Speech Therapy Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Speech Therapy distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

PiqCue — piqcue.com/speech-therapy/cheatsheet

Quick Reference

Articulation Disorders

Difficulties producing individual speech sounds correctly, involving errors of substitution, omission, distortion, or addition that affect speech intelligibility.

Aphasia

An acquired language disorder resulting from brain damage, typically stroke, that impairs the ability to produce or comprehend spoken and written language while leaving general intellect relatively intact.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Systems and strategies that supplement or replace natural speech and writing for individuals with severe communication impairments, ranging from low-tech picture boards to high-tech speech-generating devices.

Phonological Processes

Systematic sound pattern simplifications that developing children use to reduce the complexity of adult speech. They are considered disordered when they persist beyond the expected age of elimination.

Dysphagia

A swallowing disorder that can occur in any phase of the swallow (oral preparatory, oral transit, pharyngeal, or esophageal) and may lead to aspiration, malnutrition, or dehydration.

Fluency Disorders

Disruptions in the normal flow of speech, most commonly stuttering (characterized by repetitions, prolongations, and blocks) and cluttering (characterized by rapid or irregular speech rate with breakdowns in clarity).

Language Delay vs. Language Disorder

A language delay indicates that a child is following the typical sequence of language development but at a slower rate, while a language disorder involves atypical patterns of language acquisition that may not resolve without intervention.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

A motor speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning and coordinating the precise movements needed for speech, leading to inconsistent errors and disrupted prosody despite adequate muscle strength.

Voice Disorders

Abnormalities in vocal pitch, loudness, quality, or resonance that result from structural changes to the vocal folds, neurological conditions, or patterns of vocal misuse and abuse.

Pragmatic Language

The social use of language, encompassing skills such as turn-taking in conversation, understanding nonliteral language, adjusting communication style to context, and interpreting body language and facial expressions.

Key Terms at a Glance

Aphasia:An acquired language disorder resulting from brain damage that impairs the production and/or comprehension of spoken and written language.

Articulation:The physical process of using the tongue, lips, teeth, palate, and jaw to produce speech sounds.

Aspiration:The passage of food, liquid, or secretions below the vocal folds into the trachea and lungs during swallowing.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC):Methods and devices used to supplement or replace spoken language for individuals with severe communication impairments.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS):A motor speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech production.

Cleft Palate:A congenital condition in which the roof of the mouth does not fully close during fetal development, often affecting speech and feeding.

Cluttering:A fluency disorder characterized by a rapid or irregular speech rate, excessive disfluencies, and often poor awareness of the communication breakdown.

Cognitive-Communication Disorder:Difficulty with communication that stems from underlying deficits in cognition such as attention, memory, organization, and executive function.

Dysarthria:A group of motor speech disorders resulting from weakness, paralysis, or incoordination of the speech musculature.

Dysphagia:Difficulty swallowing food, liquid, or saliva that may occur in the oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal phase.

Expressive Language:The ability to convey thoughts, ideas, and feelings through spoken words, written text, or gestures.

Fluency:The smoothness, rate, and effort with which speech is produced. Disorders of fluency include stuttering and cluttering.

Hypernasality:Excessive nasal resonance during speech caused by incomplete closure of the velopharyngeal valve, commonly associated with cleft palate.

Intelligibility:The degree to which a listener can understand a speaker's message. Reduced intelligibility is a primary concern in many speech disorders.

Language Disorder:Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written, or symbolic language involving form (phonology, morphology, syntax), content (semantics), or use (pragmatics).

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