Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech is a complex process that requires precise timing, nerve and muscle control, and as a result is susceptible to impairments. Speech disorders affect roughly 11.5% of the US population, and may be caused by a stroke, an accident or birth defect. Classification
Classifying speech into normal and disordered is more problematic than it first seems. By strict classification, only 5% to 10% of the population has a completely normal manner of speaking (with respect to all parameters) and healthy voice; all others have one disorder or another. There are three different levels of classification when determining the magnitude and type of a speech disorder and the proper treatment or therapy:
Sounds the patient can produce
Phonemic – can be produced easily; used meaningfully and constructively
Phonetic – produced only upon request; not used consistently, meaningfully, or constructively; not used in connected speech
Stimulate sounds
Easily stimulated
Stimulate after demonstration and probing (i.e. with a tongue depressor)
Cannot produce the sound
Cannot be produced voluntarily
No production ever observed

Types of disorder
Apraxia of speech may result from stroke or progressive illness, and involves inconsistent production of speech sounds and rearranging of sounds in a word ("potato" may become "topato" and next "totapo"). Production of words becomes more difficult with effort, but common phrases may sometimes be spoken spontaneously without effort.
They are composed of disordered collagen laid down by fibroblasts. Dermatofibromas are classed as benign skin lesions, meaning they are completely harmless, though they may be confused with a variety of subcutaneous tumours. Deep penetrating dermatofibromas may be difficult to distinguish, even histologically, from rare malignant fibrohistocytic tumours like dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans.Dermatofibromas typically have a positive buttonhole sign, or central dimpling in the center. Diagnosis
Immunohistochemical staining
See also
Acrochordon, also called skin tags
Dermatology
List of cutaneous conditions
Seborrheic keratosis

References


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