Dysarthria (difficulty speaking)

Dysarthria is where you have difficulty speaking because the muscles you use for speech are weak. It can be caused by conditions that damage your brain or nerves and some medicines. Speech and language therapy can help.

 

The main symptom of dysarthria is unclear speech. This can make it difficult for you to make yourself understood.

Your speech may only be slightly unclear, or you may not be able to speak clearly at all

Other symptoms include

  1. difficulty moving your mouth, tongue or lips
  2. slurred or slow speech
  3. difficulty controlling the volume of your voice, making you talk too loudly or quietly
  4. a change in your voice, making it nasal, strained or monotone
  5. hesitating a lot when talking, or speaking in short bursts instead of full sentences

Causes of dysarthria

Dysarthria is usually caused by damage to the brain or conditions that affect the nervous system. It can happen at any age.

Common causes include:

  1. stroke, severe head injury and brain tumours
  2. Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease
  3. cerebral palsy and Down’s syndrome

It can also be a side effect of certain medicines, such as some medicines to treat epilepsy.

Signs of Dysarthria

If you have dysarthria, you may experience any of these symptoms

Your speech sounds different than before you had any damage to your brain or nerves.

You say words in a way that is hard for others to understand.

You “slur” or “mumble” when you talk.

You talk too slowly or too fast.

You talk to softly or too loudly.

You have problems moving your tongue, lips, and jaw.

You sound “robotic” or “choppy.”

You sound hoarse or breathy

What are the types of dysarthria?

There are six categories of dysarthria. They’re grouped based on the specific part of your nervous system affected. Dysarthria may result from damage to various parts of your nervous system, including your brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) and the network of nerves that carry signals throughout your body (peripheral nervous system).

Flaccid dysarthria results from damage to the lower motor neurons. The lower motor neurons are part of your peripheral nervous system. With flaccid dysarthria, your speaking may sound breathy and nasal.

Spastic dysarthria results from damage to the upper neurons on one or both sides of your brain. The upper neurons are part of your central nervous system. Your speaking may sound strained or harsh.

Ataxic dysarthria results from damage to the part of your brain called the cerebellum. Your cerebellum helps coordinate muscle movement. You may have trouble pronouncing vowels and consonants, and you may have difficulty placing emphasis on the right parts of a word when you’re speaking.

Hypokinetic dysarthria results from damage to the part of your brain called the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is a structure inside your brain that helps your muscles move. Hypokinetic dysarthria is associated with slow (“hypo”), monotone, rigid-sounding speech.

Hyperkinetic dysarthria also results from damage to your basal ganglia. It’s associated with fast (“hyper”) sounding and often unpredictable speech.

Mixed dysarthria includes a mix of two or more of the other five types. It’s the most common type of dysarthria.

Treatment for dysarthria

If you have dysarthria, you’ll usually be referred to a speech and language therapist. They’ll offer therapy to help your speech and communication.

The therapy you’re offered will be different depending on the cause of your dysarthria and how severe it is.

Some people may find therapy does not help their symptoms, or their speech may get worse as their condition progresses. Their therapy may focus on helping communication in other ways.

Speech and language therapy may include:

  1. exercises to strengthen the muscles used for speech
  2. strategies to make your speech easier to understand, such as slowing down when you’re talking
  3. using communication aids, such as an alphabet board or a voice amplifier

Speech and language therapy

You may have speech and language therapy to help you regain normal speech and improve communication. Your speech therapy goals might include adjusting speech rate, strengthening muscles, increasing breath support, improving articulation and helping family members communicate with you.

Your speech-language pathologist may recommend trying other communication methods if speech and language therapy isn’t effective. These communication methods could include visual cues, gestures, an alphabet board or computer-based technology