To be a good communicator, an individual must fulfill the roles of both speaker (sender of a message) and listener (receiver of the message), making the needed adjustments to enhance the likelihood that communication will be successful. The term communication disorder refers to a significant deficit in the ability to understand or express messages as they were intended to be understood or conveyed. Failure to communicate adequately may lead to a communication breakdown between conversation partners in the short term; over time, it may result in an individual’s inability to engage in age-appropriate social communication competencies, negatively affecting academic and vocational choices as well as eventual socioeconomic status. Communication disorders may stem from disorders of speech, language, or hearing; they can present singly or in ...