Communication Disorders

Delirium is a sudden but reversible condition that affects the brain. It causes a person to lose his memory, become confused and be less aware of his environment. It reduces his ability to focus...

Biofeedback in voice treatment involves the use of an external device--often a video monitor--to feed patients real-time, physiological information about their own voice production that is...

When a child has sickle cell anemia it can be challenging to find out when a crisis is starting, and once it starts how serious it is. Teaching a child with sickle cell anemia to communicate his...

When memory loss becomes severe enough to affect your daily life, it is called dementia. Dementia has many causes, including Alzheimer's disease (No. 1) and stroke (No. 2). Regardless of the...

The constant ringing in your ears is known by the medical name tinnitus, which applies to any abnormal noise in the ears. Tinnitus can be located in any one of the four parts of the ear and has a...

Learning how to control your reaction to anger management is a difficult task to undertake. Since it is nearly impossible to completely alleviate situations, places and people that could make you...

Children with auditory-processing disorders or APD have difficulty understanding language because their central nervous systems or brains process sounds differently. These children may hear a...

Though electronic devices that are designed to help stutterers speak more fluently have been available for several years, researchers are still trying to understand how well they work and how long...

Fatty liver disease is a disorder often associated with alcoholism. Although alcoholism is a primary cause of the disease, there has been an increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or...

Assistive technology is an essential tool for people with speech disabilities. These devices provide ways for people to communicate without the use of an interpreter. Becoming familiar with...

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by a number of symptoms including widespread pain. According to the European Network of Fibromyalgia Associations (ENFA), lack of awareness of...

Voice disorders are medical conditions or problems that affect a patient's ability to speak. Common symptoms of a voice disorder include hoarseness, voice strain and breathiness. These can all...

Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables or words are repeated during conversation. Those who stutter usually struggle when speaking, and the...

Voice disorders in adults may be caused by a number of conditions. They may be result of strain or overuse of your voice, an illness or the result of surgery. Vocal chord damage is usually not...

A voice-fluency disorder is a type of speech problem, the primary type being stuttering. Stuttering is characterized by disruptions in the smoothness of speech and most commonly occurs in very...

Stuttering is a speech disorder that manifests as repeating a word or phrase, usually accompanied by rapid eye blinking and a tense jaw or throat. As a form of anxiety, stuttering can hinder...

Hyperfunctional voice disorders occur when people misuse or abuse their vocal cords. The vocal cords line the center of the larynx and, by vibrating and overlapping, allow people to make sounds....

The goals of the treatment of voice disorders are to restore the voice and optimize the functioning of the vocal cords. Treatment depends on the cause of the voice disorder. Health factors such as...

Stuttering is a natural and common problem, but most people who stutter are interested in finding a way to stop stuttering. There are many tips and tricks to help you stop stuttering, and there...

Self-confidence is an important attitude for an individual to possess. It can be described as a positive belief that a person is in control of his or her life. It is the ability to take advantage...

Tinnitus is the medical term for hearing ringing, buzzing or other types of noises in the ear. While many people experience tinnitus occasionally, some people suffer from severe and prolonged...

Hearing ringing, buzzing, or other noises in your ears is known as tinnitus. While it's not unusual to occasionally experience mild tinnitus, some people experience recurring, severe tinnitus that...

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) states that around 36 million people in the United States suffer from hearing loss to a certain degree. The NIDCD...

Stuttering and stammering affects many people in the world and can be very frustrating. Stammering is a vocal disability in which speech is continually disrupted by ticks and involuntary actions....

Sinus pressure can cause pain and distraction from daily activities, but it can be alleviated with natural home remedies. Applying hot compresses, using aromatherapy and breathing in steam, are...

Speech therapy is used to treat people with speech and communication disorders or defects, especially children. A fluency disorder is when people hesitate, repeat or prolong words, syllables or...

An auditory processing disorder (APD), also called central auditory processing disorder, occurs in a child when his brain incorrectly interprets sound. This child is not deaf. He hears as well as...

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said that people are more afraid of public speaking than dying. Fear of embarrassment and failure while performing a speech in front of others is very common.

Mental abuse occurs when one individual mistreats another individual. There are numerous kinds of abuse, including verbal, psychological (or mental), physical and sexual. Mental abuse can occur...

My husband is addicted to Everquest. He has played for years and actually quit playing for the last two. It was a nice break for all of us. His excuse was that it kept him home when his friends...

Dyslexia is a type of learning disability usually diagnosed when a child attends elementary school and starts to learn how to read. Dyslexia involves the brain's inability to make sense of written...

Stuttering, alternatively called stammering, is a type of dysfluency, or interrupted speech flow. Although the disorder often clears up on its own with little or no intervention, it can still...

Do you find that you have trouble finding the right words to express yourself? Or, do you sometimes reverse words in your sentences? If you're struggling to become more well spoken and articulate,...

Milestones are like goals. They are events that take place in life that are reached or achieved at various time periods. For children, developmental milestones are reached when they go through...

Speech and language impairments are among the most common disabilities of both childhood and adulthood. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 7.5...

Stress is when the body reacts to a stimulus like pain or fear , which interrupts the physiological balance of the body. Anxiety, pressure, and worry are other kinds of stress. The hair follicles...

Apraxia in children is called "developmental apraxia of speech." It is a type of speech disorder that results in a child's inability to say what he wants to correctly or consistently. Children...

Living in Los Angeles has turned me into a Cold Germ Fighter. Thousands of people have viruses floating around them making it easy to catch a cold. Once you have a cold, it isnt pretty, so...

If you've ever had a cold sore, you know the discomfort that accompanies those crusty, oozing blemishes. Herpes Simplex Virus 1 causes cold sores. By age 40, nearly 90% of adults have been...

Smoking can calm nerves and reduce stress, but the can also cause serious and sometimes irreparable damage to the body. The many carcinogens and poisons in cigarette smoke can damage your body on...

Speech pathologists are instrumental in working with people who have speech and language disorders. They evaluate and diagnose problems with speech, language and communication and provide therapy...

Its that time of the year. Fall will be coming and then winter. With this changing weather, hot to cold and cold to hot, it is not good for our bodies or immune systems. Since I am currently...

It's likely you know someone who cannot control their anger They blow up over small things, they don't think before they react and they throw things. Perhaps they curse and end up doing something...

Dementia is often perceived as a disease. This condition, however, is actually a combination of symptoms that include loss of memory the ability to reason. Many of the details that surround...

Apraxia is a motor-speech programming disorder that results in difficulty making or coordinating (sequencing) the oral-motor movements necessary to produce and combine speech sounds. It's a...

While speech disorders are common amongst children, these disorders also affect adults. People who suffer from a speech condition may have difficulty pronouncing words, and others may have a hard...

"You need to have a hysterectomy." When your OB/GYN utters those words, it's not an edict from on high. There may be other alternatives to consider that are less invasive and less life-changing....

Even if you don't have cancer, you may have an oncologist who strongly suggests that you take tamoxifen—a cancer drug. Doctors are increasingly prescribing tamoxifen to women who have...

An HIV/AIDS diagnosis isn't the death sentence it once was. Yet, AIDS remains a serious condition with life-long implications. Getting tested, coming to grips with a positive result and getting...