Motor Speech Therapy

What is a Motor Speech Disorder?

Motor speech disorders are a class of speech disorders that disturb the body’s natural ability to speak due to neurologic impairments. Individuals with challenges in motor speech may demonstrate difficulty planning, programming, controlling, coordinating, and executing speech production.

In other words, there is a disconnect between the message being created in the brain and the muscles in charge of carrying out those movements to communicate that message. Hallmarks of a child’s motor speech difficulty include making inconsistent errors (i.e., trouble saying words the same every time), differences in where to place stress on syllables, and producing shorter words easier than longer words.

Given these difficulties, intensive speech therapy is required. We recommend several short, 30-minute sessions a week. During these sessions, the main focus is on repeating a small number of words, phrases, or sentences many times in order to re-train that motor program. Repetition is key to motor speech intervention.