Top 10 Speech Disorders in Children Parents Should Be Aware About

1. Stuttering - One of the top speech disorders in children that concerns parents is stuttering, and the speed and degree of the stutter will vary from one child to the next. This disorder can have either a physical or psychological cause, and is usually a source of great stress and anxiety for the child and parents both.

2. Stammering - Stammering is a disorder that can occur together with stuttering or alone. With this disorder the child may not be able to make certain sounds and may repeat a syllable or word repeatedly. This condition is a common reason for concern among parents.

3. Lisping - Lisping is one of the speech disorders that pediatricians see frequently, and there are three different types of this disorder: neurotic, negligent, and organic. The organic type has a physical cause, while the neurotic type has psychological types. Negligent lisping occurs when the child is not taught to speak properly.

4. Childhood Apraxia of Speech - This condition, often shortened to CAS, is caused because of motor problems in children. The child may have difficulty when attempting to say words, sounds, and syllables.

5. Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders - Orofacial myofunctional disorders are a common cause of speech disorders, and results in the child not holding their tongue properly. The child unintentionally pushes their tongue forward too far, and this condition often disappears as the child matures.

6. Developmental Expressive Language Disorder - Developmental Expressive Language Disorder in children is one of the common concerns that parents need to know about. This condition creates difficulty for the child with verbal expression. The speech of the child is often hesitant, because the child needs to formulate the words carefully and requires extra time for this task.

7. Selective Mutism - One of the top speech disorders with kids is selective mutism. Many children who appear to be excessively shy actually suffer from this disorder. When the child is comfortable and around familiar people then there is no problem. In certain situations though, when the child becomes uncomfortable, they lose the ability to speak.

8. Speech Delays - Speech delays are one of the top reasons why doctors and speech professionals see children. There are a few reasons why the child may not be speaking appropriately, and testing will pinpoint the specific reason for the delay.

9. Cluttering - One of the speech disorders which causes alarm in many parents is cluttering, and often the child does not even realize that the problem is occurring. The child will talk faster than normal, and repeat phrases, syllables, and even longer sentences numerous times without even knowing it.

10. Rett Syndrome - Rett Syndrome is a common issue, and for some reason this condition only affects girls in most cases and boys who suffer from it are extremely rare, though there have been cases of it. This condition first makes an appearance between the ages of three months and three years, and is considered a form of autism. The infant will experience normal development, then this development stops and starts to reverse itself and the child regresses.

Emily Greene is one of the active contributors of new health and wellness information resource portal at Health Articles 101.