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How can cerebral palsy affect voice and speech movements?
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speech
Speech is the faculty of producing articulated sounds, which, when blended together, form language.
Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders caused by brain injury or abnormal development before, during, or shortly after birth. Because the condition affects the parts of the nervous system that regulate voluntary movement, it can lead to dysarthria, a speech disorder characterized by distorted speech patterns.12
The impact on speech depends on the type of cerebral palsy:
- Spastic type: Damage to the cerebral cortex causes paralysis and spastic contractions, which can make speech movements appear stilted, jerky, or crude, mirroring the physical distortions seen in the limbs.12
- Athetoid type: Damage to the basal ganglia leads to slow, involuntary spasms of the face and neck. This often results in facial grimacing and inarticulate speech, which may worsen under stress or excitement.2
While many individuals with cerebral palsy retain normal intelligence, these motor impairments can sometimes make it difficult to communicate using intelligible words. Rehabilitation methods, such as those focusing on the suppression of primitive reflexes, are often used to help manage these challenges.12