Dysarthria is a speech disorder resulting from muscle weakness in the mouth and which may also affect breath control. This poor coordination of breathing and speech muscles may cause:
- Slurred speech
- Nasal-sounding speech
- Altered speech volume
- Speech that sounds all the same volume or pitch
- Speech to be effortful and cause the person to tire easily
It is important to remember that individuals with dysarthria:
- Understand what is said to them
- Are intelligent
- Know what they want to say, just have difficulty making their speech clear enough so others can understand what they are saying
Stroke-sufferer says, ‘a chup of shtea peash’. Intended phrase was ‘a cup of tea please’.
Page last reviewed: 24 Jan 2020
