Communication disorders
Communication disorders are a group of conditions involving problems with receiving, processing, sending, and comprehending various forms of information and communication, including:
1. Concepts;
2. Verbal;
3. Nonverbal;
4. Graphic language;
5. Speech.
Communication disorders affect a person’s ability to detect, receive, process, and comprehend the concepts or symbols necessary for communication. It can affect hearing, language, and speech. Causes include neurological damage due to a stroke.
They can result from any condition that affects hearing, speech, and language to the extent that it can disrupt a person’s ability to communicate properly. A communication disorder can manifest early in a child’s development, or a medical condition can cause it to develop at an older age.
It can be a stand-alone condition or co-occur with other communication and developmental disorders. The severity of communication disorders can range from mild to profound.
Symptoms of speech disorders include:
1. Repeating words, vowels, or sounds;
2. Difficulty making sounds, even when the person knows what they want to say;
3. Elongating or stretching words;
4. Adding, omitting, or substituting words or sounds;
5. Jerky head movements or excessive blinking while talking;
6. Frequently pausing while talking.
Symptoms of language disorders include:
1. Overusing fillers such as “um” and “uh” because of the inability to recall words;
2. Knowing and using fewer words than their peers;
3. Trouble understanding concepts and ideas;
4. Difficulty learning new words;
5. Problems using words and forming sentences to explain or describe something;
6. Saying words in the wrong order;
7. Difficulty understanding instructions and answering questions.
Symptoms of hearing disorders include:
1. Being behind their peers in terms of oral communication;
2. Asking others to repeat what they said in a slower, clearer manner;
3. Talking louder than is typical;
4. Muffled speech and other sounds;
5. Withdrawal from social settings and conversations;
6. Difficulty understanding words, especially in noisy environments.
Tee-Melegrito, R.A. (2023). What to know about communication disorders. Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/UobHf.
Counselling Collective. (2025). Communication Disorders: Symptoms, Causes, and Therapy Options. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/2c3a3.
Psychology Today. (2022). Communication Disorders. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/mbctP.