Communication Disorders

The ability to communicate using speech is one of the most effortless, taken-for-granted human faculties. Its importance, however, becomes readily apparent when an individual fails to acquire the skill, loses the skill, or cannot use it effectively. Hearing and speech are inextricably connected: Development of language and speech depends on the exposure to spoken language during the early years of life. The range of speech communication disorders that arise during a lifespan are many, and they fall in the province of the field of speech-language pathology and audiology. Speech communication is the major focus of these fields. However, speech-language pathologists also give due importance to other modalities of expression—writing and signing—in their work.

Speech communication can be viewed as transmission of a message from a speaker ...