1. Tyler Carroll Hope Lybeer
Speech Impairments
Tyler Carroll
Hope Lybeer

2. Background and History
1874: Paul Broca discovered that damage to the left frontal lobe of the brain was associated with speech impairment.
1906: Alois Alzheimer discovers Alzheimer’s disease. A common symptom of the disease is found to be speech impairment.
1957: Lisps are found to be the second most common type of speech impairment in children.
1960: A gateway school in Baltimore was founded for students with communication disorders such as speech impairments.
2001: Scientists discover the first gene that links to the human trait of language learning that can be used to treat children with speech impairments.

3. General Information
Speech Impairment: an impaired ability to produce speech sounds
Can be very mild or very severe
Makes it difficult to communicate
Three Main Types:
Articulation Disorder
Fluency Disorder
Voice Disorder
The two most common speech impairments are dysarthria, difficulty in articulating speech, and aphasia, impaired expression or comprehension of spoken or written language.

4. Symptoms and Signs of the Barrier
For Voice:
Pitch deviations
Loudness and quality of voice deviations
For Articulation:
Leaving out consonants
Distortion of sound
For Disfluency:
Head jerking or eye blinking while talking
Repetition of sounds, words, or phrases
Early Signs… how to know if a child may have a speech impairment:
Cooing and babbling at a young age
Inability to respond to and follow simple directions

5. How Speech Impairments Can Affect a Student’s Learning…
Embarrassed to talk aloud
Do not like to participate in class discussions, etc.
Frustration in communication with their peers
Can lead to discouragement and low self-esteem to learn

6. What Can Parents Do?
Have the child see a speech therapist or speech-language pathologist.
Have a quiet spot in the house for the student to do homework.
Oral Motor Exercises:
Relaxation strategies to
relax mouth muscles
Posture Control
Voice Exercises

7. What Can Teachers Do?
Reduce extra classroom noise so that the child can focus to comprehend
Be near the student when giving oral instructions. Ask the student to repeat the instructions.
Create a positive and patient learning environment.
Speak slowly and articulate.
Use gestures and visual cues.
Avoid correcting speech difficulties
Can lead to a low self-esteem
Instead, model correct speech patterns

8. Famous People with Speech Impairments
Lisp:
Barbara Walters
Winston Churchill
Elton John
Stuttering Problems:
Julia Roberts
Tiger Woods
Samuel Jackson

9. Other Facts to Know About Speech Impairments…
Over the past 35 years, 2.45% of children in the federal school system have had a speech impairment.
Many professions work with people with speech impairments, including speech-language pathologists, speech therapists, and audiologists.
A speech impairment can affect a student’s writing because they have difficulty with all verbal communication.