Delayed speech is often confused with a speech disorder, although these two are very different from one another. But, a speech delay can certainly precede a speech disorder. A speech delay is very much how it sounds a delay in an individual’s speech acquisition. This being said, there could be a speech ‘sound’ delay, as well as a language delay.

A voice disorder is an umbrella term for disorders affecting the quality, pitch, and loudness of an individual’s voice. This can range from voice disorders with an unknown cause to voice disorders caused by trauma, such as surgical procedures or cancers/treatments for cancer such as radiation.

Aphasia is an acquired language impairment, typically caused by some sort of damage to the brain that has affected a person’s ability to comprehend or produce language (in some cases, both receptive and expressive language are impaired). Aphasia can affect various language skills, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Children with Autism often have speech issues along with other Autism-related issues. Speech and language therapy helps Autistic individuals to overcome their speech-related and communication difficulties. Research shows that some children who receive speech therapies at an early stage can overcome the signs and symptoms of Autism while growing as an adult. 

A lisp is classically described as the ‘mispronunciation’ of /s/ or /z/. Most often, this mispronunciation involves inserting/distorting /th/ for the /s/ or /z/ sound. Often times this occurs because of misplacement of the tongue. When observed, many of these individuals will protrude their tongue forward when it is meant to be pulled back in the production of /s/ and /z/.

Many of us occasionally stumble, but stuttering in adults impacts the daily lives of about 12 million Indians. Speech pathology can offer adults speech therapy to help to stop stuttering.

Apraxia is a motor speech disorder that affects a person's ability to plan and coordinate the movements necessary for speech production. People with apraxia have difficulty coordinating the movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech muscles, which can result in slow, effortful, or distorted speech.

A speech sound disorder is an umbrella term that encompasses any disorder related to the production or perception of speech sounds (i.e. articulation disorder, phonological disorder, dysarthria, apraxia, etc.) These disorders can be caused by a neurological/motor condition, or the speech sound disorder may have no known cause at all.

It is important to note that speech and language services geared towards accents are considered to be voluntary. An individual with an accent is not considered to have a speech disorder by any means, and it is instead considered to be a speech difference. Therefore, the services being provided are not always approached from the standpoint of treating a ‘disorder’.