Dysarthria
Dysarthria is a speech disorder. A person with dysarthria has no difficulties with understanding language or with thinking of the right words to say. The muscles of the mouth, face and respiratory system may become weak as a result of damage to the brain or progressive neurological diseases.
The nature and severity of dysarthria may lead to a number of symptoms including:
• Slurred speech (sounding as if drunk)
• Speaking softly or barely able to whisper
• Slow rate of speech
• Limited tongue, lip, and jaw movement
• Breathiness
• Drooling or poor control of saliva
The person’s speech may be totally incomprehensible as a result of the damage to the brain.
The following may form part of therapy for dysarthria:
• Comprehensive assessment of which aspects of speech are affected (e.g. lips, tongue, voice, breathing).
• Exercises directed at improving breath control.
• Exercises to improve the movement, strength or speed of the muscles.
• Strategies to make speech more intelligible (understandable).
• Working with the person and their family and friends to make communication as effective as possible.
Specialist Speech Therapy is a speech and language therapy practice based in Birmingham, Solihull and across the West Midlands. We specialise in the assessment of speech and language therapy difficulties including dysarthria. Contact us today for a free, no obligation discussion of your needs to to arrange an assessment with one of our adult neurological speech and language therapists.
Dysarthria is a speech disorder. A person with dysarthria has no difficulties with understanding language or with thinking of the right words to say. The muscles of the mouth, face and respiratory system may become weak as a result of damage to the brain or progressive neurological diseases.
The nature and severity of dysarthria may lead to a number of symptoms including:
• Slurred speech (sounding as if drunk)
• Speaking softly or barely able to whisper
• Slow rate of speech
• Limited tongue, lip, and jaw movement
• Breathiness
• Drooling or poor control of saliva
The person’s speech may be totally incomprehensible as a result of the damage to the brain.
The following may form part of therapy for dysarthria:
• Comprehensive assessment of which aspects of speech are affected (e.g. lips, tongue, voice, breathing).
• Exercises directed at improving breath control.
• Exercises to improve the movement, strength or speed of the muscles.
• Strategies to make speech more intelligible (understandable).
• Working with the person and their family and friends to make communication as effective as possible.
Specialist Speech Therapy is a speech and language therapy practice based in Birmingham, Solihull and across the West Midlands. We specialise in the assessment of speech and language therapy difficulties including dysarthria. Contact us today for a free, no obligation discussion of your needs to to arrange an assessment with one of our adult neurological speech and language therapists.