About dysarthria

Dysarthria is a speech disorder that causes changes to the sound of your speech. It results from damage to the parts of the brain responsible for controlling the muscles used to produce speech.

It can be due to any of the following: muscle weakness, paralysis and/or lack of coordination of the muscles in your mouth, face or respiratory (breathing) system.

Causes

Common causes include:

  • stroke
  • head injury
  • other neurological conditions (eg Parkinson's disease)
  • cancer.

How it affects your speech

The effect it has on your speech will vary, depending on the cause and severity of the dysarthria.

Common effects include the following.

  • Reduced clarity of speech, for example slurred speech.
  • Different speaking volume and/or pitch (how high or low your voice sounds).
  • Nasal sounding speech.
  • Abnormal rate of speech (too fast or too slow).
  • Speech that does not sound natural. For example, lack of usual speech rhythm or intonation (rise and fall of pitch).
  • Uncoordinated speech and breathing.

Tips to help you

The following tips can help you when you are speaking.

  • Try to cut out background noise and distracting sounds.
  • Relax and take your time when you speak.
  • Slow down your speech and try to emphasise the important words.
  • Exaggerate your lip and tongue movements when you speak.
  • Break down longer words, for example im-prove-ment (instead of improvement).
  • Use short sentences.
  • Pause for breath often.
  • Help to explain what you are saying by pointing, drawing and/or writing.

How friends and family can help

You can ask friends and family to follow this guidance.

  • Do your best to minimise background noise and distractions.
  • Face the person when you are talking to them.
  • Be patient if it takes them time to communicate with you.
  • Check that you have understood, by asking yes or no questions.
  • Do not pretend you have understood if you have not.
  • Encourage the other person to use other methods to help them communicate, such as:
    • gesturing
    • pointing
    • writing
    • drawing.
  • Look at the other person’s facial expressions or body language. This will give you extra clues about what they are trying to say.
  • Ask the other person whether they mind if you help by guessing or finishing off their words. They may prefer to keep trying, without help from you.
  • Do not push the other person to talk if they are tired.

How a speech and language therapist (SLT) can help

An SLT can help by offering you the following:

  • a specialist assessment of your speech
  • personalised therapy (specific strategies or exercises)
  • reassurance and confidence-building support
  • advice on how best to communicate in everyday, work and social situations
  • help with communication aids (if appropriate), such as picture charts or high-tech options
  • advice and support for friends and family.

Contact information

Kingston Hospital Speech and Language Therapy (adult inpatients)

Telephone:

020 8973 5288

Email: krft.slt@nhs.net