What are Communication Disorders?

Disorders of communication include a wide range of disorders. This include impairment in language abilities, difficulty in expressive language or speech, and communication difficulties. Speech is the ability to express thoughts and feeling by expressive production of sounds. The production of sound comprises an individual’s articulation, voice and its fluency, and the resonance quality of voice. Language is a communication system that is used to convey ideas and to communicate. Language consists of symbols, signs written words and pictures with forms and functions. Communication is a process of sharing information, feelings and ideas. Communication comprises any verbal or nonverbal behavior it can be intentional or unintentional which can influence the attitude, behavior and ideas of other individual. The diagnostic category of communication disorders comprises the following:

language Disorder
Speech Sound Disorder
Childhood-onset Fluency Disorder (stuttering)
Social (pragmatic) Communication Disorder
Unspecified Communication Disorders

What are Causes of Communication Disorders?

There are many causes of communication disorders some of them are described below

1. Developmental Causes of communication disorders

Genetic conditionssome genetic conditions for example Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome can cause communication disorder in developmental stage of life.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)this is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication in early developmental stage of life.
Premature birth/low birth weight low birth weight or week birth can delay speech development.

2. Acquired Causes of communication disorder

There are some acquires causes of communication disorder like

Brain injuriessometime any brain stroke or TBI can be a reason for communication disorder.
Hearing losssome time any chronic ear infections or permanent noise exposure can also cause loss of hearing which effects communication.
Neurological diseasessome neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis can also cause communication problems.
Psychological traumasometime any psychological trauma can leads to selective mutism.

3. Environmental Causes of communication disorder

If some children the lack of language stimulation during the early childhood can cause communication problems.
Consistent exposure to toxins for example lead poisoning can also effect communication.