Childhood dysarthria is a condition of the brain that affects how people speak and move parts of their motor-speech system. In children, the condition has a negative impact on how they communicate and interact with others. Dysarthria affects breathing, swallowing, speaking and basic movements that involve speech. Childhood dysarthria symptoms vary widely among children who have been formally diagnosed.
What Is Childhood Dysarthria?
Dysarthria is a disorder that affects a person’s motor speech. The natural ability to speak is impaired due to a brain injury. The result is aphasia, a disorder that makes it difficult to speak simple words. If the dysarthria is very severe, it causes anarthria, which is a total loss of speaking abilities.
Some brain injuries are caused by injuries to the central or peripheral nervous system. In adults, the condition can be caused by age-related diseases, such as a stroke or Parkinson’s disease. However, neonatal stroke is another cause in some children.
As a result of these injuries, a wide range of childhood dysarthria symptoms appear that affects speech and movement in the throat and mouth area. In children, this condition is particularly severe because it affects the child’s ability to learn speech and develop interpersonal relationships. They may develop learning problems later in life.
Weakness and Paralysis
Signs of weakness or paralysis in the motor-speech system are commonly found in people with dysarthria. They find it hard to control the way they use their lips, tongue and throat. Some people have a condition known as dysphagia that makes it difficult to swallow, which causes dysarthria. Childhood dysarthria symptoms may be caused by
- Birth injury
- Muscular dystrophy
- Cerebral palsy
Impaired Speech
A common sign of dysarthria is impaired speech. People suffering from this condition cannot pronounce their words properly. Their words come out slurred, jumbled or slowed down. In some cases, the speech is sped up rapidly and comes out in mumbles. Of all childhood dysarthria symptoms, not being able to speak coherently has the most profound effects.
Changes in Voice Tone
Dysarthria causes several changes in a person’s tone of voice that affect
- Pitch
- Rhythm
- Quality of the voice
In some people, the voice sounds nasally or stuffed up. The symptoms resemble those of the flu or common cold. In other people, the voice sounds hoarse and the words come out in whispers.
Restricted Movements
Some childhood dysarthria symptoms include not being able to move the lips, jaws and tongues properly. They may not be able to swallow fully or purse their lips. Some people have twitching movements in their muscles that are difficult to control. Some even feel that worms are moving beneath the skin in certain parts of their mouth.
When paralysis of the face sets in, the muscles weaken rapidly. The cheeks and lips sag to a droopy state that causes involuntary drooling. Different parts of the mouth move to accommodate this weakness. For instance, the jaw could move toward the paralyzed side and cause the tongue to move toward the normal side, which helps the person speak.
Childhood dysarthria has a variety of causes and symptoms that affect how children communicate. They may have trouble moving the tongue, controlling the muscular movements of the mouth or pronouncing basic words like
kill or
condition. In many afflicted children, the words that do come out sound slurred or mumbled. Today, there are effective solutions to severe childhood dysarthria symptoms. The condition can be reversed or treated with the help of professionals. Speech language pathologists are trained to teach people how to speak coherently. Children and their family members have options to keep their symptoms under control.
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