Dysarthria

What Is Dysarthria?

When you talk, you use many muscles in your face, lips, tongue, and throat — along with the muscles you use to breathe. When these muscles don’t work well, talking becomes hard.

Dysarthria is a speech disorder that happens when brain or nerve damage changes the way your muscles work. This can make your speech sound slow, slurred, or hard to understand. Dysarthria can be mild or severe, and it can affect children and adults.

Everyone’s experience with dysarthria is different, and people have trouble talking for many reasons. Some people with dysarthria also have other speech or language challenges, like

• apraxia of speech, where the brain has trouble planning how to move the muscles used for talking
• aphasia, which affects how you understand or express language

What Are the Signs of Dysarthria?

If you have dysarthria, your speech might change. You may notice some of these changes:

• Your speech sounds different than how it used to sound — before you had any damage to your brain or nerves
• People have trouble understanding your words
• You slur or mumble when you talk
• You talk too slowly or too fast
• You talk too quietly or too loudly
• You have difficulty moving your tongue, lips, and jaw
• You sound robotic or “choppy”
• You sound hoarse or “breathy”
• It sounds like you’re talking with a stuffy nose or like you’re talking out of your nose

What Are the Causes of Dysarthria?

Dysarthria is caused by changes in the brain or nerves. It can be present from birth or develop later - after an illness or an injury. Anything that damages the brain or nerves can lead to dysarthria. Here are some examples:

• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS
• brain injury
• cerebral palsy
• Huntington’s disease
• multiple sclerosis
• muscular dystrophy
• Parkinson’s disease
• spinal cord injury
• stroke
• tumors

What Does Testing for Dysarthria Look Like?

See a doctor right away if you notice any new difficulty talking. Call 911 if you notice any sudden changes in speech or communication.

An SLP can assess your speech and language to determine if you have dysarthria or another communication challenge. The SLP will look at how well you move your mouth, lips, and tongue and how well you breathe. They will listen to your speech and voice. The SLP will evaluate your understanding and use of single words, sentences, and conversation. If you speak more than one language, your SLP will assess these skills in each language.

What Is the Treatment for Dysarthria?

Your work with the SLP will depend on the type of dysarthria you have and how much of a problem it is for you. You may work on any or all of these activities:

• slowing down your speech
• talking louder
• moving your lips and tongue more
• saying sounds clearly in words and sentences
• learning to make changes in your voice to show emotions
• improving how you breathe to support clear and loud speech

Finding Other Ways to Communicate

One method of communicating is called augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC. Types of AAC include

• hand gestures
• writing or drawing
• pointing to letters, pictures, or words
• using a phone, tablet, or communication device

Your SLP can help you explore what AAC type feels right and works well for your daily life.

Tips for Talking With Someone Who Has Dysarthria

Good communication is a two-way street. These tips can help both the speaker and the listener feel more confident and connected in conversation. Share these tips with your family, friends, and care partners to help them support your communication needs.

Talking When You Have Dysarthria

If you have dysarthria, you can do certain things to help others follow what you’re saying:

• Let people know you have trouble with speech before starting a conversation — especially if you haven’t talked to them before.
• Start with a keyword to give the listener a heads-up. For example, say “dinner” before talking about what you’d like to eat.
• Make sure you have their full attention. Face the person you’re speaking with so they can see your facial expressions, mouth, and gestures. Watch their body language, too — it can tell you if they’re following along.
• Pick one change to focus on. You might speak more slowly, speak more loudly, or use bigger mouth movements — whatever helps you feel like you’re speaking more clearly.
• Pause often. This lets the other person think about what you’ve said.
• Take breaks. Rest before and after long conversations. Talking can be tiring, and your speech may be harder to understand when you’re tired.
• Use visuals. If it’s hard to use words, try pointing, using gestures, writing keywords, or drawing simple pictures to support your message.

Before we start to speak, we usually think about what we want to say — but not about how we plan to say it. Some people may need help remembering to use these tips, especially children and adults newly adjusting to dysarthria.

Listening to Someone Who Has Dysarthria

If you’re talking with someone who has dysarthria, you can support them in many ways:

• Choose a quiet, well-lit space. This can help everyone hear and see clearly.
• Give them your full attention. Turn toward the speaker, and stay focused on them.
• Watch their face and gestures. This may help you understand what they say.
• Be honest. If you don’t understand, say so. Don’t pretend to understand when you don’t.
• Repeat what you did understand. If you don’t understand the whole message, then repeat the part that you understood. Then they won’t have to start all over again.
• Ask “yes” or “no” questions to make things easier. Or encourage them to point, gesture, or write.

Kindness, patience, and a little creativity can make conversations smoother—so everyone feels heard and understood.

To find an SLP/audiologist near you visit ProFind.

Resources

This list does not include every website on this topic. Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement.

• Mayo Clinic
• Phone Numbers for FCC Speech-to-Speech Services (by State)