An articulatory disorder characterized by defective sibilant sounds such as the /s/ and /z/.
Nonverbal Learning Disability:
A generalized weakness in nonverbal or visually-based information processing skills. Students with nonverbal processing weakness will typically struggle most with academic tasks which involve complex or abstract visual displays (charts, graphs, maps, etc.) and which provide limited verbal or auditory information. They may also have problems reading facial expressions, gestures, social cues, and tones of voice.
Otitis Media:
A middle ear infection. There is increasing evidence that hearing loss which occurs secondary to otitis media places children at risk for developing communication and learning disorders.
Perseveration:
The automatic and often involuntary continuation of behavior
Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS):
One of the autism spectrum disorders which is used to describe individuals who do not fully meet the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger’s Syndrome. When someone has autistic characteristics, but some of their symptoms are mild or only in one area, they may be given the PDD-NOS label.
Selective Mutism:
An anxiety disorder which children are incapable of speaking or communicating in certain social situations but are capable of speaking and communicating effectively in more familiar, comfortable settings.
Sensory Dysfunction:
Difficulties with interpreting information the body takes in from the sensory organs, such as hearing, seeing, and touch.
Speech Disorder:
An impairment of the articulation of speech sounds, fluency and/or voice
Stuttering:
Disruption in the flow of speech as a result of repetitions, prolongations, or stoppages of
sounds or syllables. Atypical facial and body movements may also be exhibited.
Voice Disorder:
Characterized by the abnormal production and/or absences of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration, which is inappropriate for an individual’s age and/or sex.
Word Retrieval Deficits:
Difficulty accessing words in the presence of good comprehension of those words. Persons with word retrieval deficits appear not to know answers when in reality they know, but are unable to express their knowledge.