speech disorder

In medicine, condition that makes speech difficult or impossible. Speech disorders occur for a variety of physical and psychological reasons. Congenital defects, such as cleft palate, require surgical correction before speech is intelligible.

Deafness is the most frequent cause of dumbness, the inability to pronounce the sounds that make up words. A combination of training in lip reading, speech therapy, psychotherapy, and specialist education may be required in children with congenital deafness. Stroke, head injury, and some severe psychiatric disorders may be responsible for speech disorders in adults.

A child may have difficulties in understanding language or self-expression if the language development area of the brain develops abnormally and specialist education and speech therapy may then be required.