Definition
A speech disorder is the inability to form speech sounds correctly and fluently. One must clearly distinguish between a speech disorder and a speech impediment. A speech disorder affects the motor formation of sounds or words.
A speech disorder, on the other hand, affects the neurological level of speech formation. The problem therefore lies in the mental formation of language. A speech disorder in children can have the most diverse forms and causes. About eight percent of pre-school children in Germany have a speech disorder. The problem is therefore common.
What is an expressive speech disorder?
An expressive speech disorder is a problem in the formation of speech sounds. As the name suggests, the speech disorder is purely expressive, i.e. it is a matter of linguistic expression. People with an expressive speech disorder often have problems finding and using the right words.
It is also difficult to build grammatically correct sentences. The sentences formed are often very short and riddled with grammatical errors. One can also say that the vocabulary of active words is greatly reduced.
However, understanding language is usually not a problem. Here, the understanding of speech of the affected persons is comparable to the understanding of speech of healthy persons. An expressive speech disorder usually begins in childhood.
In many cases, the formation of words or sounds that resemble words is not possible as early as the second year of life. The cause of the expressive speech disorder has not yet been sufficiently researched. It is assumed that both genetic (hereditary) factors and neurological (brain-related) factors play a role.
Clatter as a form of speech disorder
The rumbling is a speech disorder. It is characterized by the disturbance of the flow of speech. In this case, words are often merged or omitted.
It is also typical that sounds are replaced or changed in such a way that they are partly not to be understood. The rhythm of speech can also be disturbed. The speech is often perceived as jerky and too fast.
On the other hand, rumbling persons have a high density of filler words (e.g. “um”), which makes the sentence very unliquid. It should be noted that those affected are often not really aware of the problems. The blustering persons have difficulties in recognizing the speech defects.
