Dysarthria

What is Dysarthria?

Dysarthria, or slurring, is a motor speech disorder resulting in the decreased ability to produce intelligible words. Dysarthria is seen most often in individuals who have experienced a stroke, traumatic brain injury, tumor, or neurological disease.

Symptoms may include:

Shortness of breath

Decreased loudness of voice

Imprecise articulation due to muscle weakness

Slowed mouth movements

Hyper- or hypo-nasality

Speech Therapy for Dysarthria

Treatment will focus on improving the clarity of speech using compensatory strategies, oral-motor exercises, breathing techniques, repairing communication breakdowns, and modifying the environment to optimize effective communication.