There are many causes of speech disorders, such as cerebral palsy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, ALS, genetic disorders such as cleft palate, hearing loss, learning disabilities, and delayed development. In some cases the cause may be unknown.

The following difficulties will benefit from the services of a speech-language pathologist:

• Aphasia (absence of language)
• Apraxia (oral-motor planning difficulties)
• Auditory processing disorder (APD)
• Autism/autism spectrum disorder/pervasive developmental disorder
• Brain injury
• Developmental delay
• English as a second language
• Hearing-related speech and language difficulties
• Language/learning difficulties
• Laryngectomy (removal of larynx)
• Literacy
• Neurological disorders
• Speech sound difficulties
• Stroke
• Stuttering/dysfluency
• Swallowing disorders
• Tongue thrust/oral myofunctional disorders
• Voice disorders
• Cleft palate

For a more comprehensive list of speech-language disorders, download the BCASLPA poster:
Download 'Speech/Language Pathologists Help People of All Ages With...' (PDF file, 442kb)