5 Speech and language disorders associated with underlying psychological problem

1. Subject: Clinical psychology
Topic: Explain any 5 Speech/Language disorders which have
any associated psychological problem?
1. Stuttering:
The stutterer, when he tries to speak must exert a higher effort to be able to
articulate correctly. This effort supposes an increment of activation, and
deterioration of performance may happen easily. As a consequence of
failure,anxiety emergeswhich in turn further increases
activation.
The majority of psychological problems that stutterers have are associated with
their stuttering. In other words, if the stutterers could speak fluently, they would
not have any other problems.
In psychology, loss of control has been traditionally recognized as
an important cause of depression, but more recently is also
implicated in the appearance of anxiety disorders.
Depression and anxiety are not the only emotionsthat may cause
psychologicaldisorders affecting stutterers. The control of speech has
great importance in social relationships. Continuedfailures in social
relationshipsproduce feelings of frustration, guilt, hostility and high levels
of anger (Van Riper, 1973).
Further, the incorrect management of feelings of guilt and frustration may
disturb interpersonalrelationscausing additionalsocialproblems which
may lead to many psychologicaldisorders. The stutterer may have greater
difficulty than non-stutterers in social interactions. Avoidancesand flights
may produce serious social problems that lead to psychologicaldisorders.

2. 2. Specific Language Impairment :
Language impairments refer to a broad spectrum of difficulties
includinglimited vocabulary, expressive deficits, phonological
deficits, comprehension deficits, and pragmatic language deficits.
All these problems have been reported in studies of children with
behavioral disorders (Gallagher, 1999)
Childrenwith SLI usuallybegin to talk at roughlythe same
age as normal childrenbut are markedly slowerin the
progress they make. They seem to have particularproblems
with inflection and word forms (inflectional morphology),
such as leaving off endings as in the past tense verb form.
A social communicationdisorder may be a distinct diagnosisor may
occur within the context of SLI.
Social communication disorders include problems with social
interaction (e.g., speech style and context, rules for linguistic
politeness), social cognition (e.g., emotional competence,
understanding emotions of self and others), and pragmatics (e.g.,
communicative intentions, body language, eye contact).
-The child with SLI becomes increasinglyaware of his
difficulties with languageand may losespontaneity and avoid
conversation as he gets older.

3. 3. Aphasia :
The person with aphasia(eitherexpressive or receptive) experiences a
sudden and unexpected inability to function in the
complete range of activities of everyday life; in cognitive,
behavioral, leisure, occupational, social and family activities.
Patient faces depression, communicative and social isolation,
occupational frustrations and reduced involvement in everyday livingand
leisure activities that ultimatelylead to psychologicalissues.
Psychological support is important.
Negative emotionalreactions to this frequently manifest as depression
both for individualswith aphasiaas well as for those who are close to
them. It is not surprising; therefore, that depression is the most reported
and investigated mood state following brain damage.
Depression following a stroke, called post-stroke depression (PSD) is defined by
the presence of clinically significant major or minor depression.
Post-stroke depression (PSD) is considered the most frequent and important
neuropsychiatric consequence of stroke. Approximately one-third of stroke
survivors experience major depression. Moreover, this condition can have an
adverse effect on cognitive function, functional recovery and survival.

4. 4. Learning Disability :
Learning disabilities,or learning disorders, are an umbrella term for a wide
variety of learning problems. Learning disabilitieslook very different from
one childto another. One child may struggle with reading and spelling,
while another loves books but can’t understand math.
Three different situationsregarding psychologicalproblemsin LD occur
The most prominent diagnosis fell under the spectrum of anxiety disorders and a
minority were diagnosed with depression
Another area of interest is the relationship between learning disabilities and
somatic complaints.
A third area where learning disabilities and behavioral problems coexist is with
social behavior. Often children with learning disabilities have problems with familial
and peer relationships. This may be the result of processing problems which make it
difficult for LD children to pick up social cues. This in turn may result in avoidance
behavior.
 When learning disabilities and behavioral problems appear
together, it is important to identify whether the behaviour is secondary
to the learning disability or co-morbid. When the negative behaviour is
caused by the learning disability, the solution to that behaviour often
lies in dealing with the learning disability. When it is co-morbid, the
interventions become more complicated, since the behaviour has to be
treated separately from the learning disability.

5. 5. Intellectual Disability :
Many people who have an intellectualdisabilityor an A.S.D., have
difficulty in communication.They may find it hard to understand what is
said to them and may have difficulty in expressing themselves. Their
speech may be difficult to understand and some people may not develop
speech.
There are many associated psychologicalissues that has to b ruled out
with multipletreatment approaches.
These includepsychosocial treatments, behavioraltreatments, cognitive-
behavioraltreatments, and family-oriented strategies .
Psychosocial treatments are intendedprimarily for children before and
during the preschool years as this is the optimum time for
intervention.This early intervention should include encouragement of
exploration, mentoring in basic skills, celebration of developmental
advances, guided rehearsal and extension of newly acquired skills,
protection from harmful displays of disapproval, teasing, or punishment,
and exposure to a rich and responsive language environment.
The role of the psychologist is to promote positive behavioural support.
The aim of positive behavioural supportis to improve the service user's
overall qualityof life by altering the environmentalconditionswhich
contribute to the challengingbehavioursand through introducinga range
of effective therapeutic strategies to reduce challengingbehaviourand to
increase more effective coping behaviours.