Speech

A speech or language disability means that a person has difficulty communicating by talking. This can range from using the wrong sound during speaking, to being unable to understand speech, or being unable to use speech to communicate. Speech and language disabilities might be caused by a stroke or injury to the brain. Other causes may be hearing loss, drug abuse, or physical impairments. Sometimes the cause is not known.

A speech disability is a problem with making certain speech sounds or with the voice quality. This may affect the rhythm, rate and/or flow of speech such as in stuttering or in a lisp.

A language or communication disability occurs when there is a problem with the brain centers that choose the words to speak or in the muscles of the mouth and throat that make speech.