How do people diagnosed with dysarthria struggle with daily activities, and what elements used to help coping with the disorder?
Dysarthria, also known as aphasia, is a speech disorder that causes a weakness in the facial muscles area. Individuals diagnosed with dysarthria may have difficulties in socialising or having conversations therefore, individuals may experience a hard time understanding people with dysarthria. Dysarthria could be a cause of a stroke, brain injury which damages the cerebrum area of the brain, tumors or also could be a cause of certain medications. With dysarthria, perfroming daily activities may be more difficult than usual. The affected individuals may lose confidence when talking, as a consequence, individuals might loose social interactions or become more isolated which could lead to other problems.
There are many possible ways to build confidence with a condition like dysarthria, research suggests talking to people may lead to catharsis which is a state where talking would give a sign of comfort or relief. An effective way to help comfort individuals struggling with dysarthria is a conversation, talking with someone who has dysarthria could be difficult at times but can build up and improve through progress. As a speaker with dysarthria, tips that would help with communicating is saying one word or phrase before a talk which would help the listening understanding what you are saying for an example saying “dinner” before talking about what you want to eat, this tip is suggested by the ASHA) or the, (American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association). Another tip as a speaker, always make sure if the listeners are understanding you, speak slowly and loudly to help communicate more clear meanings. As a listener who listens to people diagnosed with dysarthria, a useful tip to help achieve effective communication is talking in a quiet area with lighting, paying attention when talking, repeating the part if you did not understand, using these tips will help in having an effective and reliable communication with the least struggle.
“People coping with dysarthria are like a genie in a lamp”, Genies are strong and powerful but cannot use their powers to set themselves free, similarly to the individuals dealing with dysarthria who have strong thoughts and feelings but cannot fully express themselves. Order to “set the genie free”, it is crucial to make the individuals who struggle with the condition confident and able to fully express themselves without the thought of not being able to socialize or communicate effectively.
Statistically, researchers believe that the cases of dysarthria are more common in people who have been undergoing a certain neurological condition, such as (ALS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis where 30% of people who are undergoing ALS have been experiencing dysarthria. The highest prevalence of communication are between children who are aged between 3–6 years of age in which 11 percent struggle with communication in comparison to 9% of children who are aged between 7–10 years of age. Symptoms of dysarthria may improve or stay the same depending on the individual. Individuals with ALS may lose the ability to speak and communicate with sound where dysarthria that is caused by medication could be reversed and improved through time and therapy.
Kathryn M. Yorkston, an american journal on speech pathology and a journal of language of speech and hearing research is an expert on studying dysarthria and its signs and symptoms. Yorkston suggests dysarthria is from a group of diverse, chronic motor speech disorders. “The disorders of Parkinson’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and cerebral palsy are reviewed because they represent important clinical diagnoses in which dysarthria is a frequent and debilitating symptom” says Yorkston. The journal suggests that both scientific and clinical evidence presented suggests individuals who are diagnosed with dysarthria benefit from the services of speech language pathologists.